Choosing between money and career
Imagine you could choose between a job that you’d really like where you’d make so-so money, and a job that you’d hate but where you’d earn more money.
Although it’s easy to say, there is more to a career than the amount of money you’ll earn.
When you help people find new jobs as recruiters do, you end up meeting people across the spectrum who each have different motivations and personalities. In that regard, it’s interesting how over time you will meet with people who strictly want jobs that will earn them more money while other people will take the same money (or even less) to take a job that they feel will benefit them long term.
Ideally of course you’d probably like an opportunity that not only pays you more but also offers you a better long-term opportunity than what you have now.
I feel that people should plan for the long term when making career decisions. It’s hard to plan for the long term when you are talking about taking a job that you feel you’re going to hate. After awhile, I’ve seen people who pretty much give up and decide that they hate the job too much and that no amount of money is worth staying there.
You might not last long enough in that job to even worry about the long term if you hate it as much as you think you will and end up quitting to look for a job you’ll enjoy. You might find that earning the amount of money you’re expecting just isn’t worth it.
Will earning more money in this job be worth the fact that you’ll hate it?
Is there any chance that the job you’d like (but pays less) might end up being more lucrative than you expect?
At the end of the day, you’ll need to make the choice yourself but when making career decisions it’s usually best to look beyond just the money that’s involved.
You never know when the job (or the money) will run out or when its importance will suddenly not be worth the hassle.
