Advice please! Back to work, offered new job..

MJGoodwin

 

Hi everyone. I am a new mom, I had my son Ryan on Dec. 10th of last year and am looking for a bit of advice. This is going to be long: 

So I graduated from college with a bachelors in accounting and in business. I immediately started working as an auditor. I chose auditing because of the money and travel. What I didn't realize was how crazy the hours are. I work 80 ish hours per week Monday-Saturday during the months of Jan-May (with no overtime or extra pay) and I'm traveling about 3 months out of the year. I don't get a lunch break or any other break during the day. I am literally on the go from 6am-8pm every day. When I am at home I am constantly checking emails and answering questions from my clients, reviewing my team's work and taking care of admin type stuff. We lost a ton of employees over the past year so I'm doing double if not triple the work for no extra pay or promotion. I get paid $53,500 per year which is more than enough to support my family.

I just had a baby 11 weeks ago and can't stand the thought of being away from him so much. I would love a 9-5 type of job so that I could see my baby at night and on weekends and actually be in a good mood and not stressed out each night when I come home. I started looking for jobs that fit that description and was offered a job yesterday.

This new job is Monday-Friday 8 hours per day (you can come and go whenever you want as long as you get your 8 hours so I'd go in at 7 and leave at 3 or 4 depending on if they'd let me work through my lunch or not). It is a senior accountant position with a Fortune 500 company. No travel. There are profit sharing bonuses each year and good benefits. The most any employee works there is 45 hours and that is when they are slammed. They are offering me $55,000 starting out.

Take it or not? On paper it is exactly what I am looking for so I'm not sure why I'm even hesitating. I love the people I work with and the clients that I work for..I just can't take the hours. I'll never get this time back with my son and I just want to be with him as much as possible. Thanks for any help.

buffyverrban1

One of my friends has the same job you currently have. And I know it is a very stressful job. She has always said, when she has a family, she will have to find a new job. It's not fair to your little baby to be gone so much (when there is another option)

Since there is a reason you are hesitating, there may be a reason, or it may just be nerves. Here's what I do when I can't put my finger on what's stopping me from making a decision.

 I take a sheet of paper and start writing. Things like, My name is _____, I was offered a job doing _____ I feel like _____ about the offer. Sometimes I write nonsense like, "Today the weather is cold and snowy, my driveway is full of snow and needs to get shovelled."

Either way I usually keep writing until I end up writing down what is bugging me when I stop trying to analyse and just let it come.  

But my opinion is, if it is a good job, with good pay, and it's just nerves that are making you hesitate. I would take the job. You will enjoy LO a lot more when you aren't working 80+ stressful hours a week. 

OhBaby+2013

Take the job!  Jobs will come and go but your baby is only a baby once!  I too have a crazy job but am lucky to live in Canada and have a year off with my DS before going back.  With that said I will likely look for something closer to home and a bit less demanding before I have to go back.  The idea of only seeing my son on weekends already breaks my heart and I still have 11 months until I go back!

orangegoggles

Not sure why you wouldn't take it! It sounds a lot more of what you want in a job. Nerves about starting over? Worried about bring low man on the totem pole, possibly first to be layed off? If figure out why your hesitating then go from there but it sounds like an ideal situation. Good luck!

nichhollle

I'm a retail manager and I get 50+ and the earliest I'm off is 7, at the latest 1 AM. Was offered a job M-F two days after having my son and TOOK IT. Its a little bit of a pay cut, but it's so worth it. The next week or two I spent second guessing my decision, but only because switching jobs is so stressful. 

 

I think you're making the right decision! Good luck! 

sbevmc09

Just based on what you've said I'd take the new offer in an instant.  Your current job sounds like the perfect recipe for mommy burnout to me.  Just my $0.02.

ally2011

I would take it In a heartbeat. 

I don't see how you could maintain any work family balance in your current role.  

Good luck! 

jo4janet

If you don't take the job, you will feel so guilty about it later! It sounds like you're worried about the change, but the pros definitely sound like they outweigh the cons and you can always keep in touch with your old coworkers. good luck

SummerOH

I had a similar experience to yours.  I was an auditor for NCUA and traveled several times each month.  The pay was great but it got to be too much because I was constantly missing DD's activities and hated being away.  I took a pay cut to have a job very much like what you describe.  It was the best decision I've ever made.  The flex schedule is AWESOME.  Whether it's for a doctor's appointment, DD's activities, or just to leave early to spend some time with my family, the flexibility is priceless. 

I had DS Dec. 14th and will be going back to work Monday.  I'll be working 7:00-3, but that's just a loose schedule.  Knowing I have the flexibility to be there at all of his appointments or work a half day to take him to do fun stuff is so great.  Also, the pay cut was surprisingly temporary.  It only took me a year and a half to get back to where I was, and now 4 years later I'm well over what I made before.  My "new" company paid for me to get my MFE, then paid me more for having it!  Yours is probably the same since it's a Fortune 500 company. 

Sorry to ramble, just wanted to share my experience since it's very similar to what you're in.  Take the new job!  You won't regret it.  A flex schedule is so great when you have kids.  Your current job will burn you out and make you miserable.  I was nervous when I took the job but I'm so glad I did. 

MJGoodwin

Thanks to you all for all of your help. I think I'm going to take it! My husband is totally on board. In fact, his response was "take that ***!!" 

I am nervous about starting over and learning a totally new job but I think that even with the stress of learning all about my new job it would be worth it. Thanks again to everyone for all of your help! Now I just have to tell my partners the news. 

lightheaded1der

It sounds like you work in Big 4 (EY alum here). I completely understand your hesitation about this. It's more than just taking a new job, it's making the decision to step off of the career fast-track. That being said, I left audit to start a family. Like you, I worked a lot of hours and travelled a lot and just really wanted predictability. 

The partners and senior managers really put pressure on me to stay, making lots of promises like flexible working arrangements, offering me more money,  and pointing out other moms in my office who seemed to be able to handle it all. On the other hand, my mentor (a senior manager with two young kids) told me one day during busy season that she hadn't seen her kids awake in two months. That broke my heart, and I decided to quit because I wanted a baby and I wanted to SEE that baby.

i know it's such a hard decision to make, but unless you have ambitions of making partner someday, I would leave. Like you, I left (as a senior 3) to be a senior internal auditor at a Fortune 500. When I interviewed, my boss told me that if I was successful at EY, there was no reason I wouldn't continue to climb the ladder at my new job. He was right! I have been at my new job for 1.5 years and have received pay increases totaling 16k and a promotion. There is a lot of opportunity in a Fortune 500.  My biggest regret is not leaving sooner. I have a baby now and I can't imagine working those hours and traveling so much.

 Good luck to you! 

samiam052

I was an auditor for a top CPA firm until about a year ago when one of my clients offered me a position as the director of accounting. I jumped at the chance since I knew I wanted a family. I now work from 7:30 to 4:30 and I am off on the weekends. I also have an 11 week old baby (born 12-12-12) and I can honestly say that I am so glad I made the switch out of public accounting. I love being home more with my family and having that quality work/life balance, plus you gain more relationships.

Our partners kept telling me I would be bored and so at first I also hesitated jumping, but after long discussions with my current company I realized that there is always something to do. I would imagine if it is a Fortune 500 company you too won't be bored. I also was nervous because I loved working with my clients (but I was going to one of my favorite clients so that helped). My advice is that you should do your due diligence and really make sure that the job description is something you like.

 

You can PM me if you have questions, it sounds like we were in similiar situations because we had a lot of turnover too and I worked on average 70 hours a week.