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Original poster

To turn down a 3x salary job?

409 replies

Fressia123 · 03/12/2020 11:33

I'm really really torn. Earlier in the year I got offered a job that pays £60k. I couldn't take it as it required relocation. They just got back to me to say they're happy to offer same role, different location but within commuting distance (1 hour drive). My current job pays £21k. I love what I'm building with it but I seriously doubt it will ever get beyond £30k. So it's between loving my company/job and the £££s. I'm absolutely torn.

OP posts:
TatianaBis · 03/12/2020 14:38

I would take the job. If you don’t love it, use it as a stepping stone to something equally well paid but in an industry you prefer in the longer term.

Original poster
Fressia123 · 03/12/2020 14:40

I mean both are wonderful opportunities for different reasons. I think my current company will eventually give me a lot more satisfaction but it's hard to say no to £2k on top every single month.

OP posts:
Original poster
Fressia123 · 03/12/2020 14:41

And it's the whole thing that I can't relocate. If I don't like it I'd have fond a different job here here we live. There aren't that many and it wouldn't be in any company of aspire to work at.

OP posts:
cyclingmad · 03/12/2020 14:45

I went from 36k to 50k so not a huge jump and wow the change to my life has been huge.

Its meant I no longer have to watch the pennies, instead of saving up for 2 or 3 months I can just go buy without eveb thinking or checking I can afford it.

I can go on a short European break every month if I wanted to but before it would maybe one or trips in a yr. Or i can walk into a shop and buy a £800 handbag and still have money left over to go out etc.

The financial freedom its given me has made me happier for sure and for it my commute went from 30 mins to 1hr 20 but I didn't care. The money is so worth it

gottakeeponmovin · 03/12/2020 14:52

Take it - then you have moved your salary band. If you want just stay for a year and then find something in higher salary band closer to home. This is one of those decisions which is potentially life changing. Often on earnings threads people say those earning more are just lucky - but this is exactly a choice that some people are faced with. Some want the home life balance and some will go out of their way to progress their career and do a long commute that many wouldn't do. You are at a crossroads now so this is a big decision

Afwan · 03/12/2020 14:56

Go into a job with Amazon with your eyes open. I temped there and it was fine as I had a timeline. A friend of mine was driven close to a breakdown, she was remunerated well, but they made sure they got their pound of flesh from her.

Sorry OP not to sound down about your situation but would imagine being an Ops Manager would be high stress, is the change in role worth that?

CaveMum · 03/12/2020 14:57

Logistics is massively transferable. Without wanting to out myself that was DH's military specialty and he had several very good job offers on the table to choose from. In the current climate with Covid and the vaccine rollout logistics experience is going to be hugely in demand, now and in the future.

SlightlyJaded · 03/12/2020 14:58

Sorry if this has been asked but have you talked to your current employer about the offer?

You can say you were approached via a friend of a friend (rather than you were looking at jobs if that makes you uncomfortable) and this is what you have been offered.

You are torn because you love where you work. Can they give you a rise/schedule of promotion/incentive to stay?

Let them show you if you are valued.

That's what I would do.

Faultymain5 · 03/12/2020 14:58

@Fressia123

We're both low earners, our current joint salaries don't make it past £45k.
So when you are ready for kids (if this is in your story), you are goingto be on maternity leave and your soon to be DH will not be earning enough to give you piece of mind about if or when you go badck to work. But if you were earning more than £21k then you'd have the savings enough for that. Each to their own, however money might not be everything thing, but it's a pretty important thing and it's annoying listening to people going on about money isn't everything. Try saying that to people who don't have enough.
IrkedEssex · 03/12/2020 14:58

Grab it!

Original poster
Fressia123 · 03/12/2020 15:04

We already have a baby and I would always go back. (That's never been on question). We might want want another one but that's if we can get another bedroom in the house.

He doesn't make enough for us to just live in his salary plus I love working!

I've had high stress jobs before and in the end I was burnt out. I love the industry and company. I love what the future might bring.

I'll definitely use it as leverage I really just want a timeline and expected salaries once I become head/director.

OP posts:
Blondeshavemorefun · 03/12/2020 15:15

Why did you apply orginally I’d didn’t want to relocate

But if you wanted the job but turned down due to location then why wouldn’t you accept new position with hours drive

Original poster
Fressia123 · 03/12/2020 15:19

When they headhunted / scouted me they said the job was local, then they said that actually it was for somewhere else.

