Job offer after 10 months at current employer

--chris--

Most of the time, these threads are posted and the OP has either made up their mind or the OP is BS'ing. I'm neither, I am truly looking for opinions...so whatever you toss out is appreciated.

Details in the wall of text (I tried to avoid it!), tl;dr at the end....

My last employer was a Credit Union, I did 50/50 network/security & compliance work. I worked there for 2 years, realized I had no where to go and things were getting to easy. While I worked there I befriended our independent auditor, we have lunch and dinner frequently when he visits the area I live. I told him (while I was working there) I would enjoy doing what he does one day, "how do I prepare myself for this work?". He was very willing to help, provided guidance and input and over the past 2 years we have developed a mentor/mentored relationship.

Skip to 10 months ago, I leave the credit union to start a WFH job as a security analyst. I am very happy here, but I do have one complaint. When I hired in, I asked about travel and was told "very little, 1-2x a year for a week or so at a time". I have traveled 6 times in 10 months. I appreciate some people love traveling, but I have a young family and the kid doesn't get why I am gone. I have voiced this to my bosses, they said sorry and just asked I do my best to "roll with the punches".

My work here is 50% vulnerability management, 30% Splunk admin/user and the rest is random stuff like security approvals for projects & change tickets, incidents, policy update/creation. Typical blue team stuff?

Back to the auditor. He approached me back in July when we attended a con together and asked if I was ready to work for him. He offered a 35% increase over what I make now, no out of state travel and I would get to do some red team things (phish attacks, SE engagements, basic perimeter inspection & poking around) as well as some auditor-like things. This is also WFH except for 1-2 days a week onsite with the (in-state)clients.

I am having another dinner tonight with him and he has already asked me to think about the job again.

He is well regarded in the trade, the state regulators know him well and love his work, he is booked out until 2021 because the banks/CU's love his work....I feel very lucky to be offered this job, but at the same time I have only just begun working this new gig and don't even have 1 year in yet. That makes me feel uneasy.




tl:dr

I have been in my new job about 10 months, friend/mentor/business owner wants me to work for him. I feel very lucky, but uneasy about leaving after 10 months.

Thoughts?

I skip from two positions "You have to look out for #1" and "its not right to do to your current employer".

scaredoftests

Are you happy at the job you have now? Do you see a future with them? With the new position, do you see a future? See new technology? How are the benefits compare? If you feel uneasy about leaving after 10 months, I understand. I had a few offers while I have been in this position (I had an offer the 3rd, 6th and 10th month) and I declined them all because that is how I felt, uneasy about jumping like that. You should wait another 2 months and see how you feel then....

srocky26

You gotta do what's best for you.

You said that you were told travel 1-2x a year and have already traveled 6 times in 10 months. The company's response is to "roll with the punches", they don't seem to put much thought into your situation and what's best for you.

If this other opportunity is a sure thing that will last years, then I don't think a 10 month stint will affect your resume much. I guess the big issue would be if you decide to change jobs again and run into someone from your current employer that remembers you left after 10 months.

MeanDrunkR2D2

Do what is best for you. If your current company had a layoff they'd have no concern about you and your wellbeing. Look out for yourself and do what you want to do that will be best for you and your career. A big raise and more enjoyable work makes it a no brainer.

LionelTeo

nth wrong with taking up new offer after 10 months. Just let em and ur future employer know uleave cause u are joining to help ur friend. I think ur pretty covered.

DatabaseHead

That potential new opportunity sounds really good. It sounds like it aligns with your family and fatherly duties....

NotHackingYou

Take the new job and don't look back. They can roll with the punches, just like you were asked to do.

TechGromit

I think 35% pay raise is too good to pass up, especially with no travel involved. Just make sure the job has decent benefits, if you have to get medical on your own dime for your family, it can easily eat up that pay raise and more.

Mooseboost

I would take the chance with the new opportunity. While you have not been there long, the position doesn't seem to be what you expected and it may not be what fits into your goals and life. I wouldn't stay in a bad fit position just to rack up x time at a position.

It sounds like the new position however is something to be excited about.

draught

Is your fear that you'll be have to burn a bridge in order to leave your current company? I suppose you should explain exactly why you are leaving when you put in your two weeks do what's necessary to make it a clean break with no burned bridges.

Are there any other fears you have besides this?

mgeoffriau

You have stated that leaving after only 10 months makes you uneasy, but haven't really explained why?

Are you concerned it will look bad on your resume? Or that you might miss out on a good opportunity at your existing employer? What exactly is the source of uneasiness?

--chris--

draught wrote: »

Is your fear that you'll be have to burn a bridge in order to leave your current company? I suppose you should explain exactly why you are leaving when you put in your two weeks do what's necessary to make it a clean break with no burned bridges.

Are there any other fears you have besides this?

Change is risk, staying put is the safe bet. The new job is a client facing role, which means if clients don’t like me or my reporting style than I may not work out.

I’ve been client facing before, I can do that well. So the risk is small.

