On Friday and Monday (bank holidays excepted) we publish the problems that will feature in a forthcoming Dear Jeremy advice column in the Guardian Work supplement, so readers can offer their own advice and suggestions. We then print the best of your comments alongside Jeremy's own insights. Here is the latest dilemma – what are your thoughts?
I work for a London-wide housing association, co-ordinating a number of projects including an internal resident-volunteer programme, employment workshops, money management sessions and other "social inclusion" activities. I have recently been offered a job by a much smaller charity that works with young male ex-offenders, offering mentoring and guidance relationships as they re-adjust to life post-custodial sentencing.
While it's a positive dilemma to have to deal with, especially given the current employment market, I am struggling to know whether taking the offer is the best move career-wise. My current role is one I have been doing successfully for a year and a half, and is my first "proper" job post-university. I am attracted to the smaller charity because the work will be more hands-on, more transparent and represents a more unique way of working with hard-to-reach young adults.
However, I can't help but feel it is a risk, given that I enjoy my current job and perform well. It provides an extremely broad experience of the housing and care sectors and I work both front line and more strategically behind the scenes; a combination I enjoy. Will "downsizing" from a well respected larger organisation to something much more niche harm my longer-term prospects?
• For Jeremy's and readers' advice on a work issue, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@guardian.co.uk. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or reply personally.