When I applied, I was on maternity leave and the future in my current company although it was discussed it was still extremely vague.

It's not vague anymore and that in itself is the game changer.

OP posts:
Blondeshavemorefun · 03/12/2020 15:20

@Fressia123

The biggest issues is that I wouldn't see my DP at all 3 days a week as our schedules would overlap.
I work nights as a maternity nurse

He’s works days

I come in 730/8 am. He goes out to work

Evening he’s in 6/7 I leave 7 ish

We are ships that pass in the night for maybe 5 nights

We have a toddler. Means no childcare costs to pay

Ironingontheceiling · 03/12/2020 15:20

Don’t you need a bedroom for your step son first before you have another baby?

Original poster
Fressia123 · 03/12/2020 15:21

We'd still pay childcare as I'd like some hours to rest/sleep,but yes very similar to you @Blondeshavemorefun

OP posts:
MoreJammyDodgersPlease · 03/12/2020 15:22

Sounds like a discussion with your current boss is the way to go. A job you enjoy with opportunities to progress, to me would be so much better than more money, longer hours and lots of stress.

Ironingontheceiling · 03/12/2020 15:22

Also, two weeks or so ago you thought you were pregnant on the coil?

Original poster
Fressia123 · 03/12/2020 15:22

Yes you're right @Ironingontheceiling

OP posts:
Original poster
Fressia123 · 03/12/2020 15:23

It turned out to be a chemical! I had my period a couple of days after the positive.

OP posts:
Twatalert · 03/12/2020 15:32

@SimplySusanna

Considering they're mostly known for badly paid warehouse jobs and probably self-employed drivers, they might be very happy

Amazon warehouse staff are anything but badly paid, for what it is.

Dh has recently started at one. No interview - he applied on a Tuesday and started on the Saturday. Zero actual skill required, although it is hard work - very physical and repetitive.

He's bringing home £800-£900 a week, net, for 60 hours. For a job almost anyone could just walk into. Temporary contract but as far as he understands, they keep a decent amount of staff until June - the ones who work their arses off when they're manic in the run up to Xmas I imagine.

I actual like Amazon a whole lot more now I realise that they actually do pay a decent wage to the lowest rung!

Really? Glassdoor is reporting a much lower base pay.

It may be doable for a few months at 60hrs a week, but there is a reason they are constantly looking for warehouse staff. The OP isn't looking to leave after a few months.

I'd respect Amazon a lot more if they treated their staff better. As I said, Glassdoor reports an average hourly pay of £8-10, and usually that is before tax and not net.

YankeeDad · 03/12/2020 15:36

You said that you can’t relocate. Unless a court has ordered you or your DP not to move elsewhere, what that really means is that you won’t move.

You probably have a really, really good reason for not moving, and that reason may well trump all else, but I would still urge you to reconsider whether it’s a good enough reason to be stuck between a salary you find too low, or a job with antisocial hours in an industry that seems to interest you much less than the industry you are in right now.

Faultymain5 · 03/12/2020 15:37

Well I think you would be crazy to turn it down but you sound like you have made a decision to do so. Just because it's not what I would do, doesn't mean it'snot the right decision. I'm happy for you, especially if you get what you want where you want to be.

Original poster
Fressia123 · 03/12/2020 15:41

I haven't completely made up my mind but that's what my heart tells me. I know as a business decision it makes sense to make the move.

OP posts:
Nancydrawn · 03/12/2020 15:42

If you really want to stay in your job, I'd leverage this offer for an acceleration of the very vague timetable and promises you've been given thus far. It's much easier to go in saying, "look, I want to stay, but I've been been headhunted for a job at 3x my current salary. In order to stay, I'd need X and Y within Z months."

When I was quite young I held onto a job I shouldn't have for an extra six months because they kept dangling chances of progression in front of me. They're weren't liarsthey were lovely humansbut really they hoped they'd be able to promote me. And when push came to shove, they didn't have the budget for it. It took me a couple years to stop being bitter about it and realize that they weren't jerking me around to be shitty, they were just bad managers. It's hard to watch good employees leave because you can't pay them/promote them as you wish, but it's always best to be upfront rather than to string someone along in the hopes that things will turn around.