# Career fork in the road



## STech (Jun 7, 2016)

Let's say you're an hourly employee for a very large corporation, and you're very good at what you do. One day management approaches you to join their ranks. You didn't ask for this, but management sees a lot of potential in you and knows what you bring to the table. 


Current role:

Pro - You enjoy the work, very good at it, fairly secure job, and you could see yourself doing for a long time to come
Con - No further career progression



Management role:

Pro - More knowledge, more personal and career growth, looks better on a resume, more doors opening up
Con - Likely more stress, not as secure, administrative work only, no idea if you'll like the work or not, and you can't see yourself doing it long term unless you keep moving up in the command and responsibility chain. 


Hours and money wise, call it a toss up, and consider it a step back, for a future two step forward.


I'm curious how many of you have been in a similar situation and what have you done? How did it work out? What would you have done differently? I understand that the minor details like age, financial stability, family dynamics, etc make all the difference in the world, but I'm trying to keep the question as general as possible.

Thanks


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## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

Go thru every open door. When you are younger you should be working 10 hours/day 6 days a week,at least if success is your goal.


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## STech (Jun 7, 2016)

Eder said:


> Go thru every open door. When you are younger you should be working 10 hours/day 6 days a week,at least if success is your goal.


I'm lazy and don't work 6 days a week. I only do 13 hrs/day 5 days a week 

I suppose an optimist will see an open door leading up, and pessimist might find the door leading to the basement.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

To quote the late, great Y. Berra: "When you see a fork in the road - take it!"


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

STech said:


> I'm lazy and don't work 6 days a week. I* only do 13 hrs/day 5 days a week *
> 
> I suppose an optimist will see an open door leading up, and pessimist might find the door leading to the basement.


 ... what will happen if you say "no, thanks" to the management position? Do you have a choice of declining it?


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## tygrus (Mar 13, 2012)

OP, you have just been given the kiss of death and need to change companies as soon as possible. Take it from a former wage slave. 

Management has now put you in an untenable position. If you join their ranks, yes prestige and pay increase, but so does the pressure and expectations. You will be working a lot harder to please more people while at the same time keeping your own dept in line. Plus more hours and being on all the time. Your family will start to have to take a back seat and less free time for you. 

On the other hand, if you decline it, you will be pigeonholed as a slacker forever, and you will start to lose interesting work.

Unless you are an extreme go-getter who is a company pumper 24-7, stay out of management or make it so you work up to it very slowly. Personally I wouldnt have a management position until I am in my last decade of work.


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## Daniel A. (Mar 20, 2011)

Unfortunately nothing is secure anymore even if it appears so. Management roles as you already know offer a path into other area's with pro's and con's.

Companies really don't want to see employee's limiting themselves in a progressive world, at some point change will happen and you may not like it.


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## birdman (Feb 12, 2013)

My son was a branch manager for a company which he did not feel was doing as well as it should. Also, the shop was in a smaller community where the upside in business was limited. Applied for a similar job with a competitor and was accepted but before he could become a manager he had to get into the system. He took a lesser role in a different town and a year later was offered a manager job at one of 3 branches. He picked one that was not doing well as he felt it had good potential. Its now one of the more profitable branches in the province. Worked very well for him and he enjoys his work, his income, etc and it turned out to be a very good move in all respects.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Many of our managers were promoted from within.

Our place was unionized, so people gave up the union to join management.

It started out all right, and it was a rule of thumb that managers earned 25% more than their highest employee.

Managers wanted to look after skilled trades because they were the highest paid. They were earning huge money because of overtime pay.

Over the years it all changed. The company changed to "merit increases" which nobody ever seemed to qualify for.

The employees passed management in pay scales. The managers complained but they had no unified voice.........so tough luck.

Every one of the managers said they wished they stayed as an employee.

Think about it. When companies announce downsizing or cost cutting..........where do they start first ? 

Middle managers usually because they are the low hanging fruit.


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## STech (Jun 7, 2016)

Thank you all for the replies. Always good to hear differing opinions

It's definitely not a kiss of death or anything that dramatic. A simple thanks but no thanks, and things will return to normal and no toes will be stepped on. I have a lot of working years left, and have the drive and ambition. At the same time, I'm very good at what I do, and enjoy it very much. Sometimes there's no need to walk through every open door, but you'll always be left wondering what's on the other side. 

I tell ya, this is pretty tough. It sure makes you self reflect quite a bit, and forces you to think long and hard about what's important to you. I have a few days to mull it over, and I hope I'll have a clear decision soon.


