Tank Slap - Motorcycle Forum

I thought I would start a new thread, as this is something that affects most of us

StMarks wrote:I'm reluctant to use the B word, but yes.
I was thinking that your current employer, whilst not the largest partnership, seems to have themselves a tidy little niche.?
The larger company that you're considering would presumably be taking you on partially because "they're growing" ?
So fwiw my thinking was that if circumstances change they're more likely to feel it ? Furthermore if the legal sector in the City does shrivel, as has been suggested, and the rest of the UK becomes awash with refugee solicitors, your more recent enlistment may put you less securely placed against being replaced.??

But hey, what would I know mate.??

They're not the biggest of law firms but they are one of the biggest in Insurance. Turnover last year was about £70m. So you're right, they are strong as they stand.

The new company is national and international. They've just joined forces with a large US firm. If Brexit kicks in and they do feel the effects, they'll trim the parts of the company they feel are failing.

And you know loads. I respect your opinion.

Deegee wrote:From my experience, the chance to move up the ladder only really comes once, so it boils down to:
Are you career minded enough to give up some of the life you’ve got now?
Or, is your work/life/money balance satisfying as is?

Fwiw, on 360 days of the year I’m in the latter camp. Good luck with your decision.

I'm in the middle. I've it easy at work, too easy. I'm bored. But it means I'm out of the door at 4.30 and home an hour later, giving me the rest of the evening to myself. It's rare for me to bring work home and if I do it's usually because I couldn't be arsed to do it in the day then realised it's due soon.

I think it's going to come down to money. If they offer me close to what I'm earning then it's a no brainer. I've got enough money to cover what I need and some left over to put in a holiday fund (aka rizoma parts)

If there's a decent salary increase then I'll be tempted. My kids are approaching university age, I'm 20 years away from retiring, I've just taken on a new mortgage. The extra money will pay for weekend breaks so I can spend time with my wife. It is a big firm. I could easily move or create my own team once I've been there long enough. They are recruiting so the workloads may well come down. Or they might get even more work in.

I might be jumping ahead of myself. She was probably being nice but secretly thankful she'll never have to see me again

Go for the money & everything else will fall into place.

Family comes first regardless.

duke63 wrote:Family comes first regardless.

To me the most important think is to be happy at work. You spend most of your waking day there so if you don't enjoy it the effect on the rest of your life is very negative.

You can compromise a bit of time away from the family of the job is better as you will be in a much better state of mind to enjoy the time you do have with the family.

Work life balance, from my experience being bored is not conducive to a good home life, I like a challenge, but a balance is a must, too much work away from family and loved ones causes unnecessary stress, I know how that can be. Only you can make the choice, but having time to do stuff... and not all work work work is the right balance. The hidden evil of stress is their and can creep up and cause havoc we so much, health, relationships... the list is long. Good luck with what you decide to do.

There is no point working harder and harder if you have no time to enjoy the fruits of that labour. Learnt that myself in recent years.

duke63 wrote:There is no point working harder and harder if you have no time to enjoy the fruits of that labour. Learnt that myself in recent years.

Exactly right.

First I'll see if they'll offer me a job, then I'll see what's on offer

I'm happy to bust my nuts for a few years if it means my kids leave university without a massive debt around their necks.

Kwacky wrote:First I'll see if they'll offer me a job, then I'll see what's on offer

I'm happy to bust my nuts for a few years if it means my kids leave university without a massive debt around their necks.

Sorry to disagree Kwackers, but....
Fwiw, I suspect that, if you were able to ask them one year after you'd shuffled off this mortal coil, they would definitively answer that they'd have preferred to have had more of your time & attention, than been unencumbered by debt.,?

Student debt will all get written off/cancelled at some point in then next ten years.

Some politician will see it as a big vote winner for his Party.

I haven't kept it quiet about my struggle with work/life or work/enjoyment levels; I have learned that it is about the whole package.

My pay went up in July by a few grand and I got a very healthy bonus. I'm still studying at university (paid for by my employer) and my final year project is work-based.

Even though all of this means that I cannot leave the company at the moment (I would have no money and no qualification) it actually makes work more worthwhile. However, I'm struggling big time due to the extra work load. Work 4 days a week, a pointless trip into Uni once a week, daylight weekend hours working on the garden/man cave and I also need to find time (and energy) in the weekday evenings for my Literature Review among other things.

Despite all of this struggle, work feels worth it where I am at the moment and that is why it's about the entire package. If this new place is going to be hard work but you think it will be worth it (and the money is better) then go for it!!

StMarks wrote:
Fwiw, I suspect that, if you were able to ask them one year after you'd shuffled off this mortal coil, they would definitively answer that they'd have preferred to have had more of your time & attention, than been unencumbered by debt.,?

I get that, but my kids are 15 and 12. All they want is wifi and a phone charger. My daughter does about 20 hours of dance a week so I never see her. At the moment I make sure we haver a family film night on a Saturday but I suspect that will go out of the window once she's done her GCSEs and she wants to go out more.

This year has been a strange one as half of it was on hold as we waited for the house move to be sorted. We've had some nice breaks where possible, meals out here and there and we're off to Germany after Christmas for new year. So I do make the effort to make sure we spend time together.

So will they miss me if I'm coming home an hour or two later? I doubt they would notice.

Either way they'd adapt.....youngsters are good at that. Less life experience works in their favour with that sort of thing.

It will be something they'll look back on in 20 years once they've moved out and think, "I should have spent more time with Dad". That's not to say you're doing anything wrong and to be fair, I haven't lived in an unbroken home so they dynamic isn't what I'm used to. I'd see my Dad every weekend and it was awesome but I didn't feel any less about my Mum, it was just over a longer period of time.

I'm sure they do appreciate everything you do for them.... even if they don't know they do. You do have to do what you feel is right.. for you. Obviously consider all factors though, as I said before it's about the whole package on balance.

Also, listen to your gut. If something doesn't feel right it probably isn't

They want me back in for an informal chat. Whatever that means.

Kwacky wrote:.... Whatever that means.

They've found this thread.?

Kwacky wrote:They want me back in for an informal chat. Whatever that means.

Someone in their office wants advice about buying a bike?

Kwacky wrote:They want me back in for an informal chat. Whatever that means.

Means they want to lull you into an false sense of security and then hammer you like they would in a full interview

And I have no doubt you’ll impress regardless