To you wives of husbands in management or sales,

[ourbabygirl]

what are the advantages and drawbacks of their jobs? DH is probably going to be offered a job (at another company) in sales, and possibly also offered a different position, at his current company, as a manager of his team. Other than doing project management a number of years ago, he hasn't worked in either of these roles, and he wants to carefully weigh the pros and cons before accepting a position (or staying put, though he'd rather not).
I'm a SAHM to one, but we have another on the way this fall, so we'll of course be going through major family changes and he wants me to have a say in what he ends up doing. Of course, my perspective is that he's the breadwinner and I want him to be happy, no matter what he's doing. However, right now he works out of the home and has a pretty nice set-up (more flexible hours so he can work out during the day, not commute, not have to get dressed up to go to work, not have to entertain clients at night unless he's traveling). He does have to travel, sometimes quite a bit, but with the sales job it would be more local traveling. With the managerial position, there are also certain drawbacks.

Assuming there's a nice pay increase in both roles, is there one that you would lean towards? If your husband is in one of these roles, has it been a PITA for you to manage the household when he's gone? I'm just not sure how much he'd be gone at night and how much that would bother me. It's also hard to predict how much stress would go along with either job, and if it's bad enough where he should stay away.

Anyhow, thanks for listening and, if applicable, for responding!

ETA: Just wanted to add that I didn't mean to exclude those of you who work in sales or management yourselves- I'd love to get your perspectives, too. I'm mostly thinking of it in terms of what would be most manageable/ feasible for me as a SAHM, trying not to pull my hair out each day!

[mctlaw]

Well, as far as sales, it depends. What is he selling and how large is the sales territory? Some types of sales require quite a bit of travel, although some also offer the flexibility of a home office. Maybe I can be more helpful it you can answer those questions.

[DrSally]

I personally don't like sales, so I may be biased. But, I would be careful b/c those jobs can have a large portion of salary based on commission, which can make income unpredictable. Also, IME, sales guys are the first to get let go if they don't perform. You're only as good as your last sale, KWIM? But, some people are just naturals at it and it isn't a problem.

Management is another issue. It is a lot of hours/responsibility/stress, but more opportunity to drive things and effect change (unless you're in an awful middle management position where you have the former, but not the latter). I think it would really depend on the salary differential and whether that amount is worth the change in lifestyle. The commute can add a lot of hours as well, depending on how far he'd have to go to work.

[newg]

Like pp mentioned. A lot of your question related to sales depends on how big the territory is.
DH is in outside sales and his territory is all local. His home office is in PA, but he doesn't have to go there very often. He does have to travel a few times a year, but we know about it way ahead of time (most of the time) and can plan accordingly. His personal office is at home and he has pretty flexible hours. He does have some early morning and late nights, but it is rare. He does make up for those flexible hours (as I am typing on this computer he is on his doing work....) but DD never suffers.
I have one friend who's DH sells medical equipment and he travels all over the world, with the trips all being at least a week long. He works at an office and has typical hours when not traveling. He makes great money.
Another friend's DH is a sales manager and his territory is N. America! So he travels a ton...plus his home office is in NB, so he has to travel to there as well. He is able to work from home, if needed. But most days he works at the office with typical hours.

Now DH could take a management postition in his field (like his boss's job) and be an outside sales manager. He would travel more (about 2x) and have more longer days. So this is a conversation we've had too........would the exra money be worth the extra time he would be away from us.

[kozachka]

It depends on the specifics of both offers/opportunities, and your DH's personality.

I started my career in sales, and have no problem connecting with different people. I don't even mind making cold calls, I don't like doing that, but I know not to take it personal and that it's a numbers game. Selling goods or ideas comes easy to me. I know other people who had to sell (projects so more of a client development role) once they were promoted and it was stressful to them. Has your DH sold anything before? Did he enjoy doing it?

Transition to management might be easier if it's in the field that he knows pretty well but it comes with more responsibility and requires different skill set. Is your DH good with people and processes? Does he like coaching and mentoring? If not, it might be not a very good fit for him?

At the end of the day, you both need to decide whether the extra money that come with either position are worth the extra stress/inconvenience. It sounds like you have a very nice balance right now. Would your DH be able to go back to his current position if things don't work out? Do you have good support system in place if DH were to be out of the house more? You are the only people who know answers to these questions.

