I’m Thinking About Turning Down a Promotion At Work
April 30, 2008 – 7:59 amI’ve been struggling to make a work-related decision these past few days. I’ve been informally approached by an old boss of mine (at my current employer) about taking on a new job that would be a promotion for me. I know a fair amount about the job already, as am good friends with the person that used to do the job. I also held a similar role one year ago. Below are some of the pros and cons as I see them.
Pros:
- It would be a promotion for me, which would include about a 5% salary increase and a 5% bonus increase. The payout percent of my bonus is dependant on my own performance and my company’s performance, but we usually get 80-100% of our bonus limit each year.
- I’m familiar with the group and what the job will involve.
- The job would be a good one for the resume, as it sounds impressive based on the level of responsibility and complexity
- Things are slow in my current job, so it would be nice to have more work to do at times
- There is another job I would like to have in a different department, but I don’t know when it will come available or if I would get the job anyway. It will probably be a full year before that opportunity MIGHT open up.
- I would only have to commit to doing the job 18 months, and then I could look for a different position if I want to.
Cons:
- The job doesn’t necessarily give me a brand new set of experiences that would help my career long-term. I would say this job neither hurts nor helps my long-term career. It’s neutral in this regard.
- The new job would be a little more demanding than my current role, and my work-life balance may be disrupted to a medium degree
- The work won’t be as fun or exciting as it would be in another department. The work is not terrible, but it’s not new or different for me either.
I’m also strugging with the idea of how much is enough. I don’t need the extra income. I want it, but I don’t need it. It would be saved rather than spent, so it wouldn’t impact my daily lifestyle in any way. Furthermore, I’ve come to the conclusion that I wouldn’t take the job without the pay increase, and that to me means I really don’t want the job. It’s simply a way to make more money (which I don’t need) and a way to reduce my risk (b/c I may not have another opportunity to get promoted for another year or more). I think my Achiever traits are causing me to struggle with this choice, and the last thing I want is to get promoted into a job I don’t really want and get stuck. This happened to me in a former career as well.
Do you have any recommendations or thoughts on how to deal with this?
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4 Responses to “I’m Thinking About Turning Down a Promotion At Work”
Based on what you’ve said it seems to me that your gut is telling you to turn down the promotion. If that’s the case, then that’s what you should do, IMO.
That said, it’s hardly ever bad to earn more money or get a promotion. There’s no telling if that new job you think you’d like more will open up any time before your commitment is up, and even if it does you can always talk to someone about wanting to apply for it when the eighteen month commitment is up.
I think I’d look at it this way: it’s eighteen months, not a lifetime. I’ll earn $X more that will be put into savings, which will enable me to have a more comfortable retirement/bigger emergency fund/anniversary cruise. In an unstable economy it’s good to make decisions that make me more marketable within my own company and others. It will disrupt my life somewhat, but not to a degree that makes me uncomfortable. And I’ll bet I can work some things around to lessen that consideration.
So, as you can see, I’d likely take the promotion.
Good luck!
By
BeThisWay (Who am I?) on May 6, 2008