Pay negotiations are done, benefits negotiations are done.
But I have some drama from my current job, since they don't want me to go.
Right now I'm at a weird point where new work is willing to let me get away with 32 hours/week (4 workdays) even though they asked for 37, and old/current work is willing to let me go down to 24 hours/week (2 workdays) just so both places can keep me. It's weird to be so wanted.
I'm honestly thinking of saying yes to that offer.
Pros
Old/current job has the best pay (by far) and a workload that is really easy.
New job has the awesome title that will look showy on my CV, and it will be a fun challenge to fill the position.
Cons
Old/current job has the worst administration I have ever experienced. Seriously.
New job is located on the "wrong" side of main Copenhagen, so I will want to move closer as soon as possible (We have talked about this for years, so it's not really something new as such)
What would you guys do?
Sometimes the most difficult choices are choosing between good things. Yes you can do both but don't burn out...60 hrs a week + commuting is not easy even for a young person. Nobody says on their death bed "I wish I put in more hours at work".
ReplyDeleteThat’s true. I’ll try to be careful…
DeleteCongrats on getting the job!
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'd try to go all in with the new job. Shows dedication and (I think I remember you writing that it comes with responsibilities / management) the mental load from such a job is quite high. Trying to balance two and coming out on the other end at 56h/week is hard!
Not sure if your old job is also located in Copenhagen, but if it isn't, take the commute into account as well. While the train ride between Copenhagen and Malmö isn't terribly long, it's still time you need to put in twice a week.
All that being said - of course it needs to work out finance-wise and the last year was certainly hard on a lot of people. Pay can be a major motivation to put in 60h/week if you need to (e.g. when being the main provider). It doesn't need to be forever that way and you might be able to taper off hours at the second job or go with only the main job in the future.
Housing prices in Copenhagen also aren't cheap either, so if you need to relocate but at lesser pay, I'd take a good look at that. I'd probably chose to relocate to avoid lengthy commutes though, even if it means to pay more for housing. Personal preference though.
Thank you! I’m really happy :)
DeleteYou have a good point about relocating to avoid the longer commute. It’s situations like this where I like to assign myself an “hourly pay” to see what is worth it… My time is, after all a finite source.
New job is in Frederiksberg (Western part of “Copenhagen”) and current job is in Tårnby (Eastern part of “Copenhagen”), but by the end of the day they are both just areas that have been swallowed up by the city and have metro coverage… Moving to Hyllie (Southern part of “Malmø”) as opposed to Malmø C (Northern part of “Malmø”) saves me just ten minutes in the train, so not really a big difference, but Malmø is way more affordable since Hyllie is the hot new area… Hmm.
But you also have a good point about new work requiring more mental work. I have after all never been this high up the management chain, and to be honest, I never liked it. It will require some energy!
Funny thing is, my boss at new work asked for my last paycheck and what I ask for to negotiate pay. I told her “I would just prefer to not go too much down in pay”, which sounded super reasonable…. But I also knew what would happen: She called me up afterwards and went “Yea…. We can’t match that. Not even close”. She then suggested I went from 37 to 32 hours and stayed at my old job too, lol.
I don’t know why I even laugh, it’s not really funny…
Anyways, I guess I’m just greedy. I want both. I mean, I could easily go down quite a bit in pay and we would still be very comfortable, even though Mr Igor makes so much less I haven’t even bothered to ask him to pool his income with mine for expenses. But I like the safety of knowing we have a solid buffer. Meh.
And yea, housing prices in Copenhagen are awful. Something similar to what I grew up in starts at 5 million DKK (Google says 672 thousand Euro). The Swedish side though…
Copenhagen pricing sounds similar to my city (Aachen) - you can get something for lower, but if it's supposed to be in an area that's actually nice, not run-down and not a shoebox, that's roughly what you need to hand over...
DeleteAnd I don't think you're greedy at all. You put in years of hard work and took multiple diplomas, why on earth should there be no money benefit from it? After all, you could have worked in the time you took to get a higher education and earned money then. I know, it doesn't always work out like that and many people with good education struggle to get a decent job, but it's what I'd be aiming for. In Germany, you can leave school at 16 at start working, first as an "Azubi", which means a small pay while you learn the job and after ~ three years, you'll get a normal pay.
Or you can stay in school for 3 more years and go to uni until ~25/26 at minimum. You basically need to earn more then as you had less time overall to earn anything.
You live in one of the most beautiful areas I've been to :) I loved the big, soft hills of the areas of Germany bordering up to Belgium. Seriously underrated area for tourists! (And now I miss travelling, booh)
DeleteI think you moved not too long back, right? So you probably know exactly how big an influence the address has. When we look at the Malmø-area prices, it's crazy. But then again, some areas of Malmø are basically no-go areas and gives Malmø a higher gun crime rate than all the Nordic capitals combined, so it's worth the money for your safety...
Come visit (when we can again)!
DeleteYes, I moved September last year and the pricing difference are insane. Previously we lived in a nice, quiet area, but a bit off the center, in a too small flat. No chance of getting anything bigger there, it's all firmly "in family" and houses sell or are inherited long before you even realize that it was ever open. We moved closer to the center, to an admittedly pricier area, but to a much nicer flat and overall good area.
A flat the same size in another area here would likely cost half, but like Malmø, it's also an area I would not always feel safe in, especially at night. So, cash for safety, it sadly is.
I would love to! :)
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