Hrs a week worked

UTfball68 said:
So my advice is...take every opportunity you can, to put you on the path you want to be on, until you can't/don't want to any more/change paths.
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This is basically why I've ended up doing an internship with company A right now. Working for them is opportunity alot of people I'm in school with want. They interview ~30 people a semester and take one so I see this as a great opportunity to gain experience if nothing else.

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I would go with Option B... When we first moved to Charlotte I was working 80+hrs a week for close to two years. About half of it was nightwork. Wife absolutely hated it. I loved the paychecks but had no time to do anything. I've since moved into the office where I typically work 40-50hrs a week and I have flexible hours. Much happier, less stress and happier wife.
 
If you do job A for a year or two, would job B hire you back later? That would allow you to save up a bunch of money before you get married, then transition to a more family friendly job situation when the time is right, and have a broad range of experience later.

Money earned earlier in life is worth more later in life. But if you aren't disciplined enough to sock it away, the time is worth more than the crap you blow money on. You need to decide what is most valuable to you.
 
Loganwayne said:
I see your point. And I know this is gonna seem crazy but if I was to go with job B when I quit/left it, it would be to work for myself. BUT that is totally dependent on how the economy goes in the next 5 or so years. If you take that into consideration job B would offer more experience towards going on my own. Job A would basically provide the means faster but wouldn't build my personal reputation with subs that I would end up using if I went out on my own

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The reality is your probably not gonna be at either more than 5/10 years for any number of reasons.Your generation will not be the one that spends 30 years in one spot.At my age Id take the less money for less stress.When the time comes wife and or kids will make the decision more clear.I have no ideal how many hours I work,I don't even try to keep track,I start when I'm ready and quit when I'm ready,but if you count my time on the net lookin for stuff,time on the phone and time driving to look at shit that's not what its suppose to be its a lot.
 
Loganwayne said:
This is basically why I've ended up doing an internship with company A right now. Working for them is opportunity alot of people I'm in school with want. They interview ~30 people a semester and take one so I see this as a great opportunity to gain experience if nothing else.

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At the end of the day, you're going to have to put in time on the front end to get what you want on the back end. It's not right, but most professional jobs/industries will require some sort of pizzazz on the resume. The cover of the book has to be interesting enough to want to read the book. But again, that's determined by where you want to go in your career. If the internship alone opens the doors you want open, great. If 4 years with company A opens those doors, then you know what you have to do.
 
So the amount of information about both jobs is really small. But just going on what you've said, and not knowing how old you are, I'd go with option B. The quality of life sounds a lot better, and you're starting at a higher position. Sure, it pays less, but is that the most important thing when it comes to personal happiness and job satisfaction? You haven't even said what the pay delta is, and unless it's a pretty big delta then I wouldn't make it part of the decision making process.

What this really means though is that every day of experience at job B is a day of experience at a potentially higher level of skill/responsibility/etc., and when you move on to your next job you'll be at a higher level too. There is a lot of truth to the old cliche that the best way to get a raise is to switch jobs (i.e. switch companies).

Job B may offer less money now, but is it a step toward a faster upward path that would eclipse the amount of money at job A within a relatively short amount of time? It's great to be able to plan your career path at a company 10 years in the future, but that naturally assumes that the company will still be around, that your position will still be around, and that you will still want to work for that company for that long instead of doing something new/fresh/different/upward. I'm a believer in planning your career path at a company after you're working for the company, not before you're working for the company. There are very few companies that allow you to see things clearly before you start working for them.

So I would caution you against thinking in terms of short term money, and think more about quality of life, career starting point, career ending point, and how each job would affect your path along the way. I suspect job B would be the wiser choice; but again we're all going on the small amount of information given.

It almost sounds like job A is a waste of time in your career, even though it pays more. If you're not very young, that's a serious consideration.
 
Going back to the question you asked us:

According to my timesheet, I work 80 hrs every 2 weeks, occasionally going over into "credit time" which is then cashed in later. plus vacation time etc.
In reality when you add up after-hours time at home its around 45-50/wk.

My job is definitely more like Job B, and i wouldn't trade it for anything. But I'm a family guy w/ 2 kids, house and too many projects.
... you'll never have more time of your own than when you're single and no kids....
 
I was just posed with the same issue job wise. I unfortunately took the more money/more hours at first. I spent just over 2 years stressed out, hating my choice. And with my skill set my 45-50 hour job turned into 60-70+ and NEVER went a moment without thinking of work or being on the phone constantly when I was home and at all hours being called in. I had horrible effects on my health and my family life to the point Beth and I split up for a few months.

I finally got smart and left that in September. Now I luckily got the other job I had wanted and even though it's a little less and I'm the shop foreman so I can't really move up I love it. No where near the stress, I actually enjoy going to work and staying late if needed. Work stops at 415 whether I stay or not my phone doesn't ring past then. I'm healthier and actually sleeping again.

Take the comfortable job that will let you enjoy your life and maintain your family and hobbies.

