Help please, need to make job decision by end of day!!

[Angelcake1991]

Hi

I know nobody can make this decision for me but im totally stuck:

Been working for local council for 4 years, part time and term time. Job pretty mundane however fine. Limited chance for career progression in my area. Work from home 4 days a week, in office one. Team amazing and love the culture.

Been studying the last year, very on and off, for a cipd level 3 as have an interest in HR and would like to look into getting into that area.

I saw a company round the corner from me were advertising for a hr administrator so I applied. They offered the job and said as id funded my course would offer a bit more than the role was advertised for. They have also accommodated a year of finishing early as I didnt want to commit to full time. The role is fully office based.

I went in the office this week to sign paperwork and didnt get the best feeling. Working in a small room with the hr team and felt sterile.

Im now wondering if I should stay where I am and finish my cipd and continue to look for opportunities. Or would I be mad to pass this up.

Where I am the pension is good, they have a sickness scheme etc.

I need to make the decision today and feel sick at the thought of making wrong one. Any thoughts please.

Turned 40 this year so time isnt perhaps on my side

Trust your gut and stay where you are. Look for something better once you've got the qualification. The culture of a place has a massive impact on how much you will enjoy the job.

I would go for it. You will learn loads and it will complement your course perfectly. It doesn't have to be your "forever" job, and your current job isn't that either!

You’ve got an interest in hr, you’ve done the CIPD, and you’ve been offered a job in HR. Seems perfect.

Trust ur gut i agree.

I'd go for it. If nothing else, it could be a good stepping stone to the next thing. It might make you realise that you love/hate HR.

On the other side, term time only jobs are hard to come by and it was by far my favourite working pattern for the primary years. Solves so many issues!

Tricky! Good luck with the decision!

I'm going to be brutal and suggest that HR literally IS working in an office with other HR types so what exactly is it that you are interested in when you say you want to work in HR?

How long have you been doing the studying for and how close to achieving?

Oh you posted yesterday about going into the office and getting a funny feeling

Trust your gut instinct, I’ve found, over very many years, that it is rarely wrong.
Any chance of moving to an HR position in the organisation you are in?
Also think about your pension, sounds boring at this stage of your life but starting a new pension scheme will seriously impact your retirement finances unless you have a personal pension that you have total control over.

There are so many pros to working for a Council in terms of pay and conditions. But, if you don’t make the change now, it’ll get harder to do so. Think of this new job as a stepping stone, they are supporting your caring needs presumably by agreeing flexible working from the get go, and have offered you more salary than was advertised, which is positive.

Please stay in your current job the fact you are having doubts says it all you haven’t had enough time to think it over either
also ask yourself whether you’re ready to go back to the office full-time inc travel costs or whether you prefer working from home
it does sound like a good opportunity, however do they have sickness pay pension et cetera? If not then I wouldn’t bother.. you are happy with your current job so take your time. Also ask about HR jobs in the council.

Stay at the council and look out for HR roles there. You will not beat the flexibility, pension and flexibility. Your gut gives you feelings for a reason.

No idea why I feel this might be a terrible idea. Your current job sounds comfy and established. In almost any organisation I worked in from small to 1000s of people, HR wasn’t about people development etc but about being puppets for senior managements carrying out really dirty tasks.

Well done for doing your level 3 CIPD on your own. Being happy at work is a big deal and not to be underestimated. It depends on your hopes for your future career. Would you be looking to do level 5 CIPD for instance and if so would the new company find it? If so it’s worth considering for that. Are there any possibilities of moving to HR dept at the council? Good luck with whatever you decide.

Stay where you are, then you could move in to HR in the council. I work in HR in a county council and it's pretty good.

I'd say you have got it good where you are.

If you have children, being a term time worker is more than its weight in gold!

Gut feeling is one to be followed I'd say!

stay in your job there no way i could give up 4 days wfh aswell as term time. I would keep an eye on hr jobs within the council

Don’t leave your current position. Gut feeling is a feeling for a reason. You have time to finish and get something that feels right

Personally, stay with the council. The vibe you are getting is because its private sector and its totally different atmosphere. Stay where you are for pension, leave, sick, flexi etc especially in your 40s. Keep an eye out for HR roles in your council.

Stay where you are

Local council, part time, term time? Easy job?

You're gold

4 days wfh and only 1 in the office?! Am very jealous lol. I work for HMRC and thought central government and local government were aligned to maximum 2 days wfh and 3 had to be in the office.

As far as the job goes, depends how serious you are about progressing and making more of a career as quickly as possible. Yes you could stay in your comfort zone and wait around for a HR job there but what if the hours aren’t what you what or you lose out as you obviously don’t have much experience yet in HR? Personally, I’d follow my career objectives especially aged 40 and take the role of the new company who seem very accommodating. Once you’ve got some experience behind you if you don’t like it (after all it’s only a ‘gut’ feeling from a fleeting visit), you could move and perhaps even back into your old council. I personally would t be letting go of such an opportunity that you’ve done very well to get. I was an ex employment advisor and HR can be competitive and not easy role to find on the terms you want.

i think if you have a funny feeling about the place you shouldn't take the job.

You have picked up something- your instincts are right about something.
I think you were drawn to this job just because it is round the corner.
who you work with - colleagues are key to job satisfaction and performance.
I would stay where you are- finish course and be better armed to look for another job later

I'm trying to change from being a Teaching Assistant to being an Executive Assistant again (have 30 years exp) and I cannot get a role. Partly it is because the AI bots go "oh your CV says TA why are you applying for an EA role." So then onto agencies and real people who say well the job market is sooooo prescriptive right now as well as flooded that if they want someone with say property experience or HR experience and your cv does not have it we cannot push you on. I hear what you are saying about staying safe but as another lady said further up it's not going to be your forever job - it gives you experience....

I'd say go for it ....