Job dilemma - what would you do?
Discussion
I'm an accountant and I've been doing my role (management/financial accounting with a business partnering focus) for 4.5 years now and before that was doing an almost identical role at another company for the same length of time.
I'm kind of fed up with the never ending treadmill that a 'month end' type role entails. 9 years in that environment and I'm getting to the point where I feel I've 'done my time' !
A vacancy has arisen at work (for the same money I'm on now) that interests me and I'd probably have as much of a shot as any other internal candidates (company likes to recruit from within wherever possible to allow people to try different roles etc). It's away from the grind of a true 'month end' type role and is more analytical in nature.
The dilemma is that my boss is retiring in c. 2 years and I don't know what's going to happen when he does. I think it's a reasonable assumption to think that they might want me to step into his role and that would involve a pay rise and becoming a manager.
By then if i stick in my current role I'll have c. 7 years building relationships with the stakeholders that the role engages with and it's a pretty specific area of the business and I'd be the most knowledgeable of anyone here about the areas of the business it's looking after. But fundamentally it's more of the same of what I currently do but with a managerial element.
As much as I'm keen to eventually move away from the month end slog, if I were to assume my boss's role then there's a good couple of years or more of sorting out historical issues and making my own stamp on it, which would make the role challenging and interesting compared to what I do now.
So basically I'm worried that by looking into another opportunity now I'll remove myself from consideration if and when he retires. However there's absolutely no assurance at all that anything will even materialise in that regards - for all I know they'll use his retirement as an excuse to reduce headcount and absorb it elsewhere.
What would you do in my shoes? I don't want to wait around forever for an opportunity that may not ever arise but I also don't want to do anything too hasty and then regret it!
I'm kind of fed up with the never ending treadmill that a 'month end' type role entails. 9 years in that environment and I'm getting to the point where I feel I've 'done my time' !
A vacancy has arisen at work (for the same money I'm on now) that interests me and I'd probably have as much of a shot as any other internal candidates (company likes to recruit from within wherever possible to allow people to try different roles etc). It's away from the grind of a true 'month end' type role and is more analytical in nature.
The dilemma is that my boss is retiring in c. 2 years and I don't know what's going to happen when he does. I think it's a reasonable assumption to think that they might want me to step into his role and that would involve a pay rise and becoming a manager.
By then if i stick in my current role I'll have c. 7 years building relationships with the stakeholders that the role engages with and it's a pretty specific area of the business and I'd be the most knowledgeable of anyone here about the areas of the business it's looking after. But fundamentally it's more of the same of what I currently do but with a managerial element.
As much as I'm keen to eventually move away from the month end slog, if I were to assume my boss's role then there's a good couple of years or more of sorting out historical issues and making my own stamp on it, which would make the role challenging and interesting compared to what I do now.
So basically I'm worried that by looking into another opportunity now I'll remove myself from consideration if and when he retires. However there's absolutely no assurance at all that anything will even materialise in that regards - for all I know they'll use his retirement as an excuse to reduce headcount and absorb it elsewhere.
What would you do in my shoes? I don't want to wait around forever for an opportunity that may not ever arise but I also don't want to do anything too hasty and then regret it!
Who knows what will happen in two years time, your boss may delay retirement, they may not consider you, could hire from outside - all manner of things, plus there are 24 more month ends to file before that.
Go for the role now, and have the discussion with you boss on the back of that application.
With the time you have in the bank on routine roles, you can always go back.
Move on.
(Are you risk averse by nature?) Is this really that much of a risk ?
I would go for the oppourtunity in the more analytical role , at present its the only option on the table.
I find its always best to make these type of decisions based on the current facts. Theres no guarantee you boss will infact retire in c. 2 years or whether you will eventually land the job, 2 years is alot of time for circumstances to change and if you decided to hold on for c. 2 years you will end up counting the day/hours minutes and eventually hate your job more!
If you sidestep into this new role, is there anything stopping your then applying for your bosses role if/when he retires? If so win/win.
Edit The others ^^ beat me to it!
I find its always best to make these type of decisions based on the current facts. Theres no guarantee you boss will infact retire in c. 2 years or whether you will eventually land the job, 2 years is alot of time for circumstances to change and if you decided to hold on for c. 2 years you will end up counting the day/hours minutes and eventually hate your job more!
If you sidestep into this new role, is there anything stopping your then applying for your bosses role if/when he retires? If so win/win.
Edit The others ^^ beat me to it!
BRISTOL86 said:
The dilemma is that my boss is retiring in c. 2 years and I don't know what's going to happen when he does. I think it's a reasonable assumption to think that they might want me to step into his role and that would involve a pay rise and becoming a manager.
Glad you've not taken this viewpoint forward. I would never assume, unless you are categorically told so, that companies think this way. Twice in my career I've expected to get my boss's job, been the 'number 2' and got all the praise and wink wink behaviour, only for them to hire someone with the right "experience" that supposedly I didn't have. It can happen of course, but it's naive to assume that HR and management get together and talk about you in this way.
Good luck with the job app. If it doesn't work out, then suggest making your boss aware of your desire to step up when he time comes, and perhaps get them to agree in your next appraisal or objectives some form of training program
Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff