WWWPD

[librarychica]

I have a still-hypothetical dilemma. Please don’t quote.

I have an excellent job. I am very well paid for what I do, have decent benefits and a likely manager promotion and significant raise within 3 years. I am good at it. I don’t feel passionate about the work but it is interesting and, TBH, I’m not a passionate person. I’m not one of those “I must do what I love!” people.

I have an opportunity to throw my hat in for a job with a non-profit I feel strongly about. The work would be very, very interesting. I would work mostly remotely and it would be quite flexible. My H works remotely so this would allow us to travel extensively with the kids in the summers as they get older. It would be a large pay cut, in current income and likely promotion potential. I would still have good benefits. We in no way need my income for day-to-day but it allows us to be riskier with investments, assist family members and donate a fair amount of money to causes we support.

So the crux is, if I jumped ship with my corporate job to work for a cause I suppprt I would have less money to donate to causes I support. Of course there is no guarantee I would get the job but hypothetically WWWPD?

[mommyatty]

I have found that being a donor and supporter of a cause or organization is very different from working for said organization. Kind of like the difference between being buddies with someone and being roommates with someone. And I’ve virtually always ended up disillusioned when I find my way under the tent. So unless you already know a lot of the inner workings of the organization, and the personalities of the leaders, I would be a no.

I’m also not a “follow your bliss” kind of girl. I’m much more a “show me the money” kind of girl.

[xctsclrx]

I probably wouldn't entertain it. I know a few people who have worked for non profits and they work a lot more. Budget is always tight so they don't an appropriate staff People are expected to work more and not complain, because it is a worthy cause.

I would rather spend my time or money on a worthy cause or several different causes then working for one. I am also not a "follow your bliss" person as mommyatty, called it.

[rere]

Where would you like to be in 5 years? Do you think working this job would leave you content in the long term?

Non profits tend to burn people out from what I have seen. I am also not willing to go backwards in pay at this point in my life just because I have my own financial goals separate from the running of the household. So I would probably be a no.

[CrazyLucky]

I read "The Most Good You Can Do" by Peter Singer. I think it was a recommendation from the board. Anyway, it was a huge proponent of making as much money as you can, and giving away as much as you can. One main hypothesis of the book is that there are many qualified people who can fill a role in any organization, but few people who are willing to donate a substantial amount of money. The examples in the book were really extreme and made it hard to relate to, but I still think that idea is an interesting one.
In your position, I'd probably stay where I am and see if I could just spend some time volunteering for the non-profit.

[2chatter]

Everything else aside, I am answering from an entirely hedonistic point of view. Giving and working for a NP are a wash for me. Weigh that up however you want.

I’d pursue the NP if it truly augments your flex and results in more travel. Day to day sanity is the most important thing to me after money is hitting the marks we have set.

I say this as I work at a job that is “enough” in all ways but grossly under what I “could be making”. I am leaving early Friday to take DD to Chicago. I am taking other DD to a Specialist tomorrow. I did PT conferences this morning and will watch a movie with the kids later (If I can get this access database to work and if not no movie because i will be crying in the corner). I get my work done and am there for my family in a way friends in offices either can’t be or are VERY stressed trying to be. We are on target for 2K/month per kid for college and while that won’t be enough, it’s enough. Fully funding college isn’t worth not being here now.

So there is my rationale - evaluate your quality of life. Go for the biggest wins. Get your enough with $$ and find the best work life balance you can.

[mustardseed2007]

Everything everyone else has said, plus I'd be concerned about how stable the position within the nonprofit would be and how stable the nonprofit is in general.

[mae0111]

Oct 9, 2018 11:15:58 GMT -5 mustardseed2007 said:

Everything everyone else has said, plus I'd be concerned about how stable the position within the nonprofit would be and how stable the nonprofit is in general.

I was coming in to say this.  I think that you could contribute to the nonprofit in other ways while still maintaining a career that you like with a good salary.

[k3am]

I don't see enough pain points in your current role that would convince me to move.

Random question - are you currently maxing out your vacation for travel?

[ilovelucyvv]

I would be more interested in volunteering for a non-profit than directly working for one. If your current job sucked more I would be more of a proponent of it.

[keh2oblue]

That would not be enough to make me want to change jobs.

[librarychica]

Oct 9, 2018 11:46:37 GMT -5 k3am said:

I don't see enough pain points in your current role that would convince me to move.

Random question - are you currently maxing out your vacation for travel?

I max out my vacation. We don’t travel far yet but our kids are young. I don’t get a ton of time off even after ten years. I guess that is the one negative.

The more I think about it, the more I think that maxing my income for 5 years and then considering a career move or even trying to swing a leave of absence to travel with older kids. I really want to take anvante of H’s flexibility as they get older but I probably don’t need to jump now.

[librarychica]

The job does sound fascinating, though.

[k3am]

Oct 9, 2018 12:35:01 GMT -5 librarychica said:

Oct 9, 2018 11:46:37 GMT -5 k3am said:

I don't see enough pain points in your current role that would convince me to move.

Random question - are you currently maxing out your vacation for travel?

I max out my vacation. We don’t travel far yet but our kids are young. I don’t get a ton of time off even after ten years. I guess that is the one negative.

The more I think about it, the more I think that maxing my income for 5 years and then considering a career move or even trying to swing a leave of absence to travel with older kids. I really want to take anvante of H’s flexibility as they get older but I probably don’t need to jump now.

We all have different prioritizes and things that motivate us careers wise, so that's answers a big question. I know a lot of people who compare job offers and complain about limited vacation time but they aren't actually using the vacation time they do have.

