Hello-

While I know I am the only one who can decide this, I thought it would be interesting to see what other people think and what they might do. I was recently offered a job that I am very close to taking. What would you do?

Current Job/Situation
I am currently in my late 20s, gainfully employed in a job that I enjoy with a great boss and a ton of autonomy. I can also walk to work which is pretty amazing. I make pretty good money (low 6 figures) but it is a government job, so increases are pre-defined and realistically, it is not a long-term gig for me. I am about at my promotion potential with my current agency. My wife and I will almost definitely move in 3-4 years and nowhere we go will have the types of government jobs I would need/want. That is to say, I am not planning on being a career civil servant.

I am also starting a master’s degree this fall that is part-time and will last 2 years. I plan to stay employed full-time the entire time.

Job Offer
I was offered a job with a local consulting company (regional, no travel) that is mid-sized and growing (400-600 people). The company itself is great, I enjoyed all of the people I interviewed with and met. The pay would be nearly 20% greater and there are some additional perks such as tuition reimbursement (IRS limit of $5,250/year) and health care reimbursement if I don't use their plan (I currently use my wife’s so this is another $1,200).

I met with my first potential client and they were all great. Very laid back, smart folks that were eager to get me on-board.

Considerations
If I was not going back to school this fall it would be a no brainer. I would take the job offer in a heartbeat. My only hesitation is not knowing exactly what kind of hours I will be working. From the people I have talked to and the reviews on-line, I don't think it will be much worse than my hours now but there will be a bit longer commute (30 minutes more/day).

The job offer also has a lot of potential. I would be brought in as a manager and they have a pretty nice, incentive/performance-based bonus plan (currently I get next to no bonus). Long-term, I think this job would benefit me greatly when my wife and I decide to move elsewhere.

Am I being silly, is this a no brainer? What would you do? What else would you consider? It sounds to me like I'm just a bit afraid of change at this point.

I work for a consulting firm, and we have a fair number of people who've completed a Master's degree while working fulltime at the company. It's not easy, but it's possible. The consulting business tends to have peaks and valleys, and that's what makes it hardest to manage. Two years ago I worked 90 hours/week from October through mid-December (7 days a week, 14-15 hours per day), and then poof, I finished all those projects and suddenly had very little billable work for the next two weeks.

It depends on what kind of consulting you're doing, your clients, and how many projects you take on. At most consulting firms there's pressure to bill most or all of your time to clients, so you end up having to take on multiple projects so you stay busy all the time. That's okay as long as all your projects aren't moving full steam ahead at the same time, which does happen. At that point it would be very challenging to also handle graduate school on the side.

I rarely work just 40 hours a week, it's usually a minimum of 50 and frequently 60-70. I might work one or two 40-hour weeks per year -- but I have a lot of projects on my plate and lots of deadlines, and while I'm a manager I also do some of the work on my projects and do all the QA, so it takes time.

Have you been open with your prospective employer about your plans to go back to school? If that doesn't make them blink then maybe it would work.

I would stay, finish the masters degree and move on.

You know what you can expect with the current job, not with the consulting job.

I would stay especially if the graduate degree is important to you and your career.

Do you have to have it or is just because you want one?

other things I would consider:

-vacation: even if they pile a bunch on you, are you going to be made to feel guilty if you want to break away for a week or two? are they going to expect you to take calls and answer emails while away?
-401k: match? with whom? reasonable investment options? vesting?
-pension: are you walking away from one?
-hours: will probably be much more than what you think. work from home? is coming in late and leaving early kosher?
-commute: i watched this thing on TV once where a guy just went crazy in the middle of traffic. I thought the man was insane. I then spent a summer commuting across Houston, and now I can kind of understand where the man was coming from (not that I would ever loose it like that). I hope....

there are a ton of things to consider. I personally wouldn't ever go back to school. Ever. for what I do, it has no financial gain...

thank you all for the responses and considerations. to answer a couple questions:

-from folks I have talked to, somewhere in the 50-55 hours/week seems to be pretty standard. i realize this will ebb and flow but it is about the same in my current position.
-the new job does know I am pursuing a master's degree and are supportive (hence tuition reimbursement). this will be my second master's degree, I already did the full-time work and school thing once. this is mostly for my edification and learning but it will round out my knowledge/skills nicely. if i ever go back for an MBA i will be looking at a top tier full-time program.
-vacation is comparable to the current job. Realistically, my wife gets 3 one week vacations a year. as long as I can get off for those, that is all I really need. my first client already approved a week vacation in september that I have planned should I join.
-401K match - same as my current, 80% on the first 5%. They have an excellent vesting policy in that you are vested immediately 100% (pretty awesome from what I have seen).
-no real pension in current job and again, I wouldn't be staying in the government long-term anyways.
-commute - while not ideal like now, it is a reality. aside from my most recent job, I've always had to commute.

fantasma - while I understand where you're coming from as that was my initial reaction too, I don't think it is the right way to look at it from a career perspective. yes, the next 2 years might be harder with the new consulting gig, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. and it is a very finite period of time. moreover, the worst case scenario is that I would have to put school on hold. i don't intend to do that but it is always an option.

