Choosing final career path – Guaranteed work life balance V’s more interesting work

Gracie.Lou

Hi all,

Need to make final career path decision this weekend.
Background – mid 30’s, fair bit of job hopping in the past (tax, financial and management accountant) and need to decide on a job and stick with it.

Currently work in public sector as a cost accountant.
Have a job offer with an accountancy firm and would find the work more interesting working with multiple clients.

I need to decide if work/life balance is more important. Currently have flexi hours, 30 annual leave days and rarely any overtime and live locally to work.

If I go back to an accountancy firm, will need to commute, no flexi, long hours, 22 annual leave days. I worked in an accountancy firm while completing training contract and would not be exaggerating if I said I worked at least 60 hours a week and several weekends.

Is it time to think long term and what would be best for life balance as opposed to thinking with heart on what I would find more interesting and exciting.

Any thoughts welcome.

Elessar

I think you'd be absolutely mad to give up 30 days holidays, zero extra hours and no commute to go work for a firm where you know you'll just work constantly. I worked in finance for a while and know this is the norm across the industry - you have it very nice at the moment. Personally, I think you'd seriously regret it.

Unless you're desperate for extra money, stay where you are. As you get older you'll more than likely want the work life balance over anything else. In finance that's very hard to find. But only you can decide.

diomed

Easy choice. Stay where you are.
If you move you could be out of a job in the next recession, coming shortly.
I'm retired. I was a chartered accountant, worked in audit firms until my late 20s then moved into industry, and took early retirement at 56 (half pension).

There is nothing exciting in work. It is work. If it was exciting you would have to go to ticketmaster and buy tickets.

For my last fifteen years my alarm clock went off at 6 am and I rushed to drive 13 miles to work and clock in at 7:30.
The business was unprofitable, we had three years of no pay increases and not much after, only got two annual bonuses in my time there despite working all hours, incl one year every day (and I mean seven days a week, every week) from mid-November to 1st January (Christmas Day and St Stephens Day off), worked much of my annual leave many times.
My final task was spending a couple of months preparing data to allow the company invoice a client for three major categories of work that my predecessors had not invoiced for seven years.

There is not one reason for you to move. If you want excitement look outside work.

Teyla Emmagan

No contest. You have a great number where you are now. What about the future? You might have kids/take up some mad sport/decide to study more/have to be a carer. Your current job gives you the flexibility to make choices, the other one will not. All they will be interested in will be getting the hours out of you and you could spend half your life on the road. Fuggedaboudit

hooplah

The work life balance is important, and work is a big part of that. You'll be spending eight hours a day, five days a week in work so I think that if possible you should find work that is rewarding in itself.To do that it should be challenging and interesting, as much as possible.

It should be possible to find something interesting in your public sector role - though it might mean putting yourself forward for new projects, advancing ideas or maybe transferring to another section.

I would hate something like 60 hour weeks, working weekends etc. I'm nearly 40, have a wife, kid on the way etc. I might have gone for something like that a few years ago however. You could always take the longer hours, more exciting work now and look to transfer later?

mickmac76

Hang onto your current job for sure. The balance you have now is important and if you change jobs you might never see it again.

Why did you apply/go for interview for the other job OP? It's unusual to go to the bother of that if you're happy in your current role.

I took a job head over heart for work/life balance. Turned out to be a terrible decision, the work was boring and slow, the environment was toxic and I slowly lost my mind and motivation.

After months of wondering what the hell I'd done I realised that I thrive on a faster pace.

I'm obviously going against the grain with this, just wanted to point out that some people do far better and find a better mental balance when they're busier and more engaged.

dev100

Gracie.Lou wrote:

I need to decide if work/life balance is more important. Currently have flexi hours, 30 annual leave days and rarely any overtime and live locally to work.

Most people are striving to achieve this... Do you get paid overtime ? Do you get a pension ? You've got to think long term rather than short term.

Gracie.Lou wrote:

If I go back to an accountancy firm, will need to commute, no flexi, long hours, 22 annual leave days. I worked in an accountancy firm while completing training contract and would not be exaggerating if I said I worked at least 60 hours a week and several weekends. is it time to think long term and what would be best for life balance as opposed to thinking with heart on what I would find more interesting and exciting.

You've got to ask yourself what do you want from life and work ? Can you see yourself at 64 yrs of age commuting doing long hours . As one poster put it if it was exciting youd pay Ticketmaster for a ticket. My philosophical view is unless I'm a highly paid soccer player work is work I'm there because I have to be there and not because I want to be there we all like more money and less hardship. I'm striving for better money and less hours and more flexibility In my earlier 20 s it was about excitement and going new places for work etc I've realised now going to new places cuts into my personal time with no extra remuneration for that.

