I'm currently employed with a Housing Authority mowing lawns, killing rats and picking up literally tons of garbage from the folks that live off our taxes. It's not a bad gig, eight hours a day, union, great retirement and benefits. Problem is that I'll never get more than a meager COLA per year (thanks union), there's no place for advancement as I'm at the top and I'm not sure if I can do 25 years of rats, roaches, garbage and politics.
My last company's new branch manager took me out to dinner tonight and offered me my old job back in management--no field work, $5000 a year bump in pay, commisions, a 4% COLA next year and company truck. He had addressed many of the issues I had previous problems with and was working on a big one I still had. The company is #1 in the nation with a ton of room for advancement but is high stress and long hours. It is a TON of pressure and stress, being on 24/7 call and managing a big pack of morons and lots of cranky clients.
There's a lot more to it than this, but that's the jist of it. What do you guys think?

a couple of "points"
1.  Are you happy where you are?
2.  Will you be happy where  you are 10 years from now?
3.  Is the "known" stress you would be entering worth the extra $96 a week?
4.  will "the big one" still be a potentional problem in a year?  If so will it still be bad enough to make you want to leave?


$5000 sounds nice, but $96 a week doesn't sound THAT great when it's broken down for longer hours higher stress.  If you were planning on promoting up/out of that kind of stress then I would go for it, but if I was planning on staying in the same position that has already proven to me once before not to be the right spot for me then I would stay with the H.A.  Just me .02

The company is #1 in the nation with a ton of room for advancement but is high stress and long hours. It is a TON of pressure and stress, being on 24/7 call and managing a big pack of morons and lots of cranky clients.

How tempting....

Tough decision, you can stomp rats and roaches but not morons and cranky clients.

A few years of good management experience could lead to bigger things. I'd say tough it out for a while and see where it goes.

Why is 'management' your OLD job?
Why are you where you're at now?

STRESS KILLS.

How can you use the bump up now to better your future, possibly with another company or even in a different field of work?

Is autonomy important to you?

Damn.  Good Luck on your decision!

Quoted: a couple of "points" 1.  Are you happy where you are? 2.  Will you be happy where  you are 10 years from now? 3.  Is the "known" stress you would be entering worth the extra $96 a week? 4.  will "the big one" still be a potentional problem in a year?  If so will it still be bad enough to make you want to leave?

Thanks for a well thought out reply, good stuff. Let's see:
1. Fairly, I'm a big fish in a mudpuddle but some of the things I am asked to do are horrible (evictions, playing "where's the smell coming from" in crawl spaces, lifting urine/feces/blood soaked mattresses and carpets into dumptrucks).
2. I think I might be suicidal after doing this for 10 years.
3. I'm hoping that the changes in the branch will alleviate some of the known stress. I just realized that Sam's is right down the street from that office--lunchtime mag dumps relieve stress, too
4. I think the new honcho will end up laying down the law with the "big one" or firing him altogether.

As far as toughing it out, that's part of it, get back into some co. paid for classes and grab a free MBA and move up and on

Quoted: Tough decision, you can stomp rats and roaches but not morons and cranky clients. A few years of good management experience could lead to bigger things. I'd say tough it out for a while and see where it goes.

Stomping morons and cranky clients is a benefit of my job

Quoted: It is a TON of pressure and stress, being on 24/7 call and managing a big pack of morons and lots of cranky clients.

Ask 1GR or OdT if you can fill in as a forum moderator for a couple days to see how you like this kind of environment.



If you are young and resilient, dealing with pressure and stress can be rewarding, build character and gain you experience--especially if you know there is a path out/up after a while.  If you are old or non-resilient or a parent, it is probably not worth it.

It sounds like you have already made the right desision and now its time to take advantage of the offer and move foreward with a rewarding career.  Experience is the key to overall success and with three or four good productive years as a manager there are always rewards at the end of the tunnel.

Yes, you may have to work sixty plus hours a week, be on call for operational and staffing needs, and make road trips from here to willy wonka land but who cares,.... the potential salery and bonus increases should be worth the long term effort.  Wacking rats and triming grass sounds like job for mindless bone head with no positive future. Move foreward and make something for your self and your family.  

Years ago when i worked for Seattle First National Bank i was just the general floor employee that worked in the main data center and making base salery.  The same thing day in and day out for five years and then for some lucky reason my manager offered me a promotion and signing bonus.

