Eric
Well-known member
I need some advice. It will require a long story to provide the necessary antecedent information, however.
The facility where I've worked for the past 6+ years will be closing shortly. Our last batch of material is slated to be finished around December of this year, and people will be let go shortly thereafter. There will probably be retention bonuses offered shortly, but the benefit will be marginal at best.
I was offered a job today with a different company, more of an engineering consulting job. It sounds like it would be good, but will require a fair bit of local travel. My first assignment would be to a place ~2 hours one way from my house. It's going to mean a lot of time away from home. It would be a chance to see many different companies and do a lot more engineering work first-hand, which is my preference, but there is an opportunity cost.
I have been with my existing company since the early days of our particular facility, and though they've told us we're no longer needed, I still feel a strong dedication to the place. I really want to see it through to the end, and I know I am one of the only people left who gives a hoot about it.
Within a year or two, my wife will probably be going back to school so that she can teach at the collegiate level. In her given field, it's debatable as to whether you need a master's degree or Ph.D. to teach, but since the trend seems to be toward the latter, that's what I'm guessing she'll land on. However, it's not confirmed yet. If she goes with a Ph.D., she might want to work more beforehand to get more experience, as it's usually straight to academia afterward, whereas someone with a master's degree is still employable in a corporate environment. If she chooses to work more, it would delay everything by a year.
When she goes to school, there's a virtual certainty we will be relocating to another area of the country. This would mean a new job for me. I'm OK gutting it out at this travel-intensive job for a year or less, but I'm not sure about doing it for two years. I also feel a really big pull to stay through the end at my current job, even though objectively speaking, there's almost no reason for me to stay (other than the travel thing). It's just idealism and my sense of morality making things difficult.
So my question: what do I do? Stick it out at the current job? Leave for the other job? Hope that we end up moving within a year? See if I can delay taking the new job until later, so that I can finish out this current era of employment? I've talked it over with my director at work, but to no avail -- I left without having much of a conclusion.
I'm so incredibly conflicted right now, because my conscience is telling me the exact opposite of what my objective brain is telling me, and it's killing me in the process. I want to do what's right, but I don't want to regret not making a smart career move.
Argh. Anybody?
The facility where I've worked for the past 6+ years will be closing shortly. Our last batch of material is slated to be finished around December of this year, and people will be let go shortly thereafter. There will probably be retention bonuses offered shortly, but the benefit will be marginal at best.
I was offered a job today with a different company, more of an engineering consulting job. It sounds like it would be good, but will require a fair bit of local travel. My first assignment would be to a place ~2 hours one way from my house. It's going to mean a lot of time away from home. It would be a chance to see many different companies and do a lot more engineering work first-hand, which is my preference, but there is an opportunity cost.
I have been with my existing company since the early days of our particular facility, and though they've told us we're no longer needed, I still feel a strong dedication to the place. I really want to see it through to the end, and I know I am one of the only people left who gives a hoot about it.
Within a year or two, my wife will probably be going back to school so that she can teach at the collegiate level. In her given field, it's debatable as to whether you need a master's degree or Ph.D. to teach, but since the trend seems to be toward the latter, that's what I'm guessing she'll land on. However, it's not confirmed yet. If she goes with a Ph.D., she might want to work more beforehand to get more experience, as it's usually straight to academia afterward, whereas someone with a master's degree is still employable in a corporate environment. If she chooses to work more, it would delay everything by a year.
When she goes to school, there's a virtual certainty we will be relocating to another area of the country. This would mean a new job for me. I'm OK gutting it out at this travel-intensive job for a year or less, but I'm not sure about doing it for two years. I also feel a really big pull to stay through the end at my current job, even though objectively speaking, there's almost no reason for me to stay (other than the travel thing). It's just idealism and my sense of morality making things difficult.
So my question: what do I do? Stick it out at the current job? Leave for the other job? Hope that we end up moving within a year? See if I can delay taking the new job until later, so that I can finish out this current era of employment? I've talked it over with my director at work, but to no avail -- I left without having much of a conclusion.
I'm so incredibly conflicted right now, because my conscience is telling me the exact opposite of what my objective brain is telling me, and it's killing me in the process. I want to do what's right, but I don't want to regret not making a smart career move.
Argh. Anybody?
