Long story short I thought I'd get your advice..

I currently work in a school 10 miles away. I'm very well thought of and have worked there for 6 years now. In the holidays I get paid cash to work sports camps for a very close friend. Within the school I do sports 3 nights a week and at lunch times. This all fits nicely around me having my son regularly in mid week, weekends and holidays.
Now, I managed to bag myself the opportunity to work for a sports company once a job becomes available (isn't available yet!) They basically employ you as a pe teacher (my dream job) and you teach in 3-5 different schools through each week. It's something I have always wanted to do but the sad thing is I'll only be earning a very small amount more money than I do now plus I'll lose the opportunity to 'work' (I use this term loosely as sport camps are very relaxed and fun) for a very good friend.
I'm struggling to decide what to do once the company call me offering me the job once it becomes available (we think January latest).
In my mind short term it makes me worried it'll mess up my routine with my son and I don't feel the money is good enough considering I'll be the lead teacher doing the PE myself. Long term I think it's good because once I've got some experience I could then potential become an independent pe teacher and earn double what they're offering.

What would you do in this situation?

Hi mate. I’m a qualified careers adviser and manage a team of advisers now. If you want to talk this through I’d happily set up a call if you think it would help.

It’s all about balance I suppose weighing up the pros and cons, failing that go with your gut feeling. I think you should definitely be looking long term.. where do you want to be in 5 years?
5 years will soon fly by and you don’t want to be doing the same job looking back thinking what if!

I’m in a similar situation I’ve got a decent job that’s been good for me but after nearly 20 years I wouldn’t mind a change. Now I’ve been given the chance to move department and train as an electrical and instrumentation engineer, but the dilemma’s being that this would be a pay cut and the slight concern of wether I’d adapt and be happier.

It's the same old story Lukeo, you are at a crossroads of life so do you change direction or stay on the same path? One thing to bear in mind is that the grass is never greener in the long term.

You haven't mentioned about any pension scheme that you may be in so you should consider that in your calculations, also who will fund the fuel costs in a future job?

Your time with your son is important to you so will this be less in the future?

There is also the national economic situation, we are now in a recession so will a future occupation be fully available, especially if firms close due to utility prices?

My advice to you is to write a list of pros and cons, list them in order of importance to you and remember money is ok but does not buy happiness.

Personally, I would embrace change.  To get into this position you've both worked your posterior off doing sports clubs etc on top of your work, and clearly pursued this company as something you'd like to do.  If you leave on the right terms you can always go back to your current employer in the future and even if they have nothing at the time they'll be able to recommend you elsewhere.

This is very easy for me to say though because it's not going to impact me.  To balance it out I would definitely cost up all the travelling, wear and tear on the car, fuel etc and the wear and tear on yourself because travelling a lot really isn't for all of us.  Ignore the short term effects on your son, concentrate on what would the long term effects be?  If it's better for him and better for you then go for it.