Which Job Would You Choose?? (Advice Needed) (employee, credit, apply)

[ChocLot]

First Job: Large credit union associated with major federal government agency. Position: Teller Supervisor; salary: $35,500. 30-45 minute commute by Metro (Metro fare benefits paid by employer). 10 nearby offices, so there is room for advancement if higher-level positions come open.

Second Job: Small-to-medium sized credit union; no agency attachment. Position: Assistant Manager; salary: (Position not yet offered, salary unknown). 15-20 minute commute by car (Metro not easily accessible). No other offices, so there is little room for advancement.

Which position would you choose?

The first job is a guaranteed offer; the second is very likely, but the decision will probably come sometime this week. Which job would you take:

Less pay/supervisory duties, but more room for advancement?
or
More pay, a promotion and little room for growth? What salary would the second job have to offer to sway you to take the position?

[maf763]

Personally, I'd prefer the first one - free commute, better opportunity for advancement - if you are good, you can move up the system. I think the second job would have to be in the low 40's for me to prefer it, assuming benefits are the same.

Certainly, only you know what is best for you, and there are factors like work environment to consider. Your age might be a factor as well - if you are closer to the beginning of a career you might want the place with more advancement opportunities.

[Cecilia_Rose]

Originally Posted by ChocLot

First Job: Large credit union associated with major federal government agency. Position: Teller Supervisor; salary: $35,500. 30-45 minute commute by Metro (Metro fare benefits paid by employer). 10 nearby offices, so there is room for advancement if higher-level positions come open.

Second Job: Small-to-medium sized credit union; no agency attachment. Position: Assistant Manager; salary: (Position not yet offered, salary unknown). 15-20 minute commute by car (Metro not easily accessible). No other offices, so there is little room for advancement.

Which position would you choose?

The first job is a guaranteed offer; the second is very likely, but the decision will probably come sometime this week. Which job would you take:

Less pay/supervisory duties, but more room for advancement?
or
More pay, a promotion and little room for growth? What salary would the second job have to offer to sway you to take the position?

Youre the one who has to pick but Ill offer some opinions. Im leaning towards door #!.

First some questions.

Job A has free transportation.
How much is this worth in $. What would you have to pay if you paid to ride the Metro. Your real salary is $35500 + cost of transportation.

Job B you will need a car. How much will this cost. Gas. Parking. Do you own a car. Can you get by without one if you take Job A. How is traffic. Job A is 30-45 with you sitting reading the paper. Will Job B still be 15-20 during rush hour.

Im leaning towards Job A because it is a major govt agency and has 10 offices near by. Job B may be more money now but govt jobs are usually more secure. And when you out grow this one it will be easier to move. Also with a larger complex there will be lots more people for you to socialize with. More places to do lunch shop etc. The comute is a little longer but you wont be driving.

This is something Ive learned from being old. Small offices are like small towns. Everybody is in your business. This is fine if you all get along. Its Hell if you dont. And trust me. Never being able to "get away" from your co workers for breaks lunch etc wil drive you nuts after a while.

[GypsySoul22]

First one...the second may never materialize...

[slim04]

Honestly, I probably would pick the job where you got along with your potential bosses better and has the better environment. If you are in a miserable job situation, you rarely perform to your potential.

But if all else equal, I probably would take job #2. Why? From what I remember in the banking industry (I used to work there 10 years ago), a supervising teller is not a professional job. I vaguely remember the typical supervising teller was a person who didn't go to college, work for years as a teller, and didn't have any upward mobility. You just supervise the mechanical aspect of processing cash and do general customer service. This isn't a good background for investments and loans (the bank's bread and butter and how it makes money), so I don't know how far you would progress at this credit union unless it had a management trainee program. Occassionally, I would meet a VP of Community Relations or HR that started as a teller, but it was pretty rare.

An assistant Manager, I would imagine you would oversee both cash operations and things like opening new accounts, working with commericial accounts, and most importantly, lending. You would also get more exposure to dealing with bank regulators and banking laws like the community reinvestment acts, etc. As for no upward mobility at a small institution, when you are ready to move on just lateral to another credit union or bank. I would think that after you spend a few years at a small credit union as an assistant manager, that larger credit unions would be interested in you.

Good luck.

[ChocLot]

Well, an offer was made for the second job. They only offered $38K. They've been told that that's too low and the preference would be between $40-45k. They are supposedly going to discuss and call back.

One other thing...just realized that Job A is hourly...it's $17.00/hour. So, that's not a true $35,500/year...it's more like $32,640 with potential for overtime. Job B offers no potential for overtime but they give bi-annual bonuses (they didn't say how much).

Ugh....this is a TOUGH decision!!!!

[maf763]

That is a tough call. If job 2 comes in higher it would help, but right now you're in coin-toss territory.

[ChocLot]

Tell me about it.

On the one hand, there's the lower position at Job A ,but it's a much larger institution. Of course, with the job market the way it is, advancement to Asst Manager level could come 6 months or 6 years from now. And who's to say how much would be offered? Could be more or relatively similar to Job B.

On the other hand, Job B offers the position now, but it's probably a ceiling level of management. While job-hopping is not the goal, I could foresee getting the management experience now and in 4-5 years (when Bachelor's is complete) move on if advancement isn't happening.

[Joe_Ryder]

To be honest I wouldn't even apply for any government position outside the military. I'd only want to work for the military as military personnel and never as a civilian. In the military the chain of command is clear and there is surprisingly little politics whereas office politics are a big factor in the civilian world and unreal in government organizations. My wife was a federal employee. Her and everyone I've ever known who worked for the government were stressed out zombies within weeks. I've never known any civilian federal employee who looked forward to anything but retirement no matter their position. Their stress is seldom due to workloads but seems to be from inter-office BS.

Advancement in government can be problematic as seniority is always 1st priority. In the private sector good performers are promoted more readily than long time goof-offs. They are profit oriented so good work is noticed. In the government you will only be promoted when a position is available and there's no one with more seniority to bump you out of it.

My opinion is option 3; Keep looking. Neither of these jobs sounds particularly appealing and I think you can probably do better if you really want it.

[ChocLot]

Just a note....the job isn't working in the federal govt. The credit union is for a government agency...so the job is not one classified as working for the govt.

Also, current job is with a bank as a Teller Supervisor making $15.00/hr, with TERRIBLE hours, so either of these two jobs would be better.