Advice on job offer

[Thetalisman]

Need some advice,

I received a Job offer last Wednesday, doing similar work that I am now. (ITSM). I am mid 20s so i can afford to take a risk.

New job
+Pays 25% More
+exciting company
+lots of future opportunity.
-involves moving to London.


Current Job
+Pays well for outside of London
+ very little upward mobility ( hard slog).
+ can buy a house sooner. No chance in LDN

I have my yearly review this week, i may get a promotion and pay bump that takes me close to what the new job has offered.

Would it be ok for me to accept the new job, no contract currently and then back out if i decide to stay. Or should i ask to delay? i think i have some grounds as London is a big move.

[Integroo]

I would ask to delay a week. I am literally in the same boat as you - late twenties, moving to London in March from Edinburgh, for a massive pay rise at a firm a few levels above where I am at the now. It was a tough decision, I asked for an extra week to decide and was given it. I do think that your twenties is the time to take risks and for a better job and better pay why not - London is a good place to live when you are young and well paid. (Though I don't know where you currently live or how much you earn - if you currently earn 30k in a very cheap part of the country, I may think twice about moving to central London for 37.5k).

You can always move back home! Especially after you have taken advantage of the opportunities on offer, and saved a deposit on the better salary. I bet you would be able to come back further up the ladder and on more money than if you had stayed.

Edited by Integroo on Tuesday 12th February 19:31

[shtu]

Thetalisman said:

New job
+Pays 25% More
-involves moving to London.

That's effectively no pay rise at all, and you would have to live in\near London.

[anonymous-user]

London in some cases can be used as a stepping stone to bigger things but your post doesn't detail enough to make a rational call.

Personally, with the way house prices have gone in the big smoke, for 25% over, I'd be looking elsewhere. It's not a bad city to live but it's not great either when you're counting every penny. Much more enjoyable places than London if your just looking to make a bit more coin and have fun. Bristol or Brighton for example...

[SpunkyGlory]

I guess it depends how you feel about living in London.

I'm late 20s and a country boy, but I absolutely love London and the buzz it's got 24/7. I know plenty of people hate it, so it depends on what your opinion is.

When I was mid 20s I moved from Essex > Glasgow > Newcastle > London with work, and I've never regretted any of it.

[Funk]

Thetalisman said:

Need some advice,

I received a Job offer last Wednesday, doing similar work that I am now. (ITSM). I am mid 20s so i can afford to take a risk.

New job
+Pays 25% More
+exciting company
+lots of future opportunity.
-involves moving to London.


Current Job
+Pays well for outside of London
+ very little upward mobility ( hard slog).
+ can buy a house sooner. No chance in LDN

I have my yearly review this week, i may get a promotion and pay bump that takes me close to what the new job has offered.

Would it be ok for me to accept the new job, no contract currently and then back out if i decide to stay. Or should i ask to delay? i think i have some grounds as London is a big move.

This would be a key conversation for me - if you can sort out the issue of promotion then you'll probably be financially better off staying where you are. London living costs will probably annihilate that 25% pay rise (which will be more like 18% in your pocket once you've paid NI and tax on it).

There are (non-financial) upsides to being somewhere like London though; it may well open more doors and opportunities for you to rise faster and further than staying where you are now so although you might come out cost-neutral (or even worse off financially) in the short term with the higher living costs of London, it may well only be temporary.

Only you can really know at the end of the day!

[markiii]

where do you live now?

[limpsfield]

You should take the job.

The fact that you were interviewing for a job in London means you want to work there. So do it.

I have worked off and on (mainly on) in London for 30 years. Don't work there now, but you should do it. You are still young - if you don't like it, you have a lifetime to go somewhere else. It's one of the world's major cities. Don't live your life on a spreadsheet of costs.

[Jasandjules]

How much do you think renting/buying in London is compared to where you are now.

Personally for me anything that involved living in London would be discounted. But if you fancy it... And think there is a much better future...

[Integroo]

Jasandjules said:

How much do you think renting/buying in London is compared to where you are now.

Personally for me anything that involved living in London would be discounted. But if you fancy it... And think there is a much better future...

True, but mid-twenties in a decent job London is surely a fun place to live and worth doing, even if only for a few years. Life is for living!

[limpsfield]

Integroo said:

True, but mid-twenties in a decent job London is surely a fun place to live and worth doing, even if only for a few years. Life is for living!

Exactly.

[Jasandjules]

Integroo said:

True, but mid-twenties in a decent job London is surely a fun place to live and worth doing, even if only for a few years. Life is for living!

Don't get me wrong, I worked in London in my twenties but lived outside of it, where I could drive my TVRs .....

[feef]

Depends where in London.

I live in St Neots in Cambs, which is on the E-Coast mainline meaning a train can have me in Kings X in under an hour.

Granted the season ticket for the year is around £6k, but with what you save in property prices, it more than makes up for it.

I used to commute from here to Baker St and it took an hour and 10 minutes door to door on a good day, quicker than for many who lived inside the M25.

[Bullet-Proof_Biscuit]

25% of what?

Rent in a share will be around £700 all in, assuming you want to have some choice other than dirt cheap, tube budget £150 a month social & commute, and anything left goes on beers & brunch or 'work drinks' which happen on any day ending in y.

Probably good for work experience and fun, get to late 20's and you'll consider elsewhere, or at least living out and commuting in.

Half my grad year emigrated to London from Bournemouth uni and we all love it, just giving you some heads up on our experience

Beers! lol

HH (SW17)