Potential job decision, and I don't know how to choose. (Cliffs Notes at end)

maulcruiser

maulcruiser

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2005
Location
Bladenboro/Wilmington, NC
Ok, so here I am, a firefighter for the City of Wilmington, rapidly approaching my third year of employment. When I started, this was, I believe, the lowest paying department in the state with a population above 50K. Fast forward to now, and I have been bumped up to what the average starting salary is in NC. Along with the economy and New Hanover County's excessive cost-of-living, I have to maintain two jobs to get by. Given, there are things I could do to lessen my monetary needs, but it is what it is, and it's what I want.
Back on topic...
I currently have an application in with Chapel Hill FD. I applied for it after hearing the news that the City was considering a pay reduction and also closing fire stations, and also after taking a 2% reduction of my deferred compensation (457 plan). Well, Tuesday I will be traveling to Chapel Hill to partake in the first of three tests for possible employment. I applied on a whim, and it was more of a challenge to me to see if I could actually have the potential for another department. Chapel Hill isn't wasting any time on this.
Herein lies my problem(s): I recently purchased a house (Aug. 09), and I have almost three years in this department, of which I'd have to start all over again in CH. If I were offered a job in Chapel Hill, it would be a pay increase of at least $5,000. I'm not so much worried about the cost-of-living there, as I would want to stay far out in the country. I know nothing of the area other than from what I've seen when I drive through it, but I know it's closer to UNF, cities with actual 4WD shops, my parent's vacation spot, and just better amenities than "holier than thou" beach yuppies that would rather spend money on parks and parking decks than actually supporting their employees.
I know I shouldn't whine about things since I have two jobs while the rest of the world struggles to find employment. Hell, I am thankful that I even still have this job since they were considering layoffs at one time! But I am at a loss as to what my decision will be if they do offer me a job. I formulate and play out every possible scenario in my head, yet the scales remain balanced. Part of me says stick it out here since I have established a life in this area, but the other parts tells me to run the other path and take a chance.
Cliffs Notes:
Play it safe and stay with WFD and live the beach life,
OR,
(Potentially) Take a risk, start over at the bottom, sell the house, and leave all that I know for the chance at a possibly better life in Chapel Hill.
The words of Dennis Hopper from the movie "Speed" keep ringing in my head: "Pop quiz, hot shot!" And, "What do you do?"
And the answer? "Shoot the hostage. Take him out of the equation." HAHA! Now I'm just thinking out loud...I'll shut up now.
 
I think you should go for the Chapel Hill job if you can get it. The money you'll make over your career will be worth it along with most likely better job stability. 3 years is not a lot of time when you think about working 25 years or more. You wont be that far from Willmington where you cant easily go back and visit. Would you loose on the house though?

The best part though is you will be closer to Uwharrie :lol:
 
Money aside, what about the "quality of job"? e.g. if money were not an issue/equal, would you rather work for CH?

IMO in this housing market, $5k/year is a hard sell against what you're going to lose on the house, selling it and buying another. @6% realtor fess alone that will eat up ? the first year's bump, and that's assuming you have no cost to repair/upgrade etc.
 
Downside to Chapel hill--have to ride in carolina blue fire trucks. Upside to Chapel hill--carrboro. Downside to wilmington--shitty pay. Upside to wilmington--it's not chapel hill.

Hope that helps. :flipoff2:
 
Does one location allow for more advancement in your career path? How close are you to your family and friends at home? Money or promotions will never compensate for some of those ties if they are strong enough. Are you more interested in the change of scenery or the challenges of a career, and personal relationship building process you'll unavoidably have to go through. If its the scenery it will wear off with time, probably less time than you would think.
 
braxton357 said:
Downside to Chapel hill--have to ride in carolina blue fire trucks. Upside to Chapel hill--carrboro. Downside to wilmington--shitty pay. Upside to wilmington--it's not chapel hill.
Hope that helps. :flipoff2:
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Isn't Carrboro where all of the hippies live? If so, that is not really an "upside."

Where do you want to live? Are there other places in NC where you could apply and be closer to family, friends, as well as UNF and other places you may like to visit? If you are looking at moving, you may want to check out other locations to start a new life. Like previously mentioned, you will probably lose money on the house you just purchased unless it has increased in value in 9 months.
 
RatLabGuy said:
Money aside, what about the "quality of job"? e.g. if money were not an issue/equal, would you rather work for CH?
IMO in this housing market, $5k/year is a hard sell against what you're going to lose on the house, selling it and buying another. @6% realtor fess alone that will eat up ? the first year's bump, and that's assuming you have no cost to repair/upgrade etc.
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That's something to really think about.I have family who moved from Memphis to Cookeville TN for a job.They have been tryin to sell their house in Memphis for 6-8 months now.They are about to be in foreclosure on that house because they can't sell it and are barely makin the two payments.They gave $140K for it 3 years ago and have put new carpet and hardwoods thru the house and have repainted the entire place and havent had any offers at $118K they are askin.
 
