Should my cousin work for this new job or stay in her current job? I really need GOOD answers & advices!!!?

Question

Currently, her family monthly expenses are about SGD $500 - $600 now and depending on her current pay, she's able to cope to make ends meet ONLY!
So if now she's taking on the new job, she has to take care of more issues such as the petrol, monthly car installment, maintenance, insurance, personal & own family expenses.

Pls see below details & state out all clear reasons if she should really take up the new job or remain in her current job.

NOTE: No doubt her new job is a sales job but they're NOT going to include any commission for her. She'll be getting her monthly gross salary of SGD $2K - $2.2K only.
Whereas her current job is providing her with commission but only $50 - $100 per month and that mainly depends on her sales performance.

I really need USEFUL answers & advices from you guys, pls help me as she may need to reply the new employer on next week.

A NEW job offers her:
- $2K to $2.2K basic salary (no commission)
- $600 to $800 car allowance (incld mthly car installment & petrol expenses)
- At least 2 mths bonuses
- 19 annual leaves
- 14 medical leaves
- fully claimed medical bills
- 1 month for tender of resignation
- Own company's credit card (mainly for clients' expenses only)
- Subsidised office parking fees and at clients' place
- Subsidised handphone allowance
- With travel & overseas training opportunities
- Subsidised car loan service
- $650 maternity incentive
- Further studies opportunities
- $150 dental claims
- With workplace insurance coverage
- increase self-market value

Her CURRENT job offers her:
- $1.6K to $1.8K basic salary (incld commission)
- uncertain bonus
- 17 days annual leave
- 14 medical leaves
- fully claimed medical bills
- 2 months for tender of resignation
- can be a decision-maker
- $60 dental claims
- With workplace insurance coverage
- Lots of freedom

She is a working in Singapore & her MAIN worries now are:
1) can she really cope buying a new car and handle the monthly car installment and petrol expenses as her pay is not high?
2) even though the new job is giving her more career advancement & higher salary, shd she take up the new challenge & risks?
3) what if she can't cope with the new sales job? worst case is she can't go back to her current job & may even lose her only ricebowl and can't find another job so soon as she needs to support her whole family?

The new job is going to pay her slightly higher than the current one. So probably she hopes she can still cope a little with the car installment & petrol expenses.

But why she wanted to try the new job is because she knew there will be "career advancement" in a few yrs time. What is holding her back now is whether she'll survive in the new job and most importantly, if she's able to sustain the car installment & petrol expenses and to contribute more income for her family?

Answer 1

Short answer YES she should take the new JOB

REASONS AS FOLLOWS:. Some of the comments are heavily "americanised" and dont understand the Singapore cost for a car or compulsory savings (superannuation).

Basically:
1. At present she is just making ends meet but there seems to be no room for advancement (this means career and revenue). Therefore even if taking the new job means making ends meet it brings a better future for her that within time will allow her to get away from the strain of managing a tight budget for family. This will mean that she is better off as is the family in the long term
2. Making ends meet with commission is terrible. What happens when business goes badly, or competition or pricing varies. this affects her revenue. So she is better breaking out of that cycle. To have more than enough without commission is a higher level of security
3. It is more than likely that if a car is not required the Car Allowance will be removed. Therefore as buying a car might be out of her reach ...some suggestions are at hand...speak to a friend who has a car and is studying...make an arranagement to pay an agree weekly amount to them in return for using the car as required. Other option is to make arranagements for a long term lease (though difficult to put in place with small level of income). So you need to look at this further in detail

So that is a start..you also know her so ask what is important to her..glass or water and rice for the family for the tomorrow and every day after that ...or the chance that through hard working that things will be better and maybe just maybe you can enjoy things more.

Another option worth considering is to go back only once she has decided to leave the company and tell them that she is considering an offer with another company. As such if she is a good salesperson they will want to keep her and may make a counter offer...in which case good to her. If they say no raise will happen then she needs to give her resignation on the spot there and then as it is obvious she is not being valued...in which case she is better of not being there at all....

Answer 2

Let's do some math here. Comparing from the old to new job, she will be getting about $1k-$1.2k more each month than her old job (this is adding the additional salary and the car allowance). You need to take away taxes to know what the net take home pay is, but let's assume it's then $800-$1000.

From a career perspective, it looks like there's no question - the new job is better, slightly better pay, better advancement opportunities, potential for higher salary in the future. I think if she is being offered the job, the company believes in her to do the job (plus most companies will help you of course), so I think failure is a lesser possibility.

The extra costs here are car related (petrol, insurance, maintenance) and this is the main hesitation point. I assume she does not have a car currently and this job requires one, which is why she needs to buy one, and they're probably not cheap. So what other options are there - does she need to travel 100% of the time? If not, are there other ways to get where she needs to without having to buy a car? Car rental? (some rental places in North America include insurance if you have a certain credit card which makes it a good alternative) Taxi? Train? How about a used car?

Sorry can't think of anything else, but hope this helps. Good luck to your cousin!

Answer 3

Hi - If she is barely making ends meet now, why would she consider taking a job that will increase her expenses substantially? She needs to keep looking for a job that will pay her what she is worth, or at least enough so that she doesn't have to add the stress of not being able to pay her bills to the stress of learning a new job.

Also if she does not have sales experience, it's harder to earn those commissions than you might think. Most sales jobs take lot of prospecting and relationship-building before you start seeing commissionable sales.

Answer 4

In life, we always need to make choices, and responsible for our choice. She need to make her own decision, as no one can give her the best answer.

Personally, I feel that she can take up the new job. She could get a used car first (now COE car is quite cheap, with about $300 - $400 monthly instalment), since I believe it's required by her new job. Thus the allowance given should be able to cover her instalment, petrol and parking fee.

In life, no risk, no gain. But how much risk she willing to take, no one can tell her.

Answer 5

She should keep her job she has now because if she gets a new job she will get everything mixed up and won't have time to do anything if she takes the old job.