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Job B

You say that the chance of promotion/advancement is small, but I'd be willing to bet that is from an outside perspective. Take the job, put in extra work, prove your worth, find an area to really make a difference and you'll be surprised the opportunities that open up, even within the company.

With the extra time you have, you can put effort into networking, conferences, additional education/training...all of which will help your position within company B, never mind building the chances to get shopped from bigger/better organizations.
 
tkeaton said:
Job B

You say that the chance of promotion/advancement is small, but I'd be willing to bet that is from an outside perspective. Take the job, put in extra work, prove your worth, find an area to really make a difference and you'll be surprised the opportunities that open up, even within the company.

With the extra time you have, you can put effort into networking, conferences, additional education/training...all of which will help your position within company B, never mind building the chances to get shopped from bigger/better organizations.
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The reason I say there isnt much room for advance is company B is pretty small and family run. As an intern I went from a general labor to a PM / estimator helped close several job deals, and was finishing up a budget assessment for a hotel that they have a contract on. That said it's me the son in law in the office as PM's, the owners son is head of operations.

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I'll pass along the advice of my father the workaholic, Colonel , CEO of a major bank at one time, marathon runner , and retiree (at 56). When I considered giving up working on high end european cars and going into banking he told me DO WHAT YOU LIKE. It won't feel like working and if you're good at it the money will find you.
I will tell you my advice. If you have any ideas of doing your own thing, go where you can get the most experience and try your own thing as soon as you're able. You're young enough to go broke and bounce back if needed. My friends who waited got bogged down in life and are stuck working for the man. As far as hours worked a week, 35.
 
BIGWOODY said:
I'll pass along the advice of my father the workaholic, Colonel , CEO of a major bank at one time, marathon runner , and retiree (at 56). When I considered giving up working on high end european cars and going into banking he told me DO WHAT YOU LIKE. It won't feel like working and if you're good at it the money will find you.
I will tell you my advice. If you have any ideas of doing your own thing, go where you can get the most experience and try your own thing as soon as you're able. You're young enough to go broke and bounce back if needed. My friends who waited got bogged down in life and are stuck working for the man. As far as hours worked a week, 35.
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This is about what I would tell you. Take B with the plan to start your own. Do side jobs to gain a customer base. Once you get into the rat race it's hard to get out. A company/employer will monopolize your life, stress you out, and pay you just enough so that you can't afford to get out. This April will be my 30th year in business for myself. There's ups and downs in everything you do, may as well control your own destiny.
 
For job B...

Not to say Job A is a better option but something to consider with Job B. With it a small family run company with the son in law and son of owner as PMs, etc and then you as a PM, who do you think will be the first to get the boot if work slows down?
 
rockcity said:
For job B...

Not to say Job A is a better option but something to consider with Job B. With it a small family run company with the son in law and son of owner as PMs, etc and then you as a PM, who do you think will be the first to get the boot if work slows down?
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Me no questions asked.

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Another huge thing to consider, and I wish I would have paid more attention to at the beginning of my career...are benefits. 401k vestiture, insurance premiums, quality of coverage. And most importantly, if it's some place you plan on being for a while, get as much paid time off as possible up front. Generally a lot easier asking/getting a raise/promotion than it is getting extra time off.

tkeaton said:
Job B

You say that the chance of promotion/advancement is small, but I'd be willing to bet that is from an outside perspective. Take the job, put in extra work, prove your worth, find an area to really make a difference and you'll be surprised the opportunities that open up, even within the company.

With the extra time you have, you can put effort into networking, conferences, additional education/training...all of which will help your position within company B, never mind building the chances to get shopped from bigger/better organizations.
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And that's great for the time at Job B...but what about after Job B. Chances are good, no one born after 1985 will stay in the same place more than 7 years, especially on the upswing of their career.

Sure, he might become the biggest swinging dick at Job B...but there's a huge difference between being head fry cook at mickey D's, than there is being a preparer at a world renown 5 star restaurant...who do you think is going to get more opportunities? Different knowledge foundations are created. (I don't mean that insulting towards job B, just using it as an example). That's what I was getting at earlier, it may not be right, but employers looks for the pedigree.
 
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Well one job is pushing for a career as a superintendent the other is a project manager. Two completely different tracks. Yes you can switch from one to the other but most places see moving a pm to a supervisor as a downgrade and most of the time won't move a superintendent to a PM position. Although they are both equally important two totally different job sets in my opinion

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Do not work yourself to self destruction, my drive took me to success in life and now I am paying the price with physical pain.
 
Loganwayne said:
Well one job is pushing for a career as a superintendent the other is a project manager. Two completely different tracks. Yes you can switch from one to the other but most places see moving a pm to a supervisor as a downgrade and most of the time won't move a superintendent to a PM position. Although they are both equally important two totally different job sets in my opinion

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Ah...that's different then...was under the impression they were the same style job...just different workplace culture.
 
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