As a firefighter myself I'd look at the call volume you would have to run. I'm sure you'd earn that extra 5k the hard way and would be to tired to work a second job. IMO 5k isn't enough to pack up and move.
 
Money aside, what about the "quality of job"? e.g. if money were not an issue/equal, would you rather work for CH?
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I know nothing about the quality of the job as compared to Wilmington. I don't know if I would like CH better or not.

IMO in this housing market, $5k/year is a hard sell against what you're going to lose on the house, selling it and buying another.
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When I purchased this house, I had instant equity in it. The housing market here is showing signs of recovery, and I always have the option of renting it out as opposed to selling.

As a firefighter myself I'd look at the call volume you would have to run. I'm sure you'd earn that extra 5k the hard way and would be to tired to work a second job.
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All I know is CH runs an average of 5,000 calls a year with seven trucks out of five stations. Wilmington runs an average of 8,000 calls with 11 engines, 3 towers, and 3 rescues out of 11 stations, and soon to be numbering 12. In my short career, I have always been positioned at a slow station, so lack of calls is not a concern of mine, and I wouldn't mind running more.

Does one location allow for more advancement in your career path? How close are you to your family and friends at home? Money or promotions will never compensate for some of those ties if they are strong enough. Are you more interested in the change of scenery or the challenges of a career, and personal relationship building process you'll unavoidably have to go through. If its the scenery it will wear off with time, probably less time than you would think.
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I'm sure that Wilmington allows for more advancement simply because we employ more people and have more equipment to staff. 200+ Wilmington vs. 100+ Chapel Hill. My family is spread across the state. My parents still have a house in Bladenboro, but they're been spending increasingly more time at their lake house in Kerr Lake, VA. My sister and her husband live in Garner. My aunts/uncle/grandmother all live near Bladenboro, but I've only ever really associated with my grandmother, so that bears no weight on my decision.

What I'm interested in is less bullshit and more foot-to-ass. The City and New Hanover County are slowly merging into a metro like Mecklenburg County. My concern with that is I don't want to work at a county station, nor do I want to fight fire alongside someone that's not equally trained. I want to know the person backing me up won't bitch up and hide when the shit gets heavy. I've already worked with the county guys, and when they were asking me how to handle a situation at a seemingly "routine" car accident, I knew right then that I wasn't comfortable with where things were going.

Where do you want to live?
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It used to be here in Wilmington. This was the only fire department in NC that I applied for, as it was the only city that appealed to me. I could have gone anywhere, but I loved this area. After starting here, it seemed that the FD and politics involved were on a downhill slope, and it's being greased by the City and County Commissioners that are more interested in their popular vote instead of what's right and serves the public best. Currently, they're in talks of shutting down the volunteer departments here (in which there is a County-staffed engine 24/7). I've tried looking at both sides of the arguement, but they'll be trying to staff these departments without raising taxes (supposedly), and I know it's impossible. They keep bragging about having one of the lowest tax rates in the state, but when it's studied, they are cutting dangerous corners to provide it.

I love my City and my job, but really, do we neccessitate a five million dollar fire station? I don't think so, but that's what it cost to build the station I'm currently assigned to.

Ah I could go for days, and I'm not any closer to a decision...
 
$5000 is not much of a difference to jump ship let alone sell a house and move 2 hours away.

Sounds like you'll have a better chance to move up in Wilmington. CH is just as expensive to live as Wilmington.

If its the job in Wilmington that you just dislike, then its a no brainer regardless of the $$$ If its the $$$, then thats a lot of work to move for just $5000.
 
Going to CH will not get you away from the BS and internal politics you deal with now. The players will change but the the game will stay the same or may be worse. As for money I wouldnt pick up and move for 5k.
 
$5000 doesn't sound like enough to pack up and move. Hell, last job change I had took $10,000/year to get me to change jobs, and that didn't involve a move. Sounds like your happy where your at except for the politics.
 
Im gonna say don't do it.

The politics aren't going to change form one city to the next.

The 5 grand a year is going to get ate up by taxes and you'll also get taxed for renting a house if it comes to that.

I would seriously conisder the two jobs you have now. Can they match the amount of money you make from both jobs.

can you get a job in CH?
seriously you gotta look at all the angles.
 
