[LedgerL0ver]

Hi all,

I have an issue I will try to explain as succinctly as possible. I currently work as an Accountant at a small organization- about 25 people. Our headquarters is located at a VERY beautiful, state of the art office. We are a nonprofit so although we dont get paid the highest, we have amazing perks such as EXTREMELY flexible schedules, options to telecommute, automatic 10% contribution to our 401K, 3 weeks vacation and an extra “telecommute” week during the holidays. I have been here 5 years and am great friends with everyone and have developed an amazing relationship with the CFO.
The problem is I have wanted upward mobility & more money for a long time now and was “hinted” to that I would be promoted to Sr. Accountant in October. We are a tad understaffed as well so work can get pretty hectic and stressful sometimes.
I just received an offer as an Accounting Manager with a $15k pay bump from another small organization with even LESS people. The building is nice, although no where near as beautiful as my current place of employment. Benefits are covered 100%, they contribute up to 6% for 401K, 14 days of vaca, 12 of sick, and I am not sure if they shut down during the holidays so I may be missing that week.
The problem is I feel as if I am making a mistake. Yes I am obviously making the right choice in terms of providing myself a stepping stone so that I can eventually reach my goals, but I am so unbelievably torn about leaving. The new office has VERY few people there are alot of their employees are remote. What if I get lonely? The work there will clearly be less stressful than what I’m used to. What if I’m bored? The new place is another nonprofit. What if I get stuck in this industry and can’t branch out to for-profit eventually?
Has anyone gone through something like this? How did you deal with it? Today is the day I put my notice in and I am terrified and upset and trying so hard not to be emotional.

FAR 4/24/16 --85--
AUD 7/5/16 --84--
BEC 8/30/16 --?--
REG

[Anonymous]

Maybe taking this job offer isn't the right thing for you to do. $15k bump is nice and all, but sometimes it's still not the right thing. If you're this uneasy about it…

Leaving a job is hard if you've worked hard, built good relationships, etc. So, if it's just that you'll miss the place, that's not a good enough reason to stay. But, if you have serious misgivings about leaving and/or about the new job, then taking the new job may be the wrong move. Your hesitations sound pretty strong; don't do something just for money that you'll regret for non-monetary reasons.

[Tripin93]

Do you know how much of a raise you'll receive if you're promoted? If you'll receive at least $15K, then maybe you should stay.

Perhaps you could submit your letter in-person. Close the door, explain your dilemma about leaving, and ask if a promotion is CERTAIN next month and how much the raise would be. Let him get the idea that you really prefer to stay. He should get a hint that your resignation letter is not set in stone. Your mannerisms and tone of voice can prevent this from turning into a blackmail-type of situation.

Motivated by JC. I do it to make God proud.

FAR: 91 July 2015
AUD: 83 October 2015
REG: 81 January 2016
BEC: 83 February 2016

[Anonymous]

Piggy-backing on Tripin's post (even though it's nearing the end of the business day in EST and still halfway through it in Pacific time…), 6% 401K vs 10% 401K may make up part of the $15k difference, too, so let's say it's $10k raise for the promotion and you'll be making $60k vs $65k (don't know what COL you're dealing with so don't know what numbers are reasonable…). The 4% difference in 401K match is $2.4k. Then, you get paid equivalent of $1.25k per week at the $65k job, so the extra week off is worth $1.25k to them. When you add those together, your $5k difference is down to $5-2.4-1.25=$1.35k.

[Anonymous]

Here's my two cents:

I also work at a non-profit, although not quite as small as yours. We have a very unique culture that I know can't be found much other places, and there are things that can be frustrating just like any other place.

One of my coworkers recently left to go work for one of our old boss who left about a year and a half ago. It was more money and she felt she needed a change. She is older and a couple years away from retiring, so she felt like this new position would be good for her to mix things up as she winds up her career, as she had worked at my organization for almost 18 years. She had a similar situation in terms of the place she went to, where most of the employees live in other states and therefore work remotely, and even those in town rarely go into the office. She gets lonely and confused easily so now she doesn't have easy access to someone to bounce her thoughts off with, and the workload is also insane compared to what she was used to here. I saw her recently and while she wouldn't admit it, I think she is regretting her decision.

Her situation is obviously different. I took a pay cut to come to my current job (although now with a couple raises I am above what I was at my prior job) simply for the non-monetary benefits that were offered, such as beautiful work location and the people (I had interned here in college so I knew the group well). As the others said, you are already having misgivings so really weigh the pros and cons you know about and don't focus on just the $15k bump in money.

[LedgerL0ver]

Thanks for all of your input.
There are a few more pros to leaving and I think I was focusing more on the cons at the time. The pay bump is purely in salary, so with 401K factored in, the differential was closer to $11,600 with my old salary + 401K.
I ended up giving my two weeks notice and was told that I would have been promoted to Sr. Accountant in October. The differential with the NEW salary + 401K I would have received is about $1700 more with the Accounting Manager position.
The good thing about the situation is that I have built a great relationship with my managers. I do intend on keeping in touch with them as my mentors and was told to let them know if things didn't work out at the new job. That did wonders in easing my mind, but I do acknowledge that this is probably something that is often said to good employees.

FAR 4/24/16 --85--
AUD 7/5/16 --84--
BEC 8/30/16 --?--
REG

[Author]

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