Mrs Kiwi

Hey guys,

Have a decision to make - do I leave a secure job with zero job satisfaction for a much less secure job that I would enjoy more?

The situation is this - I work in branch sales for one of the "big 4" banks and my colleagues and customers are lovely. However over the last 6 months the bank has introduced a new way of selling that I loathe. Basically, if a customer comes in to the bank, even if its just for a minor query like a replacement card or internet banking, we have to sit them down, produce a form and pretty much write a biography about them. We have to ask 3 questions about each of the 5 areas of their lives (career, home, leisure, family, retirement) and use the answers to "give them a full financial solution." (ie, sell them more than they came in for!!)

Now I've been in financial sales for 10 years and have no problems with trying to sell people as much as poss, thats my job. But for some reason I can't get on with this new way of doing things -I've been trained in & used a fair few sales tactics but this one just takes the biscuit.

Over the years in sales I have always found it easy to just smile and play the game at work but I'm just fed up now and have zero job satisfaction. Its got to the point where I'm losing sleep about it cos I'm just not happy and thats a rare thing for me work wise, I'm usually pretty content. Was with my employer for 8 and half years in the UK selling mortgages, and now have been with the bank here for 18 months.

Then along came my brother who lives near me here and offered me a job as his PA. He is a real estate agent. I'd love to give it a go but am SOOO nervous as I would be going from a very secure job to one that is far less secure - my brother is great at his job which means he usually makes good money and could pay me no problems. But like all real estate agents he has lean times too, and if he couldn't afford to pay me how would that affect our relationship? He says we'd have a contract so he'd have to pay me but that counts for nothing if he has no money!

What would your advice be? Stay with the bank cos its secure, and hope the current mad sales methods run their course? Or take a chance on working for my brother?

Thanks for listening.

Sally Simpson

Personally, I have always been very fortunate to do a job that I absolutely love & care about. I cannot imagine trying to do a job well that I really did not believe in!
We spend a huge amount of our time at work & I strongly believe that we should spend that time doing something that we can enjoy & believe in.
Loads of luck with your decision!

Buzzy--Bee

Hi Kelly

One thing I've found with this kind of situation at work is that you won't be the only one getting pissed off with this new procedure and it will be canned in a few months. However loosing sleep about work is just rubbish (been there too... ).

I'd be very nervous about working for a friend or relative as well, as from experience I have found mixing business relationships with personal relationships is pretty hard.

errr is there a third option?

Buzzy the not very helpful today.....

quoll

I'm inclined to go with Buzzy - working for relatives is always a huge risk IMHO.

The bank will probably change its way of doing things down the track anyway but if you can afford to leave and if it is a toxic cesspool then look for other secure jobs and move on. At least your colleagues and customers are lovely - which is a big plus in my book!

Dreamy

I'd agree with Quoll and Buzzy. Working for friends and relatives can lead to all sorts of issues that can have repercusions forever!

Give the new system a chance (a chance to be changed )... but perhaps be on the look out for something else in the meantime. Just be wary of jumping from frying pan to fire.

scrubbedexpat097

Could you not incorporate working for your brother as well as keeping your job for now? Maybe evenings and weekends, just to see if it works out ok, it may also take your mind off the crap that is going on at the bank.

gumtree

It depends. Working with/for family members or friends could be a disaster if they care about money and their own career more than anything else but could work wonder if they really have a strong relationship established on trust, love, tolerance and understanding.

spalen

If you want an estate agent PA job - go apply for one - there will be plenty around.

I wouldnt take the family job - its a huge responsibility for him , ive employed my family members before -its murder when things get lean because you have tremendous responsibility. It worked out in the end but it isnt a good thing to enter into unless you really need to.

Centurion

I've employed family before. It just never works out even in the most stable of relationships and when you think all concerned can be really adult about things. Somewhere, sometime it spills out.

Purely based on my personal experience and nothing more, I would avoid that situation and enjoy what I have with my family now.

Mrs Kiwi

Thanks guys, really appreciate your advice.
Working for my brother is risky no doubt about it, but we have an excellent relationship and hes always been extremely generous so I know he would reward me further in good times and try his upmost to pay me in lean times. Hes dying to expand his business but can't do it without a PA as he has so much paperwork tying him to the office.

My husband is earning good money at the moment and I am on a dire hourly rate at the bank so we could afford for me to leave the bank and try out working with my brother. Its more the risk to the excellent relationship we have that worries me, especially as you guys have reported that it often doesn't work!


AAAAHHHH....I really don't know what to do!! I fully expect things to change in the bank in time however I think its me, I'm just a bit over sales, maybe.

I've got some thinking to do.

Bermudashorts

You seem to be seeing these as your only two options. Of course there is a third option which is just to find another job. Sometimes jobs just run their course and it is time to move on, you can stay where you are until you find something else.

I have no experience of working with family, but I would probably heed some of the advice on the thread. If your brother cannot move things forward unless he gets a PA why doesn't he go to the market and get one.

spartacus

Trust you're gut instincts . . . if they're telling you it's time for a move, then its time for a move . . . and there's nothing worth than geting stuck in a rut . . . after all, a rut's a bit like a grave, only with the ends caved in . . .

lancastrian48

I used to HATE the Halifax mithering me when i went to the counter

Broad Shoulders

It's a tough decision to make. I've just done exactly this. I start my new job on Monday after leaving a very secure job in which I survived the GFC even though the company I worked for shed approx 2,000 people globally. I was even starting to make some real headway and getting some pretty good results from my patch when other depts were still feeling the effects of the GFC. It paid amazingly well, had great benefits and it was a company that was established over 100 years ago, so was certainly nto about to under.

The bottom line was that I pretty much hated every minute of the 3 years I was there. The people were great, but the job was sh!thouse and a few months ago we got a visit from our global division head spruiking a new way of doing our work which was about to unsettle some great results we were already achieving. I saw that my job was going to get even more unenjoyable so I began looking for any other ship to jump to. I really didn't care what it was, as long as it wasn't there. This was tough as I have 3 young kids and a wife who is off work for the next 18 months to support. But my sanity was at risk (I know, I know).

I must admit that so far I have been pretty fortunate, in that I got offered a job whereby the money was much better, the resourcing was infinitely better but they have only been around for 2 years, which is a big risk. So job security was weighing heavily on my mind when I was contemplating the offer.

At the end of the day it was a family decision, not just mine and we talked it through as such (although I've vowed never to take career advice from 3 year and 4 month old ever again). I would suggest if you have any dependents or partners then talk it through with them.

The reason I told you my life story was that I see synergies with your story, in that you are not happy about the direction of your job. I decided that enough was enough so moved on. Maybe you should also consider looking elsewhere other than just your brother's business?

Good luck, there is light and I can tell you there is not much better feeling than telling a hated place of work to stick it (well I didn't say it in those words, but you know what I mean)

Mrs Kiwi

Broad shoulders - love your post, you summed up exactly how I feel and good on you for being brave enough to make the leap and leave. Would love to hear how your new job goes so please let me know and BEST OF LUCK for Monday.

Bermudashorts - thanks for the post, I totally agree, there are more job options than just my brothers. But I do a bit of paperwork for him one night a week at the moment and we work well together and I enjoy it, which is why he's asking me and I'm considering him before he looks for anyone else and I look for another job. I'm always correcting his paperwork and finding better ways to word things so he lets me get on with it which would make for a pretty decent working environment. Its the money side of it, and what happens to our relationship if money goes pear shaped, that worries me.