Well, after reading all the replies here and mulling over it some more, I think I'm going to stick it out here. It will get better in time, and you guys are right. That little bit of a pay increase won't make much of a difference. I may still go up there to "audition" for them. I'll ask some questions also about the salary also, as I'm more qualified than what they require, so I might actually have the potential to make more than just the 5K.

I'll keep ya informed.

Thanks, fellas!
 
5000 dollar pay increase on a 30,000 dollar a year salary is a HUGE percentage increase, and you'd be crazy not to do it, as long as the job is similar hours, days off, workload etc. Think about it, ALL of that extra money is FUN money, not money that goes to bills since you already have your bills set up on your old salary. If you make 30k now, spend 20k for bills/housing/etc and have fun/save/invest the other 10k, the money you actually see will go up 50 percent!

You could dramatically increase the money you save and invest, leading to earlier, better retirement.

Second, RENT out that house. If you have to drive out there once or twice a month to keep tabs on it/fix problems so what? They are making your mortgage payment for you, and in 20 years when all that extra "fun" money you've saved and invested has led you to early retirement at age 45, you can look at that rental house and decide whether you want another 1000 bucks a month (todays dollars, maybe 2000/mo in 2030 dollars) or sell it and take the lump sum because your renters paid it off.
 
after living here ( I go to UNC) i can say I really like the town in small doses. It's cool to live here, having franklin street and all the local bars/ restaurants and the local music scene is awesome. On the other hand Chapel hill is a bunch of rich hippies while carborro is poorer hippies, every once in a while I just feel like I don't fit in at all. great place, great people but I keep a fishing rod in the back of my car and every once in a while just have to drive to the country and get away a bit.

It's a little over 1.5 hours to UNF 2.5 to beach. Overall i think it's a cool atmosphere and conveniently centrally located in the state.

just my .02
 
kf4amu said:
5000 dollar pay increase on a 30,000 dollar a year salary is a HUGE percentage increase, and you'd be crazy not to do it, as long as the job is similar hours, days off, workload etc. Think about it, ALL of that extra money is FUN money, not money that goes to bills since you already have your bills set up on your old salary. If you make 30k now, spend 20k for bills/housing/etc and have fun/save/invest the other 10k, the money you actually see will go up 50 percent!

You could dramatically increase the money you save and invest, leading to earlier, better retirement.

Second, RENT out that house. If you have to drive out there once or twice a month to keep tabs on it/fix problems so what? They are making your mortgage payment for you, and in 20 years when all that extra "fun" money you've saved and invested has led you to early retirement at age 45, you can look at that rental house and decide whether you want another 1000 bucks a month (todays dollars, maybe 2000/mo in 2030 dollars) or sell it and take the lump sum because your renters paid it off.
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Have to disagree w/ this pretty wholeheartedly.
Forget percentages b/c they are irrelevant, it's actual dollars that matter.
$5k a year. minus taxes, deoending on your bracket (married?) that will be either $3400 or $3900 leftover. B/c this is added on income, it will be taxed at the full rate.
Which still sounds like a lot until you figure that you will pay 2x that to a realtor to sell the house. Or your new home could easily cost $300/month more, or have higher utility bills.
Or rent it? Yeah, that's only $300/ a month "extra" you have to spend on renting costs. A single drive back and forth wil leat half that in gas. Replace 1 hot water tank or broken faucet, poof that $$ is gone. Have to redo carpets? Guess what, half you annual "extra" now gone. I'm sorry but aguy that is a firefighter AND working an extra job dosnt have time to be a landlord 3 hrs away.

And this is assuming the cost of living is equal, which it isn't.

IMO the money here is NOT worth it. This would have to be a choice about something else.
 
Sounds like you already made your decision, but a few thoughts anyway.

- There is bullshit everywhere, in every job in every city. You can not escape politics, bullshit, favoritism

- 5 k may or may not be significant. What is the raise structure of each? If you get a flat % (say 5%/year) it could be an additive deal over time.

- Advancement potential is what I would be looking at, and your reputation. Is it great in Wilmington? If so I'd be hard pressed to leave in a community service position. You may not fit as well, or it may take years to build up the good will you have today where you are. Off course if you have made enemies, it could be a fresh start
 
My wife works in CH and there is no way in hell I would move there. That place is a liberal bastion of PC yuppiness.
 
Orange County EMS is among the most under funded agency's in the state. They run 4 full time trucks. The fire department ends running like dogs after every sprain and slip. And they have those ghey baby blue fire trucks.:flipoff2:
Have you considered Raleigh? They city fire seems to pay good, if you are invested in the NC401k plan, it is transferable and should be fully vested. I have a few friends that work RFD and love it. Durham FD is also in the hiring mood.
 
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