Help please - stay where I am or take offer?

[Honeybunnny]

Hi

I really need some views please!

Ive been working hybrid- 4 days at home and 1 in the office - for 3 years now. I work part time, term time 9 -2. My children are 12 and 10. Of course currently I have the school holidays off with them which is great, although now they are older ive noticed they dont need me so much.

I love the current set up of my job and just having to go into the office once a week is fab. My job itself though - local government - is very mundane with very little of no chance to progress. Great team.

Ive been studying a course in my spare time to help me get into the field of HR.

Ive been offered a job in HR which is 2 minutes drive from me. I could walk there! It is full time and, after deliberating, I said I wasnt ready for full time yet. They came back to say they can accommodate a year for finishing at 3:30 daily before going full time and really want me onboard.

It would be great experience for me and probably really kick start my career at 40 however my concerns are the thought of going into an office 5 days a week literally terrifies me. Im so used to home working and even in my current role dont really love going in ine day as its such a change. How will I manage 5 days of it?

Also,I will have less time with my children. My husband has started a new job in the summer which is completely wfh which is good, although he is still in his 6 month probation period. If, for any reason, it didnt work out we could be both back in an office which wouldn't work because of the children.

Any thoughts? Do I take this role with the aim to kick start my career or so I stay where I am with little prospects currently but offers wfh and job security?

Thank you.

Well done on the job offer! Great news that they will accommodate finishing at 3.30pm for the first year - they must really like you! Does the job pay more? And is it a step in the right direction for your career? If so, it’s probably worth taking the risk. How is your husband getting on in his job? If it’s ok, then it’s likely that he’ll pass probation. I presume he looks after the children when he’s at home? You’ve got a good set up now - maybe you could wait a few months in the new job and see if they’ll let you work from home? Sometimes they need to get to know and trust you first - they won’t offer everything all at once!

Sounds like a great op port unity.

You are 2 mins from home. Even if your dh isn't in, they will be fine at home until you get home at the back of 5pm - they have grown up. I'd take the new job. There might be some flex down the line. I'd try for full days from the get go.

i agree with going for it, sounds very positive

Sounds great. You’ve got another 20+ years to build a career but it’s time to get started surely.

I would say take it. The fact they are willing to accommodate you by offering you an early finish for a year before you’ve even started is a really good sign about their culture imo. You’ve done brilliantly to get the offer, especially as the job market is so tough atm. And a foot in the door of a new career is really valuable. Good luck ☺️

This sounds like an amazing opportunity. Yes it is a big change but you will get used to it. If you wait until your children leave home, you will find it much more difficult to make a move like this. This will have a huge impact on your ability to build a pension, to add to the family earnings, to build a career and to build your own sense of worth outside of the family. If your husband does pass his probation, he can pick up more of the household burdens and your children, in one year's time, will be more than capable of sorting themselves out after school. Go for it!!

HR is an awful role. Then again I did it in the NHS and saw some of thr worst things in my life Inonky managed 2 years. I hated the hypocrisy of it. Covering for crooked corrupt managers and siding with them to protect the buisiness even openly racists and sexist Managers were protected. Didn't alogn with anything I stood for to work in HR you need be pretty zombie like as you do thingsbthat are morally and often legallly wrong.

I think you’d be nuts not to take this job! It sounds brilliant!

I say take the job! You've done brilliantly with studying and thinking ahead. Your children will soon both be at secondary and will naturally want their independence. It’s good for you as mum to have something that is yours now that you’ve passed the ‘little kid’ stage. being in the office 5 days (but v close to home) will give you chance to get to know your team and build professional relationships (poss friendships but that’s a bonus not a prerequisite of work). I think it’s important to build a life that inspires you now that your kids are getting older.

My kids are slightly older, and I did something similar to you work wise. Now we can afford to go on more holidays/european weekend breaks and this has been a great way to bond with young teens - and it really opens their eyes to the world awaiting them. My kids get home from school, do homework or flop and watch tv etc and we gather for dinner. It works well for us and I'm still available all evening for them. Good luck op.

I'd go for it. Sounds like a great opportunity to see if HR is the field for you.

It will be tough at first, since you're not used to going in every day, but just take it one day at a time. If you really hate it, you can always leave.

Get yourself on Vinted and pick up some cool office clothes as motivation (swishy wide-leg trousers will make you feel like a boss!). And maybe some new makeup if that's your thing.

Thank you for your replies. I really appreciate it.
Hopefully I will adjust to office working as they just dont do hybrid at all.

On completely another note I did see that they dont have a sickness scheme...5 days per year than anything else at the companies discretion. Is this standard/unusual?
Where I am atm i get 6 months of full pay if needed. Ive actually never had a sickness day at my current company but its reassuring to have the back up of being paid if I am off!