Job Dilema
polycounter lvl 18
As some might know, I recently went for a new job, and got it. (Yay)
The reason I started looking for work is that things didn't seem to be picking up at my current studio.
The day I get offered the new job, my current studio gets a nice fat contract
The new job means less responsibility (senior artist as opposed to lead), more stability, pension, possibile private healthcare, a 5-6 hour daily commute costing £450 in rail fares until we can afford to move closer. I'll also be asking my partner to move away from her job and family.
My current studio doesn't want to loose me. Matching the pay, plus a bonus. No pension. 30 minute commute by mountain bike. In the past, the comapny has been less stable. They have made me redundant once, and I came back as a freelancer. The contracts means funds for a year of operating, without any other work coming in.
Of course, if more work does come in, I am well positoned to profit from it. Apart from the directors, I'm the most senior person there.
So, stability, security and one hell of a commute on one hand, a gamble that this is the start of good things with the current company or could all be dead in a year on the other.
Any thoughts?
The reason I started looking for work is that things didn't seem to be picking up at my current studio.
The day I get offered the new job, my current studio gets a nice fat contract
The new job means less responsibility (senior artist as opposed to lead), more stability, pension, possibile private healthcare, a 5-6 hour daily commute costing £450 in rail fares until we can afford to move closer. I'll also be asking my partner to move away from her job and family.
My current studio doesn't want to loose me. Matching the pay, plus a bonus. No pension. 30 minute commute by mountain bike. In the past, the comapny has been less stable. They have made me redundant once, and I came back as a freelancer. The contracts means funds for a year of operating, without any other work coming in.
Of course, if more work does come in, I am well positoned to profit from it. Apart from the directors, I'm the most senior person there.
So, stability, security and one hell of a commute on one hand, a gamble that this is the start of good things with the current company or could all be dead in a year on the other.
Any thoughts?
Replies
The commute sounds impossible though unless you move quickly or they help you to move, financially or something is worked out to get you up there quicker such as them putting you up in employee apartments or something as a stopgap.
Your partner is the keything here in that if she doesn't fancy it, you have to find out now and talk it through.
Either this chance is worth more to you, or she is and I expect your past experiences will complicate this issue too.
The big moves always cost more, but thats the balance thats struck between settling for less, or risking more to have more.
Well that's how I would look at it.
You're young, no kids attached, you've still got some time to hunt for the promised land.
r.
It will destroy your social life, 8 hours you sleep, 8 you are at work and 6 in train = 22 hours so it leaves you whopping 2 hours for everything else.
2 hours is not enough so you propably start to sleep less and that will turn you into a zombie - you look like shit you feel like shit and you cant get shit done.
8 hours work and 8 hours sleep per day leaves 2 hours free for your own time after that commute. IMHO it's not worth it.
thnom - Socially, we are into the same things. There is a good goth scene in Birmingham, which is half an hour away. As for work, there weren't any available positions in her choosen field when she checked at the weekend, but I'm sure that work would be available.
Ror - In a way, it has been circumstances beyond their control. This contract has been going back and forth since December. As far as I know, the directors have never taken a regular salary from the company, all money going to costs of the studio and staff. I've been working on a reduced freelance rate to help them get through this and secure this contract, and now it's here...
Yep, past experiences do colour my feelings in asking my partner to up sticks and move. She does tell me that my career is more important, but I think her hapiness has just as much say.
God willing, no kids attached is how it will stay
In hindsight, if I had more ties to the place, I'd of stayed.
I did click stay on this poll, but then realised you're in Bristol, which I consider to be a shit hole. There's enough bullshit design agencies there to fill half of the UK, coming and going once a week. Bristol is the mecca of the westcountry, time to move on.
Can I re-vote?
I'm guessing it's not london you're commuting to, but if you got the chance to work there I'd suggest it. As it's a world away from crappy Bristol.
It's the old thing - when you are going, then they offer more money, and had you not been leaving they wouldn't have done.
I think you ar a lot more secure at the moment and can take the risk.
Cheers, Rick.
Thanks for all the advice so far. Long chats with the missus, too, and family. All very 'errr'
do not commute 5-6 hours daily, that will bring a lot of problems. instead, rent a place close to work for the time being and do the long weekend kind of thing.
as long as it is only temporary until both of you are ready to move, it will suck much less than communting every day.
at a previous job, i commuted for three hours daily and it was awful. not to mention frequent delays, especially in the winter. i was stressed all the time and started to hate the train rides. most importantly my mental state didn't do any good for the relationship.
no time to hang out with coworkers either. bad bad bad.
Never accept counter offers....they just want to buy time to replace you. You will nver get raises since you didn't show loyalty and pretty much got your last raise when they gave you the counter. Just go and explore the new position.
