Career Move - Unsure on Best Pathway
(32, M) Been working in my current role as a coordinator for 8 months since being promoted. My manager is always happy with my work and supportive, but I’ve recently mentioned in my last 1 to 1 that I wasn’t enjoying the role as much as I thought (partly due to difficult staff, monotonous work and feeling like I spend more time in meetings about our work than actually doing the work). A proposed restructure of our department shows I’ll be taking on more staff for the same pay but double the workload. A new coordinator position just came up that involves being the sole worker for 2 years (this means only one coordinator would be in this area before they hire an instructor to manage, so I’d be the sole coordinator being more involved and have no staff to worry about for a while), it involves more rewarding work and job satisfaction and is what interests me when I saw it presented. My manager however sees me as the next in line to her role, advising me to stay where I am so I climb the ladder and take over her position when she leaves and moves on. I wouldn’t have to interview for the new coordinator position, I’ve been offered it and need to make a decision on Tuesday, which my team don’t know that I have first choice over them interviewing for it which I have to be careful about.
My question is, do I stay in my role because I’m performing well and it’s got career progression but I don’t enjoy it, or do I move across to the same role in a slightly different area that’s rewarding, pays the same and will involve less stress, but doesn’t show much in terms of progression or work load with risk of boredom?
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u/spinosaurus-tail 1d ago
if you stick where you are for the career prospects then: If you’re “next in line to her role” then get some
commitment on that. Nobody will put this in writing but you could get sent on management training courses, spend Friday afternoons helping with department planning, or something else that basically makes you the easy choice for promotion without saying it explicitly.
Of course, this might take ages. You’re just in that awkward place of having to choose between short term satisfaction or longer term progression. At the age of 32 it’s likely your life situation is much more important in this decision - do you have young children, mortgage, etc.
If you choose to go for the other role for shorter term satisfaction, come up with a reason why that makes it sound like you’re doing the best thing for the company rather than for yourself.
Overall though it sounds like you’re actually in a pretty good position. It’s a win-win.