Now, I realise a lot of this is personal to me so I won’t pre-empt your responses but:

I’ve been given the chance at work to state my claim for my potential next position within a potential minor re-org. I can choose an enthusiastically derived (by me) position of more responsibility and financial reward, yet more likely less flexibity and more head above the parapet, or I can shrug my shoulders and become/remain one of the minions – and I don’t mean that in a derogatory way – plodding along in my current flexible WFH role having dismissed the idea of any immediate demonstration of said enthusiasm and therefore promotional activity.

At this stage neither one or the other is certain, but those that shout loudest etc…

Obviously I’ve had a good think about it but I’d be interested to hear how others might go about considering the options to see if I’ve missed anything.

What?

Sorry, its aimed at people with a “corporate” vocabulary.

I can choose too:

a) Name/invent my own challenging new Senior role, be seen as an enthusiatic person who wants to be on board the corporate bus or

b) I just work here, leave me alone with the lower rungs of the ladder

What would make you happiest?

What would make you happiest?

Thats the £££ question that I’m seeking the answer to. Becuase I don’t know the impact upon my/my family time the former option would have becuase it currently doesn’t exists.

To state that I want to be at a senior level of responsibility in a busy well rewarded role yet have the flexibility for school holidays, kids & training/attending bike races and posting on STW seems like having your cake and eating it.

If you don’t know the answer to this, then you are already “one of the minions”

do it – chances like this come along very rarely, if not you may well see someone else doing that job not as well as you and being paid more cash !

only issues would be if you have childcare/other commitments that you need to be at home for..

No one ever wishes they’d dropped in on less singletrack

Look at the balance.

Is there more stress and responsibility?

Will it effect you home life?

Will it improve your home life?

Will give you job satisfaction?

If there’s too many negatives will the extra cash out way those.

It’s about deciding what’s important in life….

100% Costa Rican Arabica

It really depends on your personal circumstances, i.e. dependents, age, financial commitments etc. all seasoned with a sprinkling of your own personal / professional ambition and targets. If it helps I’ll give you my experience.

I worked for a company for 14 years gently working myself up to a lower management position with a reasonable remuneration. I told myself that I stuck at it because it provided me with reasonable security and the flexibility to be able to do school runs etc. I short I was coasting. Towards the end of my employment there I decided that I needed to push myself more and resolved that on returning from annual leave (3 weeks in BC) I would start to push myself. I got back off holiday and within 2 weeks had been consulted, offered a compromise deal to leave quickly and left the company. 6 cold and scary months followed whilst I was out of work with a family to support. I eventually got back in work and pushed myself. After a couple of years I decided that I was not going to achieve my aims in that position and started looking elsewhere. I’m two years into this role and again considering my options. The one thing that I’ve reayy not lost is too much flexibility.

Bit rambling I know but I guess the message is don’t think you’ve got to coast in order to retain flexibility and control over your own time. Coasting can lead to stagnation which can damage your chances of finding work should the worst happen. You said that “likely less flexibility”. How likely and how important? Also more income is always a good thing as it gives you more options, as long as you retain a reasonable work / life balance.

Hope this helps.

IME being one of the boys in a senior position, earning the big £’s, getting recognised etc and spending sufficient time on personal stuff (passtimes, family etc) don’t go together. They are normally mutually exclusive. Also the former is usually transient as you’re often one reorg away from being yesterday’s news…

Decide where you want to spend your time/direct your energy. Talking Corporate bollocks to similar like minded eejits or earning enough to fund your quality personal time and having the opportunity to enjoy it?

Not that I’m showing my bias here or anything… 😉

I’ve always avoided senior positions for the following reasons:
– I don’t consider myself an ambitious, driven person and work doesn’t motivate me
– More money normally means more responsibility, which I equate with stress, something I know I don’t react well to
– Politics tends to get nastier the higher up the food chain

BUT I think the job protection is better the higher up the hierarchy you go, as when job cuts come along, they always hit the people at the bottom first.

