Am I mad to jump ship?

[Staplebug]

Evening all,

I am currently working in IT 3rd line support for a large investment bank.
I enjoy the work however I dislike some of the members of my team and cant stand my boss.
People seem to enjoy back stabbing and with holding knowledge to make them seem better than they are.
I have been here for 10 years and only over the past couple of years has the team dynamics changed
I have been offered a job doing the same thing at a not for profile housing association very local to me.
Everyone apart from my wife thinks its a bad idea and going from a bank to a not for profit would be career suicide.

Pros:
£6k pay rise
1 day extra annual leave
20 min commute as a posed to 1 hour

Cons:
Grass is not always greener
High turn over of staff in my team means things may change for the better soon
I have the option to go into project management with my current employer but not sure if it's right at this time

Anyone else think I am mad to go for It?

[Frenchda]

Seems like a no brainer to change but what about future prospects?

[STW2010]

I fail to see how that's a bad idea! I would jump, if only for the pay rise and shorter commute!

[Mannginger]

After 10 years sounds like a healthy time to consider leaving, unless you have a particularly special pension arrangement?

[KemP]

Id be jumping. It will be a different working culture at the new place for sure and probably impossible to get fired from it. 10 years is a long time working for the same company. More money and less commute i'm not seeing any down sides.

[boxst]

Working for a non-profit is occasionally soul destroying, especially in support, as quite a lot of the people hired are somewhat challenged. You will then be regarded in that 'somewhat challenged' category when you apply for a future job.

Go and look for other jobs and see what is around.

[boxst]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Depends how long they stay there. More than a couple of years then yes.

[Staplebug]

Thanks all!
All valid points and something I will have to have a think about.
I have been told I can go and spend a day with the team to see what their work is like day to day so am going to book some time off and spend the day with them.

[deckster]

Depends what's more important to you: the nebulous 'jam tomorrow' of having what others may think of as a good CV; or actually enjoying your life right now.

In my experience, leaving a bank is rarely the wrong thing to do. Every time I have to visit one (I am in enterprise software consultancy), I leave absolutely astonished that people would actually choose to work at such institutions as a career. Insular, self-important, obsessed with mediocrity, backward-looking and just plain dull are only some of the better points I can think of.

I'm not a fan, in case you hadn't noticed

[Staplebug]

deckster said:

Insular, self-important, obsessed with mediocrity, backward-looking and just plain dull

you sounds like you work in my office!

[New POD]

I'm not in IT, but I do think that having different experiences and organisations on your CV is good. Different industries do things differently, and you'll bring a different view of the world, and when you choose to move on you'll take one.

Note: In my 24 year career, I've worked for 3 different sites of a major automotive component supplier, worked for a turbo manufacturer, an aerospace supplier, a Hydraulics Supplier to the Off Highway equipment industry, a supplier to the oil industry, part of the civil service, an aircraft engine manufacturer, and a supplier to the wind turbine industry. I constantly meet people who have only worked in one company for 10 to 15 years, and I find they accept the status quo, and are more happy with mediocrity.

Plus a pay rise.

[Koofler]

Get them to approach your firm for a reference before accepting (although I would be sorely tempted; it hardly sounds like career suicide if you haven't moved in the last 10 years anyway)and see if that sets off any alarm bells with your boss's bosses. Stranger things have happened.

A friend of mine is a coder and a damn good one at that plus he can communicate with hoomans which sets him apart from most coders anyway. He was 99% set to emigrate to NZ but was worried about earning a good living. Word got back to his bosses and now he is happily living in NZ and telecommuting to work! They figured it was better to keep him that way than lose him.

Sometimes management need to be put in a position where they consider your worth only because they might be about to lose you. I'm in a not dissimilar position at the moment. The pay rise on the table to leave my current employer is huge but if I can get a reasonable bump to stay, then I'll stay despite the difference (possibly £10k).

The acid test? Happy wife, happy life.

[deckster]

Koofler said:

Sometimes management need to be put in a position where they consider your worth only because they might be about to lose you. I'm in a not dissimilar position at the moment. The pay rise on the table to leave my current employer is huge but if I can get a reasonable bump to stay, then I'll stay despite the difference (possibly £10k).

It all depends on your reasons for wanting to leave, really. In my experience, money is rarely a critical factor in wanting to change jobs and I'd never be tempted to stay by the offer of a pay rise. You'll soon get used to even a decent increase, and then you'll still be stuck in a dull job/bad manager/long commute/no prospects or whatever the real reason for leaving actually was.

[Koofler]

deckster said:

Koofler said:

Sometimes management need to be put in a position where they consider your worth only because they might be about to lose you. I'm in a not dissimilar position at the moment. The pay rise on the table to leave my current employer is huge but if I can get a reasonable bump to stay, then I'll stay despite the difference (possibly £10k).

It all depends on your reasons for wanting to leave, really. In my experience, money is rarely a critical factor in wanting to change jobs and I'd never be tempted to stay by the offer of a pay rise. You'll soon get used to even a decent increase, and then you'll still be stuck in a dull job/bad manager/long commute/no prospects or whatever the real reason for leaving actually was.

very true, although in my case it is a client who has approached me that I already work for regularly, to replace their IT Manager who I'm already covering at the moment. Great company, great pay but not sure I'm ready to be a full time member of staff. They have a 'culture' that, whilst I enjoy for short periods, might become grating day in/day out.

If nothing else, I can go back to my employer and have a barometer of my worth when we review pay in the new year!