Not sure whether to move job

[FabFiona]

I work in politics and the recent Fed Govt reshuffle has prompted someone to offer me a new job.

Here are my pros and cons.

Pros:
- It's a great role, exactly what I like doing, bossing people around and being in charge
- It's a role that actually requires me to think and be on top of my game
- The employer and team are nice, just need some direction
- It's more money, probably an extra 15 to 20K
- It has the chance of longer term job prospects if my boss is re-elected. If not, my redundancy would be calculated at my new higher pay rate.

Cons:
- It's about 55 minutes commute each way
- I would lose a lot of my work / family balance that comes from my current 'not as demanding' role and being 15 minutes from home

I have a lot of family support at home, so the slightly longer hours are not a logistical problem.

I'm just wondering whether I'm ready to move to a 'real' job as opposed to one that I do to facilitate my work/family balance.

What do you reckon?

Fiona

[Chocaholic]

Will the opportunitiy happen again? Is it a challenge you will enjoy? How badly will it impact on the children?

If my kids were OK with it (i.e. I was still going to be around almost as much as normal, I would be happy at home and not stressed), I would do it.

[Joeve]

Go for it! You can make it work and doing a more motivating job makes you happier I have found!

[krysalyss]

Is there a chance you can work some days at home? I would ask for that before making a decision.

[chody47]

As chocoholic said, is it something that is likely to be offered again? If no (or not for a long time) will you regret not taking the opportunity?

To be honest, I think that from the vibe of your post you really want to do the job, and in that case, do it. If you are happy with what you are doing then you will probably find that will then reflect on how happy you are at home (well at least that is the case for me).

[FabFiona]

I would want to only work 4 days a week, with one of those being from home. This is the current arrangement that I have and that's one thing that is not negotiable to me.

I've done a list of things that I'd expect from my new employer and I'll be having a proper chat with them later today so I'll get a better idea of what's on offer.