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View Full Version : Door #1, 2, or 3? Need some advice......


BlueVw03
03-15-2006, 03:24 AM
Hey all, looking for some opinions on my current situation. My quest to figure out my own QLC has landed me currently residing in the sunshine state of Florida.

I am from RI, and I moved down here in January of 2005 in pursuit of a job in my undergrad field of computer science. I basically gave up a job working for my dad who owns a retail business and moved down here to find a computer job.

I landed a job down here fairly quickly, got an apartment, made some friends, and succeeded in my job.

A little over a year later, I find myself in a sticky situation. The job I have been at for the past year has given me some beneficial experience. Unfortunately, I resigned a little over a week ago because of the lack of structure and leadership that was taking place there. I had 4 different bosses in the matter of a year and that made things unbearable. Two days before my last day, they decide to promote my friend who was in the computer department (just 3 of us make up the department), and now he wants me to return and he would be my new boss as the IS director..... here is my dilemma

I have already landed another job working for a city hall IT dept as an Information Technology Analyst. The title is pretty good, and the money is 6k more then I was making at the old job. I would have to move eventually if i kept this job because the commute is disasterous. The place seems to be more structured, and the other 2 guys in the IT dept have been there forever, and Im sure I could learn from them.

At my old job, the new IT director (Mike, my friend I worked with) wants me to return and take his old job. It pays about 5k more then the new job for a total of 11k more then what I was making as the Help Desk Analyst position at the old job, which they have filled already. I would become the Systems Analyst and would not be doing the help desk stuff anymore, but instead would be programming and administering the networks.....

My father back in RI is currently trying to renew some contracts for his business now at the same time, and he has offered me the chance to manage the place if the contracts go through, making bank. I'm talking like 70k. Thats 20k more then the new job at the old place if i were to return.....

Problem is..... im supposted to start at the new city hall place on thursday. Mike at the old place, cannot officially offer me the new job at the old place until Friday. But its a lock-in if i want it....they really really want me back. And I'm not supposted to know about my dads business until Monday....


I really cannot seem to make a decision on all aspects....

Stay in FL or return to RI?

If I return to RI, will i be able to be happy again back at my dad's where I was so miserable I had to move 1500 miles away? Then again, i wasent making 70k back then.....


If i stay in FL, which job do I choose? The new place which offers the opportunity to get experience from another place. Meet new people. Learn new systems.

Or do i return to the place that up until I quit was making me unhapy? I have confidence in my friend that things will be running better, and the money would be like an extra 5 or 6k above the city job. The title, work experience, and job duties are better then the city job.


Ugh.... its like everything always seems to happen at once. As if my hair is not falling out at a rapid enough pace as it is..


Oh and also at the old job that my friend wants me to return to, when i resigned I also handed in a letter to the CEO expressing my concerns at the place about how I was lied to, underpaid, overlooked, and i also took a couple of shots at the CFO, who is my bosses boss right now. But everything I address was well deserved, and nothing was beyond professional in my letter. Mike says that that is in the past and i didnt shoot myself in the foot and that its completly forgotten about if i return....


If i stay down here, there is the chance that someday I, just like Mike, will have a shot at the IS Director position he was able to get in the matter of 3 years.

i'm trying to think about the long run as well as the short run and I cant put this all together.

I kinda like it down here in FL, but I miss my friends back home. I miss home in general. I miss my family, as dysfunctional as they are. I know quite a lot of people down here, but nothing as close to as the friendships I have back up North.

Also, in moving down here, it was never my intentions to stay down here for a long time. I just wanted to get away for a while, try something new, and I had a secondary goal of getting in better shape, which sorry to say, I havent been that sucessful in doing. When I first moved down and wasnt working yet, I droped almost 20 pounds in under 2 months, but as soon as I started working and got my own apartment, Ive put it back on since then. My weight, which isnt that out of control but definitely affects my self confidence, was, with no pun intended, weighing me down mentally before i moved down here. And I thought getting away and having time to myself would help me lose it, and I could return back home a better and happier person.

I guess I lost sight along the way of what I was really trying to accomplish..

But also, if my father doesnt get those contracts, I will not be able to return back home and continue where I left off back in 2005, which was my original plan...


sigh.....

help.....

I need to decide like, right now....no, like yesterday.......

Cole
03-15-2006, 10:55 AM
Welcome to the boards!

So first, take a deep breath. It doesn't sound like you HAVE to decide right now, at least not about moving.

If I were you I'd go to the new job to see how it is - you can always go the first few days and then if you decide you want to go back to your old company, just say you apologize but you've been given a better offer.

Stop worrying about what happened when you resigned - it sounds like you did everything professionally, and if you go back just leave all that in the past and start fresh. You should consider whether the issues that caused you to leave in the first place are still going to be a problem, and if they are do you really want to go back to that? BUt then, also take it as a big compliment that you can quit and they still want you back :)

As for moving home, it doesn't seem like you really want to. If it's just the money pulling you there, my unobjective opinion would be not to go. I think living environment and general happiness are far more important than money, especially since it doesn't sound like you're hurting for income in any of these situations.

and1grad
03-15-2006, 11:15 AM
I'm leaning toward stay where you are. It sounds like money wasnt the major issue with these other places as much as it was a minor one accompanying other issues. But like Cole said, there's no rush.

lonestar
03-15-2006, 11:30 AM
plus working for family can be tough...not saying that is the case with everyone, but some people I have known who go to work in the family business, or work for the father, ect. strain the relationship.

Bugsey34
03-15-2006, 12:15 PM
I would also take the new job. Moving home is something you can always do in the future. If your Dad has a good job for you now (which he doesn't even, yet) he would probably have an opportunity in the future.