Real-Life Decision Making
Who would ever think that working as a sommelier would bring tough decisions with it? Certainly, you didn't think you would ever have to decide on anything more difficult than which food would make a particular wine more enjoyable.
Today has not been your typical day, however. Most of your days working at the winery are spent educating the public and wine distributors about the variety of wines that you offer. Occasionally, you travel to trade shows to help demonstrate the wines that come from your winery. And once in a while, you even present wines at private tastings.
You really enjoy your work. Having the freedom to stock a diverse wine cellar and be involved in the wine community is more enjoyable than you ever dreamed that it would be. However, you occasionally miss presenting wines to customers.
Sharing a conversation and a love of wines with customers is what drew you to a career as a sommelier. Working in the winery means that you have limited customer interaction. On the other hand, working in a restaurant can be stressful and the hours are not as friendly as your hours at the winery are.
So when you get a call from a local fine dining establishment to come to work for them as the head sommelier, you're very tempted to take the job. What makes it more enticing is that the restaurant is offering to pay you more than you're currently making with the winery.
You're tempted to take the job, but you can't help but wonder how long it will take you to get fed up with the hours and the stress involved in working on a restaurant floor. Of course, another way to look at that would be to consider it a challenge.
In either position, you'll be able to pursue the master sommelier certification that you'd like to have. But in the restaurant, you'll be better prepared for the service part of the exam. In the winery, you'll be better prepared for the blind tasting.
What do you do?