Do I have too much on my plate? (fairly long)

[NewJeffCT]

Am I crazy in considering this or not?

From early 2001 through early 2003, I worked for a good company but under terrible working conditions – not only did I have an hour commute each way, but the people running the department were always in crisis mode. Basically, every little thing was an emergency bigger than yesterday’s emergency and had to be solved immediately. I worked a lot of hours and was on salary, so it was expected. 60 hour work weeks were common, and 70-80 hours working was not unusual. And, this was often with somebody breathing down my neck, and the necks of the other worker-bees in our department. (words from one senior person in our department, "If I get fired because this isn't done by x date, I'm not going alone..." and, this guy's boss - the company controller - when a woman's teen son got hit by a drunk driver & was in a coma, she wanted to take time off to be with him, the controller's response was, "I hope it doesn't interfere with your quarterly responsibilities.")

I finally found a new job much closer to home in early 2003. The new job was also a decent raise and required very little overtime. However, it was a slightly different industry than I had worked the previous 13 years, so I had to learn a lot of new terminology, new formats, different financial statements, etc.

The day after I started the new job, my daughter was born.

In October of 2003, we started having a new house built for us that was finished at the end of June of 2004, less than 6 months ago. It enabled my wife to have a much shorter commute to work (65 miles each way would become about half that each way) and not increase my commute much at all. We sold our old house ourselves.

I do not know if I have been distracted by the baby and/or the house or if it is also partially a letdown from going from a pressure-cooker atmosphere to a more laid back place. Or, maybe it is a combination of everything on top of learning a different industry. But, my performance at the new job these past almost two years has not been what I would personally call stellar, to put it mildly. I find myself sometimes making simple mistakes and forgetting some basics on occasion. Have I done a crappy job? Not really, but I am not happy with myself. And, I do not really like my job that much, which could also be part of the reason. Even though my salary & title are better, the work itself seems to be beneath what I had done at the pressure cooker place before.

That said, I have been contacted in the past month about two good jobs for seemingly good companies that would require me to relocate – one to another, more expensive, part of Connecticut (or Westchester area NY) and another to the Richmond, Virginia area. Both would be back in the old line of business I had worked before.

Also, my wife, while she has been very successful at her current job (3 promotions in less than 2.5 years) is not entirely happy at her current job, either. She would be open to a move. Being closer to NYC or in a metro area like Richmond, it would probably be easy for her to find a good job.

Most of my family is along the I-91 corridor of Connecticut.

Is another move & new job going to drive me completely insane?

[crispini]

1. Well, in my area in my industry (tech),

a job change every 2 or 3 years is OK, but if you do it too often you start looking like a big ol' ho, so you may want to take that into consideration as well, if it applies to your industry.

And if you JUST got a new baby and a new house, I'd be inclined to let things settle for a while, but I'm kind of a nesty-nesty type. How does your wife feel -- not necessarily about the new job, but about having to move AGAIN, having to disrupt all those ties etc.?

You sound like you want to do it, but you also sound like you have a lot on your plate right now.... you almost sound like you are posting because you are wanting to be told NOT to do it. Does that make any sense?

HTH....

[NewJeffCT]

2. You're probably correct

I was wondering if anybody would say, "are you frigging insane?"

My wife is fine with moving, though.

The house is almost 6 months old now, the baby almost 2.

I'm in the accounting/financial reporting field (yes, a liberal accountant!)

[crispini]

3. Everyone's got their own energy level.

And everyone has their own appetite for change. The question is: Is it change to hide something else, i.e. change for change's sake, or do you really think it's a positive move in the right direction? Only you & your wife can answer that.

In the immortal words of Buckaroo Banzai:

"No matter where you go... there you are."

Sounds funny, but my life settled down a lot once I understood the full reality of that phrase. :P

[NewJeffCT]

4. well, to be honest

To be honest, I think both jobs would be good career moves for me in the long run...

And, I'm confident my wife will do well career-wise wherever she goes.

I would like some place I could work at for several years, and I think my current job, and both these new jobs could do that. However, who knows how stable any field is under the Bush economy?

[crispini]

8. Ah, THERE's a really good thing to consider.

Hadn't thought about that. Don't forget to investigate your future employer (and current, if you haven't already done so). Do your due diligence re: the management of the company, their track records, plans for future acquisitions, all that good jazz. Gotta get an idea of where they wanna go to make sure you don't get outsourced out of a job or something similar. These days, it pays to be an informed employee. :D

[commander bunnypants]

5. hi from richmond

CB

[NewJeffCT]

6. hi

I've heard good things about the Richmond area. But, it would be good to get one more blue vote in the state (to be followed by one more when my wife whenever finally gets citizenship!)

[commander bunnypants]

7. if you want me to send u a newspaper

or anything if you decide on richmond.. PM me

CB