Mo' Money, Mo' Problems?



  • About a month ago, I spoke with a guy about an employment opportunity with his company.  What he was offering me was a good 18% more than what I make currently, but due to personal reasons and some general sense of "I dunno how I feel about this job," I turned the offer down.  I'm happy with the money that I'm making now, and I like my job and the people I work with well enough.

    This fellow contacted me again today and told me that he really would like for me to work for him.  In fact, he's now offering me a salary that would be about 36% more than I make now.

    I really just don't know what to do.  I mean, at what point do you ignore any (groundless) misgivings you might have a job and just decide, "Meh, it's worth a shot?"

    I know, I know; you all hate me and wish that you had these kinds of "problems."  I'm not whining, and I realize this is a great problem to be having.  It's just that I'm still young yet and I'm not sure what the wisest move to make would be.

    Also, please know that I have no intention of taking whatever advice I get in this thread all willy-nilly and then getting upset if things don't work out.  Alls I'm looking for here are any insights any of you who have changed jobs a couple of times might have.



  • A couple questions to consider:

     1) How (groundless) are your misgivings?  Have you heard bad things about the company or the people?  Does the company seem unstable? 

     2) What is the job market where you are?  If there are only 2 viable employers in your area and you're leaving one to go to the other, then you could run into problems if you're unhappy at the new place and can't go back to the old.   On the other hand, in an area with hundreds of employers and a lack of good talent, then there is a lot more freedom to leave if you are unhappy in the new job.

     3) Consider what it is you like about your old job and what you don't.  Will you get to >= the fun stuff and <= the bad stuff? :) 

     4) Will the job advance your career?  Will you get to learn more, take bigger challenges, get more recognition for your effort?

     -cw

     



  • @CodeWhisperer said:

    A couple questions to consider:

     1) How (groundless) are your misgivings?  Have you heard bad things about the company or the people?  Does the company seem unstable? 

     2) What is the job market where you are?  If there are only 2 viable employers in your area and you're leaving one to go to the other, then you could run into problems if you're unhappy at the new place and can't go back to the old.   On the other hand, in an area with hundreds of employers and a lack of good talent, then there is a lot more freedom to leave if you are unhappy in the new job.

     3) Consider what it is you like about your old job and what you don't.  Will you get to >= the fun stuff and <= the bad stuff? :) 

     4) Will the job advance your career?  Will you get to learn more, take bigger challenges, get more recognition for your effort?

     -cw

    Thanks for the response. 

    1) Pretty groundless.  When I met him and his colleague for lunch, he struck me as overconfident, maybe even arrogant.  He did seem to know what he was talking about though.  So I dunno.  As for stability, I don't know.  I'm a contractor now, so I have about zero job security as it is.  If my employer loses a contract, or the customer decides they no longer have the funds to support my position, I'm outta there quicker than...ummm...a thing that goes real fast.  Working for him, I'd be a contractor too, so it'd be more of the same, methinks.

    2) I've got some contacts in a few other places that have tried to hire me before.  I'm not too worried about not being able to find anything if this new job goes kaput.

    3) There are plenty of things I like about my current job, and plenty of things I dislike.  With the new job, I have no idea.  And I think that's the main thing keeping me from changing.  I'm comfortable where I am now.  The new job could be ten times better, but then again it could be ten times worse...that's scary.

    4) Probably.  I would be working for a smaller company, closer to the customer, so there'd be a chance for more recognition.  And I'm pretty sure I'd have more responsibility than I do now.

     



  • I think you should go for it.

    Oh, and tell 'em CPound sent ya.



  • Money should not be the only reason to change your job, unless you get unreasonable amounts of it (as in: work for a year an retire then).

    After all, you spend a lot of your lifetime at work, so if the job suxx, a few extra bucks won't buy you the lost happiness.

    That said, more money often means more responsibilities, so if you feel currently unchallenged, go for it. 



  • All I can say is, follow your heart. Follow your interests. Only take the job if you want it for the job. Usually (and I talk from experience) you will regret going for the money.



  • Arrogant people are hard to work for. This may be why he is so desperate that he is offering 36% more money. I worked with an arrogant person before. I figured that they really must know their stuff to be so confident and that I would learn a lot. I was wrong. Arrogance leads to mistakes. The guy I worked for spent half of the day promising people he knew everything, and the other half of the day reading up on what he already told people he knew. When things didn't work because he didn't really know what he was doing, who do you think took all the blame. Just because your boss seemed to know his stuff on the subjects you discussed, doesn't mean that he knows everything he tells clients he knows.