Private sector is a rat race your only as good as your last job always remember that .. Do you want to be spending 2 plus hours a day commuting working silly hours sitting down at the end of year to do a review and being told "your work is good but" just so they can keep expectations of a pay rise low and keep you striving to do more. In my job claps on the back are for a job well done . I can't spend that in Tesco's either !!!

If you seriously thinking about it for 60 plus hours a week you would want to be substantially rewarded financially and having a reasonable expectation of climbing up career ladder .

Senna

Yep, you are similar age to me and I've spent years working the "interesting" job that consumes your life. In my case the money was better but I switched to the boring job 9-5, last year and could not be happier.
My advice to anyone is work the job with the least amount of hours possible, while still earning enough to get by. You should only be spending your time at work to provide for what you want to do after work each day.

the14thwarrior

You should stay where you are, but start looking at different opportunities perhaps? a different area, a different office, a different job but in the public service? consider doing training courses in the evening etc. if you wish.

no need to stay and be bored however, or it will eat you up no end and in another 10 years time you will constanly be asking yourself could i have done better etc.?

johntune

Gracie.Lou wrote: »

Hi all,

Need to make final career path decision this weekend.
Background – mid 30’s, fair bit of job hopping in the past (tax, financial and management accountant) and need to decide on a job and stick with it.

Currently work in public sector as a cost accountant.
Have a job offer with an accountancy firm and would find the work more interesting working with multiple clients.

I need to decide if work/life balance is more important. Currently have flexi hours, 30 annual leave days and rarely any overtime and live locally to work.

If I go back to an accountancy firm, will need to commute, no flexi, long hours, 22 annual leave days. I worked in an accountancy firm while completing training contract and would not be exaggerating if I said I worked at least 60 hours a week and several weekends.

Is it time to think long term and what would be best for life balance as opposed to thinking with heart on what I would find more interesting and exciting.

Any thoughts welcome.

Any chance of getting a career break and testing the waters in the private sector?

Jim2007

Well I doubt that public practice will more exciting... but another option would be to join the practice and work towards getting your practice certificate and then go out on your own. You would only need to have 15 - 20 clients to generate an income for yourself and you could always do contact work when necessary.

Gracie.Lou

All,

Thank you for all the responses, really appreciate it.
Have made mistakes before and I can't afford to make any more (becoming harder to correct).
Friends and family fed up of me as I have changed/looked for jobs so many times.

Brief background.
The new offer is for tax, which I personally have a strong interest in.
The role I currently perform is not the role I applied and started. (Not long after I had started, a staff member left and I was moved to perform their role. The role was meant to be modified to undertake costing and monthly financial accounting tasks, the latter never materialised).
Went to recruitment agents for a financial accountant role, and somehow ended up with an offer for a tax position.

I am on a rollover/renewable contract in current position (verbal promise of permanency after so many renewals) . I am going to stay put and wait for a more suitable financial accountant role in business/public sector.

Thank you all again for your thoughts above.

Gracie.Lou

Gracie.Lou wrote: »

..................

Is it time to think long term and what would be best for life balance as opposed to thinking with heart on what I would find more interesting and exciting.

Any thoughts welcome.

You don't mention the financials as being a factor, if that's the case stay where you are......... until something comes along that makes the decision to leave really really easy.

Being flogged to death won't be interesting or exciting.

My sister did the KPMG thing and hated it......... she's had some crap jobs since but has never regretted leaving KPMG from what I can gather.

Also "mid 30’s, fair bit of job hopping in the past (tax, financial and management accountant) and need to decide on a job and stick with it. " ............. mid 30s is young nowadays, some of the most interesting people I know don't know what they...........

Jawgap

In my mid-30s I went the opposite way to what you are suggesting and joined the Public Service.....I wanted some stability, a decent work/life balance (because of a young family) and some different opportunities. Then nearly 3 years ago (now 50) I hopped out again, mostly for financial reasons, but also because I'd reached a stage in my career where I could negotiate my own deal.

It really all depends on how you use your time in the PS. I used it to finish out my professional education (they are pretty good at paying for stuff like that) and getting more proactively involved in my professional body to build a profile.

In the final analysis it's really whatever you think will suit your circumstances, but whatever you do, have a plan, at least in outline, about what you want to do and where, with some broad idea of when. I think whether you stay in your current job or move, it's a mistake just to drift along.

Finally, do I regret leaving the PS? Sometimes. My remuneration package might be financially better but the idea of being 'off' is a very nebulous one!! If a client in some far off part of the world wants something and its 10pm on a Sunday night here, you can't really object that its the weekend. I don't really have holidays......just extended periods when I'm not in the office Finally, in my own area I'd say the work is not necessarily more interesting, but it is definitely more intense.

Good luck with whatever you decide.