How to decide if you should quit your job or not?

[Jake.]

Bit of a weird one I know, just want some advice basically.

I've just been given a job at Halfords as a 20-hour week bike mechanic but will be more than that usually but that's the minimum they'll give per week... I haven't started yet.

I also work at Pizza Express as a dish-cleaner one or two nights a week at the mo, and I always feel shit thinking ahead to it and can never usually do something during the day because I'll be too tired to work. The Pizza Express job nets me between £120-250 a month. No bonuses, no tips etc.

What I want is your opinion on if I should carry on working there as long as possible and see if I can do the job alongside being a mechanic during the day too. Or if I should leave...

I've also been told I'll get quite heavily taxed if I work two jobs too. I'm really unsure what to do about this. I'm thinking of handing in my notice before I go on a bike holiday for 10 days on Thursday, that way I can't get any more shifts there with the weeks notice I give them as I'll be away... Haha. But that means if I don't get on at Halfords I can't exactly go back to Pizza Express.

Oh and I work a small weekend job for 1-2 hours per day every other weekend which gets a bit of pocket money, £50ish.

Really don't know what to do... I have no real bills to pay so I don't need money, all it would mean if I had two jobs would be that I'd have more spending money...

Pros to working at Pizza Express:

More money

Have a laugh with some colleagues

1 free pizza on shift

No real customer interaction

Close to home

Cons:

They give you very little notice on work, they do the weeks rota 3 days in advance

Can't do much during the day due to being tired at work

Social hours = gone

Tax?

Always stress about the shift

Bit shit washing up isn't it really

Pros to working at Halfords

Working with something I have a passion for

Enough money to actually put money aside with

Daytime hours

No real stress about job

Actually get to talk to people

Cons

Retarded customers

10 mile commute

This turned out to be a bit longer than expected sorry ha.

[dann2707]

Bit shit washing up isn't it really.

Jesus Christ that line made me piss myself Hahaha.

I wouldn't hand your notice in until you are totally happy with Halfords mate. Heard so many horror stories of staff hating it, being totally disorganised as a company. You might not enjoy it or something then you wouldn't have a job at all.

I'd see how you get on doing both for a bit, then hand the notice in at Pizza express. Just my thoughts anyway dude

[*gentlydoesit]

Are you at uni or are either of those your chosen career? If its the latter I'd re-think them both,you maybe don't need money now... but you will.

Edited July 7, 2014 by *gentlydoesit

[Jake.]

Not at uni and no neither of them are my chosen career. If I do end up being a bike mechanic my entire life I wouldn't be that upset, would probably try and move to a family-run/smaller shop though rather than a brand.

Dunno what I wanna do with my life that's the thing, was going to do another year of college to do a level 3 diploma in mechanics at college this September but may not have enough time with Halfords. I think I'm going to enroll on the course and see how many days a week it takes up and see if it fits round it.

I wouldn't like to look at myself 2-3 years down the line and still be a mechanic at Halfords though.

I think this thread is basically me just trying to plan what to do with my life in the upcoming months, get my head straight etc whatever you wanna call it... You two have already helped me think about things a lot more already.

[Muel]

I'd stick it for a week or two until you're settled at Halfords, but then definitely jack it in. Life is too short to do a job you hate IMO.

Don't worry about the tax thing, it's a common myth. You get taxed at a set rate, and you don't appear to do enough hours to pay any tax. If you end up overpaying they'll refund you at the end of the tax year anyway.

[shercofray]

I've also been told I'll get quite heavily taxed if I work two jobs too.

The number of people that don't understand the tax system but give advice is ridiculous.

Basically, every one has a personal allowance of £10,000 so any income you earn below this is not taxed. Your personal allowance is normally set against your main source of income and then you are just taxed at 20% on anything above this at this source. And your second job would normally be taxed at 20% for everything you're paid - which is why people get confused.

This is the same for national insurance but the limit is about £7,455 tax free - but basically works the same.

My advice, stick with pizza express until you're sure of what you want to do.

Edited July 7, 2014 by shercofray

[JD™]

My advice is do one job properly, whichever one it is.

[HippY]

Personally I would say that do not play around, so you will have one sure job, until you find out what will happen with your life

How old are you?