    In IT, your reputation is all that counts. If you have a reputation as a competent person, you won't have trouble finding work. Some people need a buffer in the IT industry, to take the blame off of them and allow them to continue to have a career. If your reputation is as a screw up who can't get anything right because your former boss laid everything at your feet, you will be answering phones the rest of your life. All I am saying is to think carefully before you take the new job. You need to be willing to walk the moment your arrogant boss makes a stupid decision and starts pointing fingers, in order to save your reputation. If you feel that you can walk easily, then why not at least try. However, if it were me, I would listen to my gut and stay put. If it doesn't "feel right" then it isn't right.


     



  • @UncleMidriff said:

    1) Pretty groundless.  When I met him and his colleague for lunch, he struck me as overconfident, maybe even arrogant.  He did seem to know what he was talking about though.  So I dunno.  As for stability, I don't know.  I'm a contractor now, so I have about zero job security as it is.  If my employer loses a contract, or the customer decides they no longer have the funds to support my position, I'm outta there quicker than...ummm...a thing that goes real fast.  Working for him, I'd be a contractor too, so it'd be more of the same, methinks.

    2) I've got some contacts in a few other places that have tried to hire me before.  I'm not too worried about not being able to find anything if this new job goes kaput.

    3) There are plenty of things I like about my current job, and plenty of things I dislike.  With the new job, I have no idea.  And I think that's the main thing keeping me from changing.  I'm comfortable where I am now.  The new job could be ten times better, but then again it could be ten times worse...that's scary.

    4) Probably.  I would be working for a smaller company, closer to the customer, so there'd be a chance for more recognition.  And I'm pretty sure I'd have more responsibility than I do now.

     

     

    As a former contractor for several different companies, the contracting firm you're working for will likely not hold any hard feelings if you give them adequate time to find someone to replace you. For them, it's all about looking good for their client. If it's the client that you enjoy working for, then it's possible that the position won't be available for you to return to if you don't like the new job.

    36% is a lot more money (I'd absolutely love a 36% raise... It'd give me a whole extra digit to play with)...  however if you're not hurting for the money, and are able to save some of what you're currently making then I wouldn't put a lot of weight in the money as part of the decision.

    It may be a good idea to find out exactly what your expected workload is going to be like, and what exactly you're anticipated to be doing. Find out how much interaction with the person that you met with would be. If the guy's constantly out of town or whatever, it may not be so bad working "with" him.

    Unless there's a very good reason not to, advancing your career should be one of your highest priorities. Someone earlier posted about reputation, and I have to agree with him. You don't want to earn a reputation as a guy who likes to just sit back and do the easy, comfortable thing forever. You want to show potential, future employers that you're constantly pushing yourself.
     



  • Mo' Money, Mo' Income Tax.

    If you take the job, fully fund your IRA or 401(k) and then put all the excess money (over the take-home amount you're used to now) into savings, mutual funds and certificates of deposit.

    Someday you may be unemployed for a few months, and the saved money will come in very handy.

    Or someday you may again have a job with a salary more like you have now, and you won't have to cut back.



  • I thought I would give you all an update, in case you cared:

    I decided to turn the offer down again.  After thinking about it, the only reason I could really find for wanting to take the job was the money.  I should have realized that from the get go, seeing as how I turned it down before and was only reconsidering because the guy offered me more money, but dollar signs have a way of clouding up your vision, I guess.

    Anyway, I don't want to go into too much detail, but the whole thing just struck me as unprofessional.  My interviewers came across like used car salesmen.  And the money they were offering me was way too much for a person in my job market with my level of experience.  I mean, sure, I was flattered...but something just didn't seem right.

    Hopefully I didn't pass up the opportunity of a life time.  But regardless, I'm happy where I am now, so I don't suppose it matters all that much either way.



  • @UncleMidriff said:

    I thought I would give you all an update, in case you cared:

    I decided to turn the offer down again.  After thinking about it, the only reason I could really find for wanting to take the job was the money.  I should have realized that from the get go, seeing as how I turned it down before and was only reconsidering because the guy offered me more money, but dollar signs have a way of clouding up your vision, I guess.

    Anyway, I don't want to go into too much detail, but the whole thing just struck me as unprofessional.  My interviewers came across like used car salesmen.  And the money they were offering me was way too much for a person in my job market with my level of experience.  I mean, sure, I was flattered...but something just didn't seem right.

    Hopefully I didn't pass up the opportunity of a life time.  But regardless, I'm happy where I am now, so I don't suppose it matters all that much either way.

    I think your decision was right. From what I've learned during those years, unprofessional offers are not worth the time. Sooner or later (in most cases, sooner) you will see that their unprofessional attitude suddenly becomes your problem. 



  • Glad you came to a decision.  Since you're not unhappy where you are and you were getting bad vibes about the other place, you probably did the right thing.   You'll have other chances to make more money :)

     -cw


Log in to reply