Promotion opportunity--should I take it?

amother

Thu, Feb 05 2015, 7:50 pm

So here is a little background to my situation. I've been working in the same department for over 10 years and eventually became a senior staff with most years of experience. We are a small team of about 8 people plus my boss. I'm one of only 2 women, and she is one of the junior staff hired recently. Just today my boss called me aside to tell me that he would be leaving the company soon and wanted to recommend me as his successor. He kind of hinted that the other senior staff in the department would not have enough experience and maturity.

I've been happy and pretty good at my job, and the potential for earning more is definitely attractive. My boss or other managers don't seem to be putting in more hours than the rest of us, so it's not like I'll be asked to do crazy hours. The company has another lady who is the head of HR and she works from home 2 afternoons.

But I'm somewhat of an introvert and detail oriented person (something that fits what the department is required to do), and I'm not sure if I would enjoy taking on responsibilities as the department head. I got an impression that my boss is kind of pushed out because he is very senior and his package is too expensive, and that they're looking for someone to do the regular job and manage the team. I don't really know what managing people involves, the thought of giving motivational talks or having to impress senior management frankly scares me. My boss has been very good at getting budgets and resources (like extra temps when things are busy and newer IT) but I don't have confidence or consider myself good at negotiating.

I'm also not sure how to relate to some guys in the team socially, most of them are late 20s and early 30s, and we don't really have too much in common interest outside of work. (My current boss is always joking about sports or TV or things like that.) They like to go out for a lunch or go out for drinks after work together but I usually bring my lunch and head straight to home because of school pick-ups.

Does anyone or anyone's DH have idea of what managers are supposed to do, I'm debating whether I should consider getting myself endorsed or decline the opportunity.

seeker

Tue, Feb 10 2015, 1:01 am

If you are happy in your current role, like what you do, and do not have managerial ambitions, it really sounds like you're not so interested in this. Unless the money would be a huge factor for you, it sounds to me like this would just add stress. There's always the possibility that the new boss could add stress but in general not everyone is the boss type and that's not a bad thing. Some people are HAPPY being good, stable employees with limited responsibility.

Could you ask the departing boss to shadow/apprentice him for a couple of weeks to see if you like the look and feel of his job?