This is a tough one Jon. I sure as hell wouldn't do that commute, even If temporary. That's a nightmare. Seems to me like youve a lot to talk through with your missus. I wouldn't worry quite as much about accepting a counter and staying as folks here are implying. If they value you, I dont think its as big a deal as suggested. Tricky though, only you know the circumstances in detail. Depends how scared you are about getting laid off. Im sure you wouldn;t have too much trouble getting another gig.
I usually write a list of pros and cons when Im completely stuck. Good luck! Personally id veer toward new gig, but eesh, that commute!
As for the job, while I'm not exactly the best person to be giving advice on such things, I will definitely say a crappy commute will make any job into an absolute pain.
where are the goths in birmingham he he All I ever see is office workers??
I lived in coventry for 2 years while working at blitz games BTW. Its a bit rough and the transport is crap,but I have lived in worse places.
yeah the midlands transport was/is the thing that annoyed me most and coventry station possibly the most depressing station in the uk.
Has a big cinema ,ice rink, lots of pubs on the plus side.
Having been in my new job for exacly 2months now around Oxford id say its the Commute that would be your biggest problems.(apart from the family agreements in the first place)
I take a bus then Train to get to work every morning,all up I travel 3.5 - 4 hours a day,but im wondering how will you get to the new place?
I wouldn't trust the trains,Im lucky in that I only go one station up the track,but one of our most popular workers at the office is leaving becuaes he needs to commute daily from outside Reading to Hanbourgh,the jouney should (in theory) take 1.5 hours tops,with 3 changes but he frequently takes over 2 hours just becuase of delays.
The final Straw for him came afew weeks ago when Engineering work over the weekend drifted into Monday at Banbury and no Train was going further North than Oxford,people travelling to Manchester,Edinburgh etc had to go on a huge detour to Worster and Forgate Street before getting connections North.His train although not on the effected line wa salso Cancelled so he wa sstuck in Oxford for over an hour and a half. He spends over 300 pounds a Month on the Railways...for what we both concider a crap service.
Alot of trains are delayed frequently.
also id be weary of fatigue,after the initial few months are over,the tarvelling will be the killer. The 4 hour jouney hasn't got me yet,but its only been 2 months and I stop off to meet friends and go to pubs along the route home which makes it feel shorter.
Hope this helps and Good luck
John
As for the choice... I decided to stick it out in Bristol. I've made so many sacrifices to get to this point, to walk away just when the pay-off arrives... Taking a pessiistic view, if it only lasts a year, then that is still another year on my CV as lead artist, with a few more titles under my belt.
But I must push myself. I really need to get my Maya/XSI skills up to what I know in MAX, and get more hi poly stuff done, so if things do go belly-up, I have a much more rounded portfolio. Having a career with nearly constant racing games will kind of limit what employers will think I can do. It's just a shame that all this took my focus away from the Dominance War compo
The unreliability of public transport in the UK is the last straw. The more connections you have, the worse it gets as delays compound. It seemed like there was some problem / delay somewhere on my journey almost every day.
As for getting pigeonholed with the racing set, I wouldn't worry too much as it really is the skills that count, but broadening those, as you say, won't do you any harm. Good luck!
I'd say you've boarded the train, now you can't run back on the platform. Of course renting a small apartment near your workplace is mandatory if you'd face a commute of more than one hour per direction otherwise.
LOL!
Whilst Gamasutra say it may not be a good idea KDR, and they might largely be correct, that doesn't necessarily mean thats how it is for Jon! You dont know his particular complex circumstances. I know a butt load of people that let EA know ( either directly or indirectly ) that they had counter offers from other companies eons ago and yet they stayed and it worked to their benefit and and they're still hired.
Crazy as it sounds, Jon might even have a boss where he works that actually cares more about his personal happiness than corporate loyalty. That *is* actually possible ya know.
Best of luck Jon! Glad you reached a conclusion.
I've made many sacrifices in my career, for my career - but thankfully with the backing of my girlfriend, now wife, (and now parent, we have 2 little ones)
I commute 3.5-4 hours a day as I live 55 miles from work. I don't see my kids mon-fri, and it sucks. But I have a great job and work with great people on cool projects, and its stable. So its a bit of yin/yang.
We're going to move closer to work in the fullness of time. In the meantime, I'm away to work at 6am every day and get home after 7pm. I think its worth it - but by god am I tired come friday.
You'll do whats best dude - my choice would be to go the new place, but what do I know...
No wonder people thought I was bit cranky there he he. suffice to say it didn't work out there. anyway good luck, you had a close escape form coventry there:)