Sounds like you're one of the few people who prioritizes AND actually uses it. So I'd definitely been exploring ways that you can make that happen. Maybe this role is it, maybe you find other ways to get there without sacrificing your plusses at the current place.

[rere]

Vacation time is a good point. I definitely prioritize my vacation over money. I don't want to make less money these days, but I would negotiate vacation time, even before/over salary. My vacation time is the one thing that keeps me here and the reason I have not taken other jobs, but they were not a marked difference in pay anyway. I am not sure how much money it would take for me to take less vacation, but it's never been enough when I have been offered.

[waverly]

Honestly I am somewhat surprised by the answers because I expected the you can always apply and see what happens approach.

And I was surprised that so many people had the same opinion of me that non- profits can many times mean disorganized and not well run/ managed and unstable.

I think there might be a couple issues with current job. The mission does not align with your personal values, which I could totally understand and could very well make me move, but not sure for what other kind of job. And less vacation time/ flexibility. Not sure, but wondering if there is a way to negotiate more vacation time instead of a raise one year?

[sdlaura]

I’d see no issue with throwing your hat in the ring and getting more info. I’m the same as you in terms of not needing to be super passionate about my job, but it would be fun to be able to travel a lot.

[ECB]

I would at least throw my hat in, and if called - go in and interview/talk, and get a better idea of what the job entails. Then go from there.

One question, though - you say that because you and your DH would both be working remotely, that would allow you to travel extensively. How so? I mean, if you travel already while your DH is technically working and he's able to balance work and vacation - so be it. But if you're working too and (especially) if the job is more demanding than expected - what if working while traveling means you're stuck in a hotel room working while your family is off having fun? Or both you and your DH actually have work to do while the kids want to go play and explore?

I truly don't see how working remotely - BOTH of you - means you'll be able to travel "extensively". I WFH 2 days a week and when I'm going on vacation, I take those days off. I don't want any expectation that I'll actually be expected to work!

Long story short - that perceived "perk" may not really be a perk and it would be far down on my list of reasons to switch jobs.

[waverly]

To echo ECB I don't work from home while on vacation. Maybe you are thinking more of staying at a vacation place for 3 months in the summer while still working? I would love to stay at our lake house one summer while working from home but I don't have that kind of job. In reality, it would be draining to work and watch kids in the summer. I mean I could put myself at the dock with a laptop while they swim, but even that gets old eventually. It would work if I could hire a neighbor kid to watch them though while I work.

[2chatter]

We take some trips where we alternate working. I’d take half days and so would DH - last Thanksgiving we went to the beach for a week and I only used two days off between DH and my mom covering the kids and DD helping and starting early.

We have done long weekends places like GWL.

This is over for us with DH taking a clock punching, must be in the office job. We aren’t traveling for Thanksgiving or Christmas and usually travel for both (for fun). This summer the kids and I will do a couple long weekends and DH will join us for the actual weekend - DD will watch the other two while I work.

[waverly]

2chatter , Yeah we were occasionally able to take a long weekend where I took Friday off and DH worked in the car or the airport while traveling somewhere. But if he was gone a week, then he took the time off totally from a re-charge POV.

We are still getting used to the school schedule, so we didn't travel for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Christmas is hard with my job sometimes with other people wanting to be off. So last year we were kicking ourselves why didn't we travel for Thanksgiving. This year it is the all too familiar fight of where we are going to go. I voted Nashville as that was my runner up for Seattle last year with Mammoth Caves. He is currently voting NYC. My friend really wants me to come to NYC, but the timing would be 2 weeks after he visited us, so seems weird. We need to get going with planning though since it is mid October already.  Maybe I should start a thread since I do my decision making by group effort of WPs.

I really only work from home when a kid was in the hospital for a week or a kid was sick, I would do a few hours.

[ECB]

waverly and 2chatter - to what you both said, it IS possible in certain scenarios to work remotely while traveling. I just want the OP to be sure that her expectations are realistic to whatever her concept of "traveling extensively" while also working means.

And every workplace and every boss are different! My boss is very lax and doesn't tend to contact me any more than he usually does when I work from home. But I actually have a colleague that I've noticed tends to email me a lot more on my WFH days than he does any other time. I really think he's "testing" me to see if I'm responsive!

To the concept of different workplaces, that's another factor. OP - perhaps you've traveled while your DH is working and it works out well for various reasons - perhaps partially the exceptions of his office/ his workload/ etc. This job your considering - they could have different rules and expectations that will affect the flexibility that you think you'll have.

This is all just food for thought! This is also where at least meeting with them could be helpful. If the job is remote and flexible, what exactly does that mean? What rules are in place? How flexible is "flexible"? Etc.

[librarychica]

SOrry, busy day.

ECB, we have talked more along the lines of going to stay elsewhere for a month or two in the summer. I might take 1 or 2 weeks off, explore on the weekends. H would do similarly. Maybe. He runs a small company and so has a lot of flexibility but also tends to work a ton. We would have childcare of course.

He travels internationally a lot and has passed on many opportunities to stay in one place for a month or two because he doesn’t want to leave us. It would be a great opportunity for the kids to develop language skills and learn about different cultures.

We wouldn’t be running everywhere most of the time.

Idk, while I still think this is a good goal IDK that this is the route to go. We would like to do this in about 5 years,’not next week, and I’m generally happy at my job.

[librarychica]

FWIW, H says he thinks I’m too fond of a strict, corporate structure toever work for a non-profit, even a large one. I am not sure if find is the word I’d use, but it is what I am most used to. He thinks we should just bank as much as possible and if I still want to travel with the girls when they’re older, try and swing a LoA or take a few years off to do it.