[Jake.]

I'd stick it for a week or two until you're settled at Halfords, but then definitely jack it in. Life is too short to do a job you hate IMO.

I think this is what I'll most likely end up doing, cheers dude.

My advice is do one job properly, whichever one it is.

That would make sense to be fair, the cleaning job is almost easy to do now that I've got used to it I guess, just the hours are stressful.

Personally I would say that do not play around, so you will have one sure job, until you find out what will happen with your life

How old are you?

Yeah at least either way I've got a job I suppose, and I'm 19 on Wednesday.

[HippY]

1.That would make sense to be fair, the cleaning job is almost easy to do now that I've got used to it I guess, just the hours are stressful.

2.Yeah at least either way I've got a job I suppose, and I'm 19 on Wednesday.

1. I am working at the weekends from early morning, so I cannot really go out, so I can understand you

2. do you live alone/will you do it near future? If not, I would try the halford as well, and if its better then transfer... I think :$

ill be 20 on Sunday, Happy Birthday beforehand

[Jake.]

Ahh that's shitty, I'm not so bothered about going out drinking or such anymore. It's more when mates all say they're getting together and I'm stuck at work cleaning dishes haha.

I live with my parents, luckily I'm not being charged rent yet. They have spoken of it, I told them I'm happy to but they haven't gone ahead with it yet.

Haha cheers, happy birthday for Sunday dude

[Tony Harrison]

The Halfords job is obviously a way better opportunity. As JD says, better to invest your efforts in doing one job properly and making the most of it.

If the dish-washing isn't for you, bin it now. Yes, there's a chance you won't like the Halfords job, but it's good to get used to the idea of taking risks. Plus, having no fall-back job will make you more likely to commit to the Halfords job and put everything into it.

[Jake.]

At work now and really finding it shit. Had to sit around all day on my own so I didn't get tired, then went to work as family get home and mates finish work.

Ugh

[mr_malcolm]

if your doing nothing all day because your afraid you will be tired of an evening for work thats probably why your tired. If you don't do anything all day it makes you more tired.

On the work side of things do both for a bit then leave the one thats not for you. Im sure for your first couple of weeks at halfords you wont be on overtime as they will need to train you etc etc. I know my company don't give new staff hours over their contract until they have a bit of experience and confidence.

[eskimo]

Imho all your jobs are a waste of time and dead end. You won't get anything from either unless you're in the brown nose club for years.

You don't go out drinking and you don't pay rent? Why so many jobs? Go have some fun on your bike.

If you don't know what you want todo, that's just hardluck. I have ten years on you and still f**kin around deciding what route to go.

But on the bright side i'm not married with a lack of time for myself, a mortgage and so forth.

[Jake.]

Imho all your jobs are a waste of time and dead end. You won't get anything from either unless you're in the brown nose club for years.

You don't go out drinking and you don't pay rent? Why so many jobs? Go have some fun on your bike.

If you don't know what you want todo, that's just hardluck. I have ten years on you and still f**kin around deciding what route to go.

But on the bright side i'm not married with a lack of time for myself, a mortgage and so forth.

Interesting view, yeah I don't plan on being in any of the current jobs forever.

I keep thinking about going travelling round the world and that's the only thing that I can see putting the money towards, on and keeping my car maintained I guess.

I do go out drinking, just not as often as a lot of people my age seem to, I go once or twice a month. Sometimes even less than that when I'm skint, obviously.

The rent side of things, I was told as long as I'm in education I won't have to pay so I've got a feeling come this September I'll have to start.

I think I've decided that I'll do both jobs for a bit, see how hard it is, how much free time I get and more importantly if I don't get on at halfords I won't have lost 2 jobs.

Cheers for the advice fellas.

[Mark W]

At work now and really finding it shit. Had to sit around all day on my own so I didn't get tired, then went to work as family get home and mates finish work.