It’s just that change is a risk and that always makes me nervous. The guy asking me to work for him seems to think I’ll be good, so that’s a vote of confidence.

scaredoftests

then go for it..

MeanDrunkR2D2

I'd say go for it. The rewards out weigh the risks.

EANx

Have you talked to your potential future boss about waiting two months as opposed to two weeks? A lot of people would get that you wouldn't want to look like a job hopper on your resume and that a year is a solid line. If he's truly a mentor, he should be open to a conversation.

LonerVamp

You forgot another category of post: The kind where the OP's mind is made up, they just don't know it yet.

You gave bad about the current job, and good about the new prospect.

You always do what's right for yourself, not your employer.

For me, when I do work, it's:
1) for me
2) for my loved ones
3) for my friends/team mates
4) for my boss
5) for customers
6) for the company

(off the cuff, I might argue myself a few here and there)

dave330i

It's a 35% raise and potentially better work/life balance. Not a hard decision.

--chris--

LonerVamp wrote: »

You forgot another category of post: The kind where the OP's mind is made up, they just don't know it yet.

You gave bad about the current job, and good about the new prospect.

You always do what's right for yourself, not your employer.

For me, when I do work, it's:
1) for me
2) for my loved ones
3) for my friends/team mates
4) for my boss
5) for customers
6) for the company

(off the cuff, I might argue myself a few here and there)

You are right, it does appear that I only give the "bad" about the current job. However that is only an artifact of attempting to avoid a wall of text. I need to try to hit the high points in the OP

My current boss is so-so, he's not big on managing people and is doing so reluctantly. This however does not make him a bad boss. He is very hands off and as long as you can explain an action he doesn't get upset about mistakes.

I am a mentor to my (junior) coworker, which I enjoy. He's eager.

I am given the freedom to build and change the vulnerability management program how I see fit. The same goes for the reporting and alerting in Splunk, whatever gets the job done.

Thats all positive stuff. However the frequency of out of state travel is a problem. I have let them know I am not happy about that and they have said they will try to avoid it, but with my role getting involved in the audits (this occurred because my boss said I "present well") and me working from home...when an auditor wants to meet I have to travel to the office.

Some potential bad about the new job:

• Long onsite-hours (less WFH)
• Less flexibility in scheduling my work day (right now I can work "whenever" as long as I make meetings as needed)
• More report writing (I enjoy this, but does anyone REALLY enjoy that?)
• No 401k
• No Medical (My wife's is phenomenal)
• Commuting
• Faster pace - potential for more stress

We (the auditor and I) are working through details now. We both like the idea of working together, but we are going slow to ensure its a good fit.

gespenstern

I'd do almost anything for 35% rise. No remorse about leaving after 10 months.

sedamen

Hi Chris

This part is from your first paragraph " I told him (while I was working there) I would enjoy doing what he does one day, "how do I prepare myself for this work?".

He offered you to work for him. Isn't that what what you want to do ? 10 months in your current job should not be the reason why you would stay there. Are you happy there? It seems like you are not liking the travel times.

Go for what you love and always do your best. If anything happens ,then is it meant to be.

JoJoCal19

--chris-- wrote: »

Some potential bad about the new job:

• Long onsite-hours (less WFH)
• Less flexibility in scheduling my work day (right now I can work "whenever" as long as I make meetings as needed)
• More report writing (I enjoy this, but does anyone REALLY enjoy that?)
• No 401k
• No Medical (My wife's is phenomenal)
• Commuting
• Faster pace - potential for more stress

We (the auditor and I) are working through details now. We both like the idea of working together, but we are going slow to ensure its a good fit.

Emphasis mine. If I can give one piece of advice, don't overlook this. The rest of the information on the offer looks great overall, but that bolded point is the one thing I REALLY miss from my old job, and I think you might too. I had a deliverable based job that was fully WFH. I worked when, where, and how I wanted to as long as my deliverables were done. Now I have zero autonomy over my schedule. It sucks. I'd take a pay cut to go back to that same setup. Also with regard to the travel, so it looks like you had to travel 6 times in 11 months and didn't like that, but you're ok with traveling 1-2 days a week? That adds up to a lot more than 6 weeks in 11 months at that rate.

--chris--

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

Emphasis mine. If I can give one piece of advice, don't overlook this. The rest of the information on the offer looks great overall, but that bolded point is the one thing I REALLY miss from my old job, and I think you might too. I had a deliverable based job that was fully WFH. I worked when, where, and how I wanted to as long as my deliverable were done. Now I have zero autonomy over my schedule. It sucks. I'd take a pay cut to go back to that same setup. Also with regard to the travel, so it looks like you had to travel 6 times in 11 months and didn't like that, but you're ok with traveling 1-2 days a week? That adds up to a lot more than 6 weeks in 11 months at that rate.

There is the insight! I need to talk this aspect over with my wife, we have not really explored that flexibility yet (and may never), but she needs to realize me working from wherever is only found here.

Travel 1-2x a week at the new job would be commuting, not over night trips.

Thank you.