【英语生活】我为什么要换工作

A few months ago I transitioned from part-time work (editing and writing this blog) back to a full-time reporting position.

The decision was a tough one and took almost a year to make. I knew that full-time jobs in journalism were hard to come by and felt I should grab the opportunity when it arose. I also was excited to work with managers I really respected. I was interested in the beat (writing about workplace and management issues) and being able to execute some of my story ideas would realize some of my career ambitions. And I would be doubling my salary (although much of those gains would go right back into child care.)

At the same time, I was giving up something that had grown extremely valuable to me in more than three years as a part-time worker: time. Not just time with my kids, because as an at-home worker, I actually feel very connected to their daily activity. But time for myself. Time to exercise and see friends and read and not always being worried about being rushed. Just rich, unhurried time. And I was also giving up a job I really loved spearheading this blog and interacting with Juggle readers.

Ultimately, though, I felt ready to take on the new career challenge. In part I was inspired after reading a New Yorker profile of Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg (formerly a top exec at Google) who said that men rarely hesitate to take workplace challenges but that women often are reluctant to 'lean into' their careers and take assignments that stretch them. The New Yorker's Ken Auletta writes of Sandberg:

She struggled with her own work-life balance, and developed a sense that too many women at Google and elsewhere were dropping out of the workforce after becoming mothers, in part because they had not pushed to get a job they loved before they began having children. In her six years at Google, she had hired scores of male and female executives, but, she says, 'the men were getting ahead. The men were banging down the door for new assignments, promotions, the next thing to do, the next thing that stretches them. And the women─not all, most─you talked them into it. 'Don't you want to do this?' '

Reading that was a 'you go girl!' moment; soon after I told my boss I felt ready to come back full time. At the same time, though, my husband decided to leave his job at a global tech giant and go to a smaller, pre-IPO firm. So I've been thinking a lot about when it makes sense and when it might not to take on new career challenges.

It hasn't always been easy. Not only did my husband start a new job at the exact same time, but my younger son (almost two) recently started at daycare, after being home with a babysitter and me. As a result, there have been a lot of transitions in our household and in our schedules.

I've chosen not to write about the changes in real time because I was too in the thick of things I needed time to reflect about whether the choices we made were working.

But so far so good. My new work has been invigorating, though I do miss that sense of unhurried time (not to mention leisurely workouts at the gym.) And I do miss daily interactions with Juggle readers!

Readers, when did it make sense for you to take on new career challenges? When have you passed them up? Have any of you taken on new career challenges at the same time as your partner or spouse? How did that work out?

几个月前我把工作从兼职（编辑和撰写这个博客）又转成了全职（撰写报道）。

这是一个艰难的决定，我花了将近一年时间才最终下定了决心。我知道新闻传媒界的全职岗位十分紧俏，但凡有点机会我就应该抓住。能和我十分尊重的经理们一道共事也让我心动不已。我对自己从事的这一行当也饶有兴致（写写职场及经营管理方面的话题），而将我的一些构思付诸实施可以让我实现部分职业理想。我的工资也会翻番（但是很大一部分是马上要花到孩子的看护上去的）。

Getty Images与此同时，我也要放弃一些东西，在我做兼职的三年多时间里这些东西对我真是太宝贵了：时间。由于在家工作，我感觉与孩子们的日常活动联系紧密。但是时间不仅仅是指与孩子们共处的时间，还包括属于我自己的时间，用来锻炼身体、探望朋友、读书看报的时间，没有老是赶时间的忧虑，时间永远充裕而从容。我也要放弃我热衷的这项担任博主并与栏目读者互动的工作。

然而最终我还是准备接受新的职业挑战，部分原因是我在读了《纽约客》（New Yorker）刊登的一篇关于Facebook首席运营长谢丽尔•桑伯格（Sheryl Sandberg）（前谷歌副总裁）的特写文章之后受到了鼓舞。桑伯格说，男人在职场承担挑战时鲜有犹豫，而女人则不愿意“钻研”事业，也不乐于接受能让她们大显身手的任务。《纽约客》的肯•奥莱塔（Ken Auletta）在这篇特写中写道：

她力求达成工作和生活的平衡，并逐渐意识到，在谷歌和别的公司，太多的女性员工在当了妈妈之后就退出了职场，部分原因是因为她们没有费心去找一个生孩子前自己喜欢的工作。在谷歌工作的六年时间里，她雇佣了数十名男女高管，但是，她说，“男人走到了前面。男人拼命要求新的任务、职位晋升、下一件要做的事、下一项让他们施展才华的工作，而女人──虽不是全部，但却是多数──则需要督促：‘你难道不想做这件事吗？’”

读到这里的那一刻，我有一种“女孩，向前冲！”的冲动。没过多久我告诉老板我决意回来做专职。而我丈夫也同时决定辞去他在一家全球性科技行业巨头公司的工作，转而投到一家小一点的预备上市的公司门下。因此，我一直在认真考虑何时接受新的职业挑战更合适。

事情不是那么容易的。我丈夫恰好在同一时间开始新的工作，不仅如此，我的小儿子（快两岁了）最近也刚被送去托儿所，之前他一直在家由保姆和我照料。结果，我们家在家务和时间安排上都有很多改变。

我没有实时跟进描写具体发生的变化，因为我目前正需要紧张处理大量的事情，我需要时间审视我们所做的选择是否运作平稳。

不过到目前为止一切安好。我的新工作让人充满活力，虽然我的确很怀念时间从容的感觉（更别提到健身房悠闲地健身了），我也很怀念每天与读者朋友们的互动交流。

读者朋友们：接受职业的挑战对你们来说什么时候更合适？你们什么时候错失过良机吗？你们有没有和配偶同时接受职业挑战？情况怎么样呢？