I don't really get that 'too tired to work' thing - you're wasting hours of your own time just to do a fairly straight-forward job 'better' (not talking shit about the job you're doing there, but I mean that it's a fairly normal job to do where you don't need to be 100% on your A-game the whole time)? I had a free year between finishing 6th form and going to uni, and during that year I worked evenings and a Sunday at a supermarket shelf-stacking and a full Saturday at a bike shop running the whole thing myself. In the days I'd ride as much as possible because that was 'my' time, and I didn't want to sacrifice my only time to do what I wanted to do just to make myself feel slightly fresher when it came to going to work. If you're doing a job you love then fair enough, but for random low level jobs in the service industry f**k it - if you're feeling a bit tired during your shift and time is dragging, it doesn't really matter because you had a good time when you were doing things in your own time. You know you're getting out of there in X hours, so just focus on that rather than thinking "I feel tired". You can also just think about the fact you're getting paid to be there. They're not paying you for the hours you're missing out on when you're just sitting at home, because they don't give a shit about you/your life. You're at a stage in your life where you've got minimal responsibilities and things taking up your time so you should be making the most of it rather than worrying about whether you're going to be in the right frame of mind to go and do your bit for a multinational pizza corporation

[monkeyseemonkeydo]

I have ten years on you and still f**kin around deciding what route to go.

But on the bright side i'm not married with a lack of time for myself, a mortgage and so forth.

That's not really something to brag about though is it?!

Sounds to me like the Pizza thing was just a means to an end that you've kinda just stuck with even though you hate it. If it were me I'd sack off that one and try and enjoy the Halfords gig as much as you can (show willing, take on responsibility etc.) while keeping an eye out for what you actually want to do. Halfords stores are a little dead end but on the flipside we had one of the chief designers for Halfords here the other day who absolutely loves his job but that's obviously a long way from mending punctures and trying not to put forks in back to front

[Jake.]

Thank you so much for that Mark.

f**k it I'm going for a ride.

[eskimo]

If you don't mind doing both jobs then that's the way to go for sure as you've now mentioned going round the world. Just concentrate on not throwing money away, and if you can ditch the car, they are black holes for cash as you probably know. Having the education is an advantage but not a necessity if you don't know which way to go imo. A lot of people swing jobs by luck.

Monkey, what the fook you on about?

[Jake.]

Yeah I think I'll try and do both for as long as possible but if it's not doable I'll probably drop the washing job although it's one of those jobs you can just switch off and do, but if you can't switch off it drags like hell.

Cars are a money pit I agree, I've just got my new one so will most likely use it til insurance runs out next March or something like that. I'm fairly good at managing my money, I think it'll be more in the winter I'll appreciate a car as cycling about in zero temperatures without rain snow or wind is grim enough as is haha.

[Ross McArthur]

Monkey, what the fook you on about?

I think he means you should be ashamed of not having a mortgage, career and 2.4 children. God forbid you're happy with who you are, eh?

[monkeyseemonkeydo]

I think he means you should be ashamed of not having a mortgage, career and 2.4 children. God forbid you're happy with who you are, eh?

Not ashamed but being 30+ and 'still f**kin around deciding what route to go' isn't the sort of career advice my teachers/parents were giving out when I was out school and isn't for everyone. Likewise I know a mortgage, career and 2.4 children isn't for everyone but it seems to work for a lot of (happy) people as well.

[Tony Harrison]

Not so sure though. It's only the western ideas of life and success that say we should have a 'career' and structure to our lives. I've met plenty of people in their 40s and upwards living life day to day, travelling around the place, and they seem just as happy with their minimal lifestyle and lack of set direction.

For me it was listening to parents and teachers and doing what I thought was the correct/expected thing that saw me spend 7 years of my life walking a path (i.e. corporate employment) that wasn't for me. Sure, during those 7 years I learned a lot about myself and the world, built self-confidence and made useful discoveries and contacts, but I learned one thing most of all that a 'career' isn't the only way. It bothers me that I did that for 7 years not by choice, but because it was the default option, I fell into it and 'settled' with the assumption that it was the only realistic way. Took so long for me to realise that I didn't have to follow a set menu. When I meet university leavers and gap year students now I try to impress on them the importance of making their own objective decisions about their future, and that university and 'careers', promotions and suchlike are only one path out of many.

I guess ultimately it took until my late 20s for me to develop any real ambition of my own that wasn't based around my school/university or employer.

[ItsMatt]

2.4 children

hang about