Help me choose which job to take

[BoredAndBroke]

I am an experienced manager with 2 kids primary & secondary school. DH is main earner and he has a thriving career.

Im out of work due to burn out in last job. We could afford for me to be Sahm but I have inadequate pension and Im only 46 and I will get bored and hate asking dh for pocket money (he can be a bit controlling that way).

I took four months off to recover and am now ready to work again. I would ideally like part time work but there’s almost nothing at my level and dh doesn’t want me working for a pittance (as in my industry I will likely just get exploited).

I’ve been offered two jobs and I think I should pick job A but just want to sense check if job B sounds more sensible.

job A: £60k, company has shrunk recently and suffered redundancies as well as high turnover in my team (basically they all quit!) but has a plan to pull through the difficult times - which includes recruiting me. I’m a very good fit for the job and it is 4 days wfh as well as a chance to go part time in 4 months time (eg 4 days a week). I really liked the people I met at interview and they were credible and seemed honest.

job B: £70k, 12 month contract. Company very stable, well established team. Role is adding depth to management to free up the director of the department for more strategic work. It sounds like a lot of hard graft, and the business is unfamiliar so I’d have a steep learning curve. Minimum 2 days in the office but I expect they may push for three.

it’s a no brained isn’t it to take job A?

I’ve looked for part time for months and found nothing suitable.

[dreamfield]

Why did everyone quit job A?

Does job B have potential to convert to permanent?

[BecuaseIWantItThatWay]

A whole team quitting is a big red flag.

Job B sounds the better role to me because if it's not for you, you can easily move on. With what you have been through, maybe dipping your toe back into work is better than diving back in.

Is the flexible working the biggest pull?

Do you have a gut feeling for the role/company that inspired you more?

[BedRot]

Not a no brainer, no. I would be seriously considering ‘stable business, established team’ over ‘struggling business, team has all left, you are the magic answer’. The latter has red flags all over it.

[dreamfield]

@BedRot

Not a no brainer, no. I would be seriously considering ‘stable business, established team’ over ‘struggling business, team has all left, you are the magic answer’. The latter has red flags all over it.

I was thinking similar.

[BoredAndBroke]

Hmm thanks for the advice. I was hoping everyone would just agree with me!

With Job A, it’s the offer of flexibility, plus the fact they aren’t trying to hide the difficulties that have faced, plus there’s nothing in the job description that’s new or scary for me. Everyone quit because they’d had a rough few years and then the team director announced he was moving roles and the whole team panicked. It’s a very small team so only a handful of people - once one person goes no one wants to be the last person left standing.

Job B has a “too good to be true” feeling about it, and I have been burned by jobs like that several times - manoeuvred into doing excessive amounts of work because I’m conscientious and the work has to be done and I’m at that management level where I am responsible for operations day-to-day (the role includes a project which would almost entirely hang on me to deliver, through a team that is very busy and only dotted-line reporting to me). Yes there’s a strong chance it could become permanent job, they might even accept a part-time solution in a year’s time. I could do the job but it feels like hard work ahead.

argh.
I still think job A is winning despite the red flags!