[Melaine]

I personally don't like sales, so I may be biased. But, I would be careful b/c those jobs can have a large portion of salary based on commission, which can make income unpredictable. Also, IME, sales guys are the first to get let go if they don't perform. You're only as good as your last sale, KWIM? But, some people are just naturals at it and it isn't a problem.

Management is another issue. It is a lot of hours/responsibility/stress, but more opportunity to drive things and effect change (unless you're in an awful middle management position where you have the former, but not the latter). I think it would really depend on the salary differential and whether that amount is worth the change in lifestyle. The commute can add a lot of hours as well, depending on how far he'd have to go to work.

I agree with this. My only contribution is that, as a manager, my DH tends to get a lot of calls when he is off. Depending on the job, that has sometimes been in the middle of the night which is a PITB. I still think I would personally prefer management over sales.

[daisymommy]

Totally agree with everything Sally said. All of DH's jobs have either been in sales or management. And I've hated it.

We have always done pretty well in comparison with our peers financially wise, so that's nice. But the stress can be bad.

With sales, we're always stressed that if he doesn't make his quota we won't have enough money in our paycheck. So stability never feels certain.

With management it all falls back on him. He works long hours, late nights, picks up the slack, takes the flak from the higher ups when his employees aren't doing what they're supposed to, comes in on weekends to make sure things are going right, etc,. etc.

So yeah, many days I feel like a single mom.

Thank goodness for the BBB!

[boolady]

I agree with this. My only contribution is that, as a manager, my DH tends to get a lot of calls when he is off. Depending on the job, that has sometimes been in the middle of the night which is a PITB. I still think I would personally prefer management over sales.

With management it all falls back on him. He works long hours, late nights, picks up the slack, takes the flak from the higher ups when his employees aren't doing what they're supposed to, comes in on weekends to make sure things are going right, etc,. etc.

My DH has been a manager, at several levels, and this is all true; however, at least I know that he's getting paid, as opposed to sales. He does get a bonus (or not) based upon the performance of what he's managing, and that is still sales-driven.

[hillview]

I am a sales manager (well presales -- tech people). I love it and the money is good. That said, I think moving into sales where a lot of your $ is based in bonus is a hard transition. It can be feast of famine. I'd vote for the management job for the team he knows personally unless he has some deep need to do sales (there is a personality where this is the case).

Sales tends to have a lot of travel, business dinners etc. That would be a bigger impact IMO than mangement of current team. There will be more work for a manager and may require more hours but often it is deliverables that are due and so you can do them at night or in early am etc and work around your family stuff somewhat.

HTH
/hillary

[ourbabygirl]

Thanks, Everyone, for the responses!

What a coincidence, hilliew- DH is actually currently in presales, in a tech field, too (BIG company). One of his issues is that he's tired of doing the 'button pushing' on these big deals when he feels like he does most of the work and the sales guys get the credit (and major commission). Luckily the new position in sales (at another good, big company) has a base pay that's around what he's making now, plus the opportunity to make quite a bit more in commission (he thinks it's a 60/40 split, but needs to find out if that's the case, or if it's more like 50/50 or 40/60). I think he would do great in either role....
As far as travel, I'm pretty sure that with the manager one it would be almost no travel and the sales one would be some travel within the state (we live near the metro area in a state with a lot of big companies, so luckily there should be a lot of business to be had here). He's fine with drumming up new business with new clients and has a lot of contacts from various companies from his previous jobs, so luckily he's not worried about that.
I, however, come from a family where my dad started his own business and travelled a ton when we were little, or if he wasn't traveling for work he was putting in late hours at the office... so much so that my mom was more like a single parent. And I have a brother who went into sales, so he's traveling a ton, and my other brother is in consulting, so he also travels a ton. I really didn't want a life like that; I want my husband to be around more and to really know the kids... I love that DD can toddle over to his office to say hi (when he's home), and he can scoop her up to give her a kiss or tickle her. However, it would also be nice if he had to be in an office (or somewhere else) a bit, because there are times when we have to be super quiet because he's on a conference call, or I have to find ways to keep her from running over to see him when he's busy.

Anyhow, we'll see what happens in the next week or so.

Thanks again!