Making the Right Career Move

Imagine you have a decision to make. You can either stay in your current job as a high school principal, one in which you find yourself happy and successful or you can move to a new job as a superintendent, accepting new challenges and learning an entirely new position.

Now let’s complicate the decision even more. Let’s say you conclude that moving up to a superintendency is the right choice. You’re then faced with the opportunity of a superintendency in a neighboring district or an assistant superintendency in the district in which you are currently employed.

Superintendency in Neighboring District? This is a successful school district in which you’ve worked before, you know the community and the staff and you feel extremely comfortable. You know with as much certainty as anyone can have that you’ll be successful there. Excellent business manager, healthy budget, great tech personnel, good administrators, fantastic kids and community, good BOE support. You receive an overwhelming number of requests to return and it’s a district you loved working in.

Assistant Superintendency in Current District? This is a tougher district in which change is beginning to occur due to numerous initiatives in which you’ve been involved along with others interested in improvement. Still some tough challenges ahead though. Great administrative team, business manager will be a new hire, supportive superintendent who’s willing to teach you as long as he stays (with the opportunity of a superintendency when he moves on or retires), outstanding BOE support, very healthy budget, terrific kids and community–plus their yours because you reside in this community. You’re four miles from home and you came here to make a difference when you believed no one else would come. You came to this district as a high school principal to improve instruction and climate for everyone. You love coming to work here every day.Your son is here and it’s tough on him, you being here. He thinks he could be more “normal” if you go. You worry that his school won’t be as good if you go and you hope that through your loving, strong parenting, along with your husband and family, that you can overcome any difficulties he experiences as the “administrator’s kid”. You find yourself arguing with anyone who advises you to take the other job because it’s the smart career move.  

Which job do you choose? While the blog was down, I made the choice–I’m just wondering what you would have done. What readers would have advised me to do, had I been able to write about this.