Based on the additional information you provided, I'd go for it.

For one thing, it gives you some new and different experience for your resume, and it also gives you more flexibility: depending on the kind of work you're doing, some consulting firms are open to telecommuting and even managing projects remotely. I work at home in Montreal but all my clients and colleagues are in Washington, DC; I've been managing projects remotely for 16 years now. One of my colleagues lives in Hawaii and is a senior manager; all of her staff and clients are spread around the world. It can work. I bring this up because you said you're likely going to move in a few years, and if you like working for this company you might be able to take your job with you when you move.

Brad - thank you very much for the advice. I am very close to going for it. I really don't see the downside at this point. Like you said, it will provide tons of new experiences, contacts, and certainly flexibility. They are very open to working from home, etc. depending on the client. My first client seems very flexible. It will certainly be great for my resume. Right now, if I stay at my current job, I will not get any new experiences or learn any new skills. To me, the known workload, etc. is not enough to stay given that reality.

Funning thing - I'm in the DC area. If you're ever in the area for a client and want to grab a beer or coffee, just let me know!

That's funny! All my consulting work is for US government agencies (we're a federal contractor for the most part, although it's a big company and we also do a lot of private sector consulting). It's kind of a revolving door: some of our clients end up coming to work for us, and some of our staff end up going to work for the government. There are restrictions of course (a fed coming to work for us can't work on any projects for his or her former office for a certain number of years) and there are lots of conflict of interest rules to abide by. We go through training every year.

Hey Ambition. It looks like you've already received a lot of great comments to ponder, and I noticed you said you're pretty close to making your decision. The only thing I would add is for you to consider what you want out of your career. You've mentioned you do not want to be a career civil servant. Do you know what you DO want? Have you done any career planning or mapping, or defined short-, mid- and long-term career goals? If so, does this new job help you meet those goals? Or, will it contribute to or lead to other jobs in the future that will lead to you fulfilling your career goals?

Best of luck to you in this exciting time!

All-

Thank you again for the feedback. I just wanted to update this post on my final decision in case anybody was interested in the follow-up.

I ended up accepting the consulting job and then doing something I have never done in my career--reneging on that acceptance. When I told my current boss, we had a few good conversations about my career, what I wanted out of a position over the next couple of years while I am in school, and where I see myself in the next 5-10 years. He has always been very supportive and was able to provide candid feedback from a difference perspective then I was looking at the situation from.

He was also able to offer me a promotion to a management position which he was in the process of going through anyways. I also had a conversation with our CFO where he let me know that I am in line to take over my boss’ position as a Director when he leaves (while I take it with a grain of salt, he will likely leave in the next year or so for various reasons). While the initial promotion is lateral in terms of money, the next promotion will include a raise that puts the money slightly better than the consulting position I originally took. I am also taking on new responsibilities and will eventually take over a new area completely which satisfies my need to continually grow professionally.

I don't think either choice would have been a bad one personally or professionally but I am very happy I get to stay at my current agency. It will be especially nice while I am in school as I have the ultimate flexibility and autonomy here.

Cool, that sounds like a great outcome on all fronts!

Changing your mind on a job offer you've already accepted is hard, but it happens and people move on.

Thanks brad! It was a bit of a strange situation for a short while, although admittedly, really only for me. In the end it does work out well for everybody except for the consulting company but that is the way business works. I felt bad for a few minutes but I always come back to the fact that nobody will manage your career and look out for your interests except for yourself. The new company would drop me in an instant if they needed to/it was advantageous for them so I really do not feel bad. Also, in reality, I did not put them in that bad of a position. Really, they should not have had me interviewing with a potential client until I had signed on to be employed by them.

And it's far better that you dropped the offer now than if you'd started work, gone through training, started managing projects, etc. and then decide to leave.

I've seen that happen way too many times.

Hey the consulting company will get over it. Sound like it all worked out better than you could've imagine. Congrats on the promo!



I agree. Looks like things are better than expected!