Really you need to work out what motivates you.

If you think you can cope with it, give it a go. I had a really successful time in my 20s, drifted in my 30s prioritising family and turning down opportunities, now stuck in my 40s with no chance of anything.

Don’t regret prioritising the kids, do regret not trying to have it all.

a) Name/invent my own challenging new Senior role, be seen as an enthusiatic person who wants to be on board the corporate bus or

But you are clearly unsure of your own capabilities.. that will translate into how others see you, will you really be effective?

So B

How good is your work/life balance at the moment? Are there things you really, really want to do that you can’t because you don’t have enough money (not talking one-offs here, but ongoing, ‘lifestyle-y’ things)? How much do you value home time and how much time with the family would you have to give up? Do you feel you’d have more self respect if you were in a senior job?

And while Rocketman is right that no one ever wishes they’d dropped in on less singletrack, some people might also always regret not going for the promotion. Which do you think would give you the biggest “what if?” feeling, looking back in 20 years?

It’s all so personal. I got put through a psychometric analysis thing when going for my current job, which I’ve since learnt ended with “You need to ascertain whether Steve’s total lack of success to date is due to lack of opportunity or lack of ability”(!) I’m on 20k a year, manage a team of 10, live by the beach and get to cycle to work most days. In my book that’s pretty successful cos I’m really happy with my life, but I appreciate that some people would see it as not much for someone my age.

Yup, agree with the “if you need to ask, you’re not up to it” vote – Minion on drone-dude 😛

If you don’t know the answer to this, then you are already “one of the minions”

This.

Worrying about taking the next step up is something everyone does. Being actively given the opportunity to move up, but being so unsure that you look for advice on a forum is another – money ain’t everything, and it sounds like you have a pretty good balance at the moment.

It’s hugely personal though, so good luck either way.

If you don’t know the answer to this, then you are already “one of the minions”

Are you on the apprentice?

Coyote and PZ Steve you have both hit the nail on the head, thanks – to others contribution also. I do feel like I’m coasting in a “safe” role and I do “bored” very very badly. But I also know what I’m capable of and know I can write a Senior Level Job Description that would fulfil and stretch my capability. I wouldn’t be bored and would get much more job satisfaction out of it.

It would then be up to the powers that be to determine whether that job can be made available for me.

If not, or if I take the “do nothing” approach its always been my view that once my daughter leaves nursery and I can drop those fees (22 months to go!), I’d have more financial flexibility/less risk to go looking for something more interesting either inside or outside my current employer. FWIW I’m a long term employee -22yrs, so the potential – and yes not legal but potential safety net of a perhaps decent redundancy arrangement is always a small consideration at the back of my mind should it come to that.

And

loum – Member
It’s about deciding what’s important in life….

100% Costa Rican Arabica

Lol!

How about – play the corporate game for a while, but live well below means, pay the mortgage off, bang up the pension, and a few years later review life – your choices will likely be a lot greater.

If you can keep up with the newly elevated position go for it. It will be at the expense of personal freedom (WFH and less flexibility).
Only you can say whether the loss of that freedom is worth the financial recompense.

Nothing wrong with Minions.

Damn good tyres.

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

It’s not what you do in your job that matters it’s the sum of everything you do and are that matters. I’ve actually just taken on a role with more responsibility but it also means I no longer have to travel and that’s the big up side for me. Going home every night after 20 years of waking up some mornings and not being quite sure of what city I’m in or even what country is fantastic. Sure there are things I’ll miss and I’ve seen places I would never have been otherwise but now I can commit to things I want to do. I’m now a regular Park Runner and last week joined Sussex Nomads.
What’s right for us changes, do what’s right for now and when it’s no longer right change it again.

I agree with the others saying if you have to ask then you’re not the right personality for the type of senior role you describe (not an insult, I’m the same). The extra responsibility & salary likely comes with extra baggage, more pressure/stress and more demands on your time, you have to really want the former to put up with the latter and it doesn’t sound like you do.

