Anyone regretted a big job?

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I like my current role, but it's a bit dead end. No salary progression, as I'm the top of my grade, and no promotion prospects unless I leave and go elsewhere.

But I have two kids in primary and one in nursery, and I'm part time (no chance of full time here), and mainly WFH, so it's a fairly easy life.

A promotion opportunity at a previous workplace has come up. Full time, next grade up, lots of salary progression and other promotion possibilities in the future. However, it would be a Big Job with managing a big team, lots more office time, quite challenging for me. But interesting.

Of course, it's not a big chance I would get it even if I apply. But as I know a lot of folk there, don't want to waste their time by applying unless I'm pretty sure I want it.

So, is it always good to have more challenge and a higher salary and prospects? Will I regret giving up my opportunity to coast for a bit? Has anyone taken a Big Job and regretted it because of the pressure, longer hours etc?

I did , well to begin with I didn't and I loved the role but then I had a health battle and realized it was very tough to balance ill health with working at that very visible level in an organisation...

But it wasn't the end of the world, I made a sideways/slightly backwards move to a more balanced role

I started a new ‘big job’ last year. Almost doubled my salary but absolutely doubled my stress levels alongside that. I am still debating if it’s actually worth it tbh. I have days when I enjoy the challenge and feel I am now paid my worth - but I think about work all the time now. I think I will stick it out for a while and save as much as I can, but my kids are older now (uni aged) so I am at a different life stage to you. I definitely wouldn’t have wanted to do this when my kids were little - it would have been too much of a compromise and I think I’d have burnt out.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

It rather depends on how ambitious you are and how much energy you have. You cannot get back the missed time with your kids though.

Yes, I regret it. I took a Chief of Staff job last year with one in primary school and one in nursery. Everything I was worried about has come to pass. I told the CEO of my concerns before I took the role and he said “we’ll make it work”, but even with that sentiment, it’s been so hard and I shouldn’t have accepted it. I had a third baby so am on maternity leave now and don’t think I can go back to it, as good for my CV as it would be - it nearly broke me with two kids, it would definitely break me with three, and I wasn’t doing the job as well as it needed to be done. However - it depends on the culture of the place, how easy you think you’d find the job, and - this was the kicker for me - your physical resilience. I ended up so so tired, and feeling like I was failing left, right and centre, despite knowing I’m capable of doing the job, the circumstances and timing aren’t right

Another one on the fence here. I have one in nursery and one in primary and honestly I perform really well in my job, but I don’t feel like I am at all as a mum. Perhaps that’s just me being hard on myself as on the weekends we have a great time and they’re getting amazing holidays and activities. I don’t really feel it is completely worth it though. Not to sound greedy but for the stress the salary doesn’t buy private school or a particularly flashy lifestyle. But I am setting myself up well for the future. There is no right or wrong answer unfortunately.

I don’t regret the big job but it hasn’t been easy. I have felt torn at times between work and kids. I think it comes with the territory. Better now kids are older (1 teen, one tween) and DH has always worked PT so that makes a big difference.

The other huge factor is how demanding the company is of your time. I have been incredibly lucky in my most recent job to work in a leadership team who had very reasonable expectations around working hours. That’s not to say there were no long days but there wasn’t a culture of always working more.

You have 3 young kids. Unless you have a dh who is supportive and pulls his weight, I would not do it whilst they are young. I certainly would not take a job which required travelling.

I took the Big Job when the dcs were in secondary school. It was still tough because of the parental support needed for GCSEs, A levels and uni applications, but it was not a day-to-day physical tough like with young children. More time and stress challenging juggling the needs of older children with a demanding job.

Even though I waited, I am financially set from the pay jump. A lot of responsibility and management issues. Now hoping to retire early.

The more senior you are, the more freedom on a day-to-day basis to set your own agenda and can manage your timetable, working around work commitments which are set in stone. You are also required to answer to senior management and deliver, horizon scan and set the strategy and bring the team along, so no coasting.

I’m having the same internal debate at the moment. I have one about to start pre-school and one in nursery. I have a fairly ‘big job’ already, but I work Less hours, work from home a lot and generally have it quite good to be able to work things around the kids, however I know I’m not at my potential (mentally or salary wise). I think I’m leaning towards carrying on as I am for a few years until they’re both in middle/top primary school and then re-assess.