Should I leave my job after only 6 months for 5k more?

[vital]

Only been with my current company for 6 months and have another offer for 5k more. Is it burning bridges if I leave after less than a year?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Don't make the mistake of leaving just for money. Compare benefits, vacation policy, commute time, etc. before making any decisions.

 

[nageov3t]

5K wouldn't be enough to get me to leave a stable, secure job.

ultimately, I'd say it depends on your financial situation. I don't think it's necessarily a bridge-burning action to leave a job that quickly as long as you give proper notice (and see if maybe your current employer is interested in trying to match the offer)

 

[slayer202]

well what kind of percentage is that 5k? and how do the factors that indy mentioned compare?

 

[Spikesoldier]

wait until you have an offer in hand.

then present said offer to your boss and tell them that you prefer them as an employer and like your current situation, but politely ask them to match the difference in compensation.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

you may want to throw in other reasons than just money...perhaps your SO or other family considerations.

 

[SandEagle]

go for it. they'd drop you in a hearbeat for someone requesting 5k less

 

[Bignate603]

5K wouldn't be enough to get me to leave a stable, secure job.

ultimately, I'd say it depends on your financial situation. I don't think it's necessarily a bridge-burning action to leave a job that quickly as long as you give proper notice (and see if maybe your current employer is interested in trying to match the offer)

I agree about $5k not necessarily being enough to make you want to leave a job, but I disagree about it not burning bridges. Depending on the position it can cost quite a bit of money and time to fill it. If the OP told the company that he wasn't interested at the time when they hired him they could have just went with another candidate from their search. Now the company will have to restart their search and its likely that the other good candidates that they had 6 months ago are no longer available. Stuff like that will piss off his current job.

Here's another big question though, which position has the better future? Job stability, career path, etc. A lower paying job that is more stable and leads to better things can be much better than a higher paying dead end job that is unstable.

 

[BlackTigers]

the percentage of that 5k to your income is more important than the actual amount.

5k from 20->25 is huge.

5k from 125->130 not so much.

 

[Jumpem]

Check the cost of the benefits as well. Those can be a larger difference than $5k. For example, health insurance through my employer is $49/week, and $200/week through my wife's employer for worse coverage.

 

[Vic Vega]

...

 

[vital]

Don't make the mistake of leaving just for money. Compare benefits, vacation policy, commute time, etc. before making any decisions.

Theyre pretty similar but about 8 more min commute. Honestly it's not the money that's important to me but it's more of a job satisfaction issue. A few managers here are pretty difficult to work with and the hours ate pretty demanding. I have no problem working long hours if I'm passionate about my job and enjoy the people I work with though. I guess I may have answered my own question but how will a 6 month employment with a Fortune 50 company look on my resume in the future?

 

[her209]

$5,000 / 2080 hours * 80 hours / bi-weekly paycheck = $192.31 / bi-weekly paycheck

Is that worth it?

 

[Vic Vega]

...

 

[Doppel]

Theyre pretty similar but about 8 more min commute. Honestly it's not the money that's important to me but it's more of a job satisfaction issue. A few managers here are pretty difficult to work with and the hours ate pretty demanding. I have no problem working long hours if I'm passionate about my job and enjoy the people I work with though. I guess I may have answered my own question but how will a 6 month employment with a Fortune 50 company look on my resume in the future?

Then your first question was not appropriate; leave because the job is not good enough more than the $5k.

if you stay at your second job long, no it doesn't matter really that this job is so short. if you lose your next job for some reason quickly having two of short durations is a red flag.

 

[jingramm]

I'm kind of in a similar boat. I've been at my new job for 4 months and I might start looking. The managers are difficult to work with and I don't think it was the right fit.

How did you land an offer so quick and how did you explain why you were looking to leave on your interviews?

 

[3chordcharlie]

$5,000 / 2080 hours * 80 hours / bi-weekly paycheck = $192.31 / bi-weekly paycheck

Is that worth it?

$192.31*~60-70% depending on tax bracket.

I wouldn't change jobs for $5k. But I would change jobs if the new job had better opportunities.

 

[amdhunter]

I wouldn't. Going from $100k to $105k/yr doesn't seem worth it at all. And that's figuring you are at the low end of ATOT salary.

I'd guess it'd be much less worth it if you are in the better half of the ATOT spectrum.

 

[vital]

I'm kind of in a similar boat. I've been at my new job for 4 months and I might start looking. The managers are difficult to work with and I don't think it was the right fit.

How did you land an offer so quick and how did you explain why you were looking to leave on your interviews?

I said im not being challenged enough in my area of expertise. Current employer is leading me to a career path I didn't envision. My passion is information security and I've been doing a lot of financial and process reviews instead.

 

[nageov3t]

Any Fortune 100 employment looks good and goes a long way, but if you leave after six months and you're not a contractor be prepared to answer as to why. Not trying to bust your balls, just be prepared.

They will probably not accept "the managers were hard to work with" so you'll have to come up with something else. Just my two cents.

good answer.

if I were interviewing, I'd definitely want to know why they left after only 6 months and I'd probably give some major shade if I got a BS-y, generic answer (room for growth, looking for a challenge, etc)

My passion is information security and I've been doing a lot of financial and process reviews instead.

that seems perfectly acceptable to me.

maybe you should have led the original post with that instead of asking if you should leave for an extra $5k

 

[jingramm]

I said im not being challenged enough in my area of expertise. Current employer is leading me to a career path I didn't envision. My passion is information security and I've been doing a lot of financial and process reviews instead.

when did you start applying?

 

[Rage187]

5k at <50k, probably

5k at >50k, probably not

 

[vital]

when did you start applying?

I wasn't aggressively looking and wasnt even posting my resume on job boards. I do get weekly notification of jobs I may be interested in and I submitted my resume to one I thought was a pretty good fit about a month ago.

 

[Imp]

I said im not being challenged enough in my area of expertise. Current employer is leading me to a career path I didn't envision. My passion is information security and I've been doing a lot of financial and process reviews instead.

Just remember that every job spec is sugarcoated to the max. Your potential new place may be just as unchallenging as your current place.

 

[Farang]

I wouldn't want to hire you, but that's just me. If every person left for the first +$5k offer they got, turnover would be incredibly high. That's just the nature of our imperfect system of pricing labor. Eventually you just need to settle into your job and do it for a while. At 6 months you've probably provided a net negative value for the company at this point, consuming more resources than you've generated.

You bring up other stuff like not liking the job, but the way you've raised your question makes it look like money is the motivating factor.

Like others have said this depends on your income, though. When I was making $28k I left to make $34k because that was going to have a substantial difference in my quality of life.

FWIW I am a commissioned salesperson so my income varies greatly, so I don't really give a $5k difference much thought. I have a hard time seeing it as a reason to quit my job and get used to a totally new environment.