How about – play the corporate game for a while, but live well below means, pay the mortgage off, bang up the pension, and a few years later review life – your choices will likely be a lot greater.

…is an option, yes.

The issue I have is I’m enjoying “relatively” successful bike racing, and at 43 having got to this point I don’t want to drop it or my other involvement in the sport. So by the time I do that the option would be gone mostly, and although I’m not averse to moving out of London and enjoying the scenery slowly, I’m not ready for that yet.

do what’s right for now and when it’s no longer right change it again.

Hmm, I like that view, thanks.

FuzzyWuzzy – Member
I agree with the others saying if you have to ask then you’re not the right personality for the type of senior role you describe (not an insult, I’m the same). The extra responsibility & salary likely comes with extra baggage, more pressure/stress and more demands on your time, you have to really want the former to put up with the latter and it doesn’t sound like you do.

I think some mis-interpretation of my OP here – although I’m happy to take the blame if I’m not being clear.

I have made the decision in my own head which is not irreversible – its not been communicated yet. What I’m asking is other’s experience of making that same decision to be sure I haven’t missed something.

Thats the £££ question

More responsibility for £££?!

Hold out for more.

I’m in a similar position, but I spent a lot of my 20s travelling – either for fun or for work.

I spent most of my 30s contracting & living the good life. I’ve now been at one company for nearly 5 years, 3 contracting & 2 permanent.

I quite enjoy my job at the moment, but realistically I am coasting. I have about 20 years before I retire. Moving company won’t see me increase my salary (I’m already top-end for what I do) so my only option is to increase my value to this or another company somehow.

My trouble is I’ve managed people before and it’s a massive ball-ache so ideally I’d want to stay technical, but more senior.

At some point I’m going to need to have “the chat” with the senior management here – am I seen as a person who will move up or am I just stuck in this role with slight increments forever?

If it’s the latter then I’ll probably go back to contracting as the money is better and I can tell people to do one if they need it.

I quite enjoy my job at the moment, but realistically I am coasting. I have about 20 years before I retire. Moving company won’t see me increase my salary (I’m already top-end for what I do) so my only option is to increase my value to this or another company somehow.

My trouble is I’ve managed people before and it’s a massive ball-ache so ideally I’d want to stay technical, but more senior.

At some point I’m going to need to have “the chat” with the senior management here – am I seen as a person who will move up or am I just stuck in this role with slight increments forever?

This, although I quite like the management. Its not just me then – phew!

know I can write a Senior Level Job Description that would fulfil and stretch my capability. I wouldn’t be bored and would get much more job satisfaction out of it.

Write the job description before you choose.
Then read it as if someone else had written it.
Then try to make an impartial assessment – If that job had been advertised cold, would you have applied for it?

I often finds that this technique helps clarify my thinking on work issues.

Write the job description before you choose.
Then read it as if someone else had written it.

Thanks for this, very useful. I was quite happy with what I wrote yesterday, but this afternoon I re read it and it feels like I’d be applying for hell of big job!

End of March my last job was made redundant. During the consultation period I got two job offers. One permanent, five miles away and the opportunity to move into management. The other a contracting job, initially for two months, thirty miles away across open countryside, hourly rate equivalent fifty percent more than the permanent job but potentially risky, as all contract jobs are.

Mrs_d was going through treatment for cancer at the time, had previously been a team leader and her advice not to go for the job with management responsibility unless I like dealing with other people’s problems as well as her cancer (she’s ok for now, thankfully ) swung it for me.

I’m still in the contract role. No pressure, my own boss, no minions to Lord it over. Fine by me.

Worth remembering that sometimes seniority can bring flexibility alongside responsibility if you set yourself up right.

Interesting the number of people who say don’t try and challenge yourself but would test their ability to ride a drop or singletrack better.

You spend a lot of time at work so why not stretch yourself a little.

If nothing else I would have a pop at the job description