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## Ag Driver (Dec 13, 2012)

Deleted


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## STech (Jun 7, 2016)

^ You make very good points AgDriver, no doubt. But I tell you, I have met lots of older people who in their later years realized that time was running out, the train has departed. Now they're stuck and have to work longer, or have to compromise lifestyle a fair bit in retirement. I'm not talking about people who have spent way beyond their means, and the music has finally stopped. I'm talking about people with the intellect and muscle firepower to be much more, but just laid back, took it easy, did the bare minimum, never upgraded their skills, and never pushed themselves. In their late working years, they become just 1 lay off from becoming essentially unemployable. They get a big shock finding out they're not competitive for jobs anymore, and they find themselves seriously lagging behind others who put a little bit more effort in. Those people have major regrets that I don't want.

Now add to that some have always had bad money management skills, and it becomes a pretty ugly picture very quickly after a layoff. For me, I have always said I'd rather do the heavy lifting early and the coasting late. One major step I'd like to take, is the transition from trading my time for money (on hourly or salary basis). Meaning, I really want to learn and build on passive income, be it in stock or real estate.


Now back to the topic at hand, and this fork in my road. I thought of a very interesting question last night. If I were to win the lottery, which job would I still continue to do. That has firmed up my answer a fair bit already.


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## SW20 MR2 (Dec 18, 2010)

If you're young, take the job and the experience that comes with it. You can always step back down fairly easily - externally or internally. When you get tapped on the shoulder, you need to take it. It's a good vote of confidence, and if you keep doing well at the new job, you're pretty much writing your ticket for the future. This is all based on the assumption that you're going into junior or middle management. 

I'm 39 and have a director-level job. At this point in my life, like others have mentioned, I'm willing to sacrifice money for lifestyle to a certain point. I don't really care to make VP in the future, especially if it comes at the cost of lifestyle. However, when I was younger, I definitely strived to get a manager-level job so that I could increase earnings and get the experience I needed to continue to move up.


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## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

I think the ultimate goal should be to retire around 50-55. 
For millennials that should give 30 years of good health to enjoy retirement.
Most won't get there by hanging on the golf course. 
jmo


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

STech said:


> ... You make very good points AgDriver, no doubt.


Part of the challenge is that everyone is different and values different things.

I can still recall the co-worker who was upset that because the job that was applied for was in HR's view, not challenging enough with no consideration of what the employee's goal was, HR wouldn't pass on the resume. Being concerned to make sure it is a fit is okay but because they couldn't understand the employee's values ... the company lost the employee.




STech said:


> ... But I tell you, I have met lots of older people who in their later years realized that time was running out, the train has departed. Now they're stuck and have to work longer, or have to compromise lifestyle a fair bit in retirement. I'm not talking about people who have spent way beyond their means, and the music has finally stopped.


Not that it matters but I seem to be running into the opposite ... most who have lamented not taking the promotion, after talking long enough were seeing the upgrade in $$$ a solution for their spending & money management issues. They didn't seem to have noticed that those with much higher pay grades with similar issues were making similar complaints. The root of the problem was not tied to how many $$$ were being received.




STech said:


> ... In their late working years, they become just 1 lay off from becoming essentially unemployable. They get a big shock finding out they're not competitive for jobs anymore, and they find themselves seriously lagging behind others who put a little bit more effort in. Those people have major regrets that I don't want.


Question is ... is more of an "administrative" role an improvement on the employability scale?

If you are confident you can move back down, should you decide you hate it ... I'd tend to lean to giving it a try, but that's me.


Cheers


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## tygrus (Mar 13, 2012)

Eclectic12 said:


> I'd tend to lean to giving it a try, but that's me.


I tend to lean to not doing it and instead planning for an early exit by building another venture. Just cause you like the place now, doesnt mean you will in 20 yrs and being a manager wont help you retire sooner. You will give that all back in taxes. 

Never ever rely on one source of income.


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## olivaw (Nov 21, 2010)

I'd be concerned that the salary, job security and potential job satisfaction are lower than the current position.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

tygrus said:


> I tend to lean to not doing it and *instead planning for an early exit by building another venture.* Just cause you like the place now, doesnt mean you will in 20 yrs and being a manager wont help you retire sooner. You will give that all back in taxes.
> 
> *Never ever rely on one source of income*.


 ... now, that's thinking outside of the box and keeping up with the time.


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## tygrus (Mar 13, 2012)

Beaver101 said:


> ... now, that's thinking outside of the box and keeping up with the time.



Mid management level skills are not going to be needed in the future. Big data and AI will render most of those obsolete. More security cleaning septic tanks.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ce-crosses-the-poker-barrier/article34185354/


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## fstamand (Mar 24, 2015)

I have a friend who I went to college with; we had very similar paths, until he took a position as a manager 6 years ago. At first I was jealous, then I started to see that in order for him to succeed, he had to put in many extra hours of his time. I got to shutdown my computer at 4 and go on with my real life.

He backed down as a manager, because of stress and also dealing with crappy employees. We had spent many hours on the phone talking about problems he had with his employees; and it caused him major health issues.

He now makes the same salary as lower management (without bonus) and gets to spend more time with his friends and family. The end.


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