It took about five minutes to provide a good anwser and by the next week i improved my earning by ten grand a year plus bonus insentives.  I had the whole damm floor to manage and the stress to go with the change in status but it was worth  it.  By the time i left the bank i was making four times the money the other guys were making on the floor and the experience i received was the added bonus worth pure platnum on the resume.  There's nothing like sitting in the Captains chair, screw the unions and dues Bs.    
     

Quoted: Quoted: a couple of "points" 1.  Are you happy where you are? 2.  Will you be happy where  you are 10 years from now? 3.  Is the "known" stress you would be entering worth the extra $96 a week? 4.  will "the big one" still be a potentional problem in a year?  If so will it still be bad enough to make you want to leave? Thanks for a well thought out reply, good stuff. Let's see: 1. Fairly, I'm a big fish in a mudpuddle but some of the things I am asked to do are horrible (evictions, playing "where's the smell coming from" in crawl spaces, lifting urine/feces/blood soaked mattresses and carpets into dumptrucks). 2. I think I might be suicidal after doing this for 10 years. 3. I'm hoping that the changes in the branch will alleviate some of the known stress. I just realized that Sam's is right down the street from that office--lunchtime mag dumps relieve stress, too 4. I think the new honcho will end up laying down the law with the "big one" or firing him altogether. As far as toughing it out, that's part of it, get back into some co. paid for classes and grab a free MBA and move up and on

Change sounds good to me.

Thanks folks, you're reinforcing what I already knew and I really needed some direction from some different perspectives. Today I'll start the negotiations for stuff like keeping vacation time at the same level as when I left the company, getting a decent blackberry and control of the projects I sell.  

I left the high stress job to do what I do now. It wasnt the company or my superiors as it was the workload responsibility (lotsa .gov work) created stress.

I actually enjoy going in and hitting a clock, knowing I can come right back there and hit it again and walk away from it all.

Life is short. A change seems in order. If you need another one, you can do that too.

Lots of good advice here. My .02 is to go for it.  Sounds like the old/new boss is trying to be accomidating.  You don't get that every day!

1. Fairly, I'm a big fish in a mudpuddle but some of the things I am asked to do are horrible (evictions, playing "where's the smell coming from" in crawl spaces, lifting urine/feces/blood soaked mattresses and carpets into dumptrucks).

There are too many nasty ass diseases being carried by folks these days. Your long term health is not worth any job, and dealing with that description, it is bound to happen. Go with the new/old job offer, suffer through the stress, and keep looking for the greener pastures out there man.

Go do a quick search on "Maslow" and his hiearchy of needs.  Your current job only meets your fundamental needs unless you are self actualizing away from work.  If you want to grow (move to the top of your pyramid), you'll need to know that growth, recognition and reward are available.

I'd take the new job and develop the skills necessary to manage stress, customers and work flow.

Go for it. You can always move to something else later.

Some people enjoy punching a clock and others don't.  Same goes with stress, some handle stress fine and some have a real hard time with it.  I have to agree though, stress does kill.

I haven't punched a time clock in over 8 years at my current job.  If you think taking the management job will advance you with your company, and that's what you want to do, then do it.

Don't worry about having fun at work, that's what they make gun shows and shooting ranges for.  

That almost sounds like my current job.

on call 24/7
Managing Idiots and morons
Cranky clients

Damn I almost would rather be doing the other Job.

Well there seems to be a general consensus. I met with a couple of the managers who still work over there yesterday and got a little insider scoop as to what's going on. A lot of my previous issues had been with a general lack of accountability in some dept.'s and employees with very selective upper management enforcement. This has since changed and a lot of the control issues I had are resolved as well. Further, the current gig has really changed the way I look at the big picture in my field, allowing me to see money making sales opprotunities that no one else in my business even notices.

Another thing that has changed is that I had previously been 100% engrossed in the business so much that I had no outside hobbies or relationships. Having no outside stimuli helped to exacerbate the situation. Lately I get out more with like minded folks and have a positive stress relief program based on the massive expenditure of lead

Maslow---AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!! Put a stake in my heart why don't you!?! I majored in Psych., now I kill rats..........  (Had to drop out to feed the family--no regrets though)

I got a work order 10 minutes before quitting time yesterday that said:
"Verizon tech says that rats are chewing through the wires under xxxx unit, please take care of rats."
Anyone think that I'll get around to this in the next two weeks?