Accepted a job offer but now been offered another....

[Raymond Reddington]

Hi all,


I have just been offered a job I felt pretty good about, with a 45 minute commute.

I've now been made an offer from a company 5 miles away, the salary is less, but with the savings in fuel especially at current prices, it works out the same.

Job 1 is 6am till 3.30pm, 3 on Friday.
Job 2 is 8 till 4.30.

Overtime available with both but obviously I may be more inclined to do OT at job 2.

The company close by doesn't have a brilliant reputation in my industry, but this has generally come from people less experienced than myself who needed more involvement and direction from senior staff, so my experience may vary.

I've also been to places before who people have slagged off (I've been a contractor for some years so this happens a lot on the contracting "circuit") but I've actually found perfectly fine.

So I suppose my question is, is it in any way acceptable to now turn down the first offer I've already accepted if I decide to go for the other job?

Its a small industry and reputation is important, but the lifestyle difference being closer with more normal hours would be quite substantial I'd have thought.

I hate to let people down but I also want to make the right decision at this stage instead of having to make the change a bit further down the line.

Cheers

[Raymond Reddington]

Thanks for the comments so far... the early starts and extra hours compared to the second job offer is indeed why I'm so torn.. or perhaps its a no brainer

[Raymond Reddington]

The hours in my line of work are generally rubbish/long so this one is more of an exception for me... but just because I'm used to long hours doesn't mean I want it, I usually feel knackered! Leaning towards letting down job 1.

[Raymond Reddington]

I am about as experienced as one ever needs to be for my role and I've tried management before, money is similar but stress a lot more. So either would be fine career wise, I'm happy doing what I'm doing. Both are fairly stable companies with money in the bank and a full order book.

[Raymond Reddington]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone, I'm trying to look at this objectively and not use your opinions to reinforce what I'm leaning towards... but it does seem like the answer is now obvious

[Raymond Reddington]

Jasandjules said:

You can either spend 1.5 hours a day travelling to and from work (assuming no traffic etc) OR about 30 minutes...

1 extra hour a day, 5 days a week, 20 hours a month or over 2 full working days. You work 11 months of the year so you are talking about 24 DAYS a year you will be travelling....

Quite significant when you put it like that!

[Raymond Reddington]

TRIUMPHBULLET said:

45 mins to a job you like is far preferable to 5 mins to a job you hate.
As ever your working environment is critical.
Is there a way of finding out via reviews?
Negative reviews are more common for a reason and usually mean trouble ahead, a company with out many usually means most employees are happy and don't want to move.

My friends wife works there (and hates it, but she's quite difficult if I'm completely honest) and it's quite a small industry in that there are lots of freelancers who have been to loads of places for a few months at a time, myself included, so word does get around.

It does have a new manager who has joined from another similar company which has a very good reputation so perhaps things will Improve further.

To be fair, my job is one where you can go in, headphones on and crack on. Certain types of work can be boring but after 13 years it's all pretty much the same to me. But point taken that it can be worth the travel to go somewhere decent.

For extra context, job 1 you are there for 46 hours and paid for 42, whereas job 2 you are there for 42.5 hours and paid for 40, I've just realised this, so job 2 pays you for teabreaks, 1 does not. Small thing but it means being out of the house even longer on top of the commute. Food for thought.

[Raymond Reddington]

Thanks for the help everyone.

Bit of a new twist to the story, speaking to the HR of the second company and got very bad vibes - they said they'd heard my friend works there (friends wife, previously mentioned above in the thread) and proceeded to slag her off to me, to my amazement!

You'd think HR should remain professional above all else...

I was happy with my original offer from the first company before, and it's still good, so I think I'm just going to go with that, and possibly remove LinkedIn for a while and indeed so that I don't have to go through this again!

I'm starting to wonder if I negotiated a strong enough package now as there appears to be a massive shortage of my skills, but the money is fine so I don't think I'll mess about now, as I've already accepted the offer after all.