This http://www.bsa.org/about-bsa is the relevant BSA.
They got started as essentially the software manufacturer’s anti-piracy alliance. Despite the friendly yak-yak on their home page that’s still mostly what they’re about. They offer significant rewards to folks who rat out their employers for running unlicensed software.
I had a sweet opportunity offered to me when I was 25 and had a 3-month old baby. I had to turn it down because it involved >50% travel and my husband also had a job that required a high level of travel. I wasn’t going to let my baby be raised by strangers so I said no.
Evidently I was intended to have that job, though, because I was offered something very similar almost 20 years later to the day. This time, I said yes.
Yes, for the position I have now, ten and fifteen years ago. Children were too young for the late nights and travel then required- that has improved, and I’m liking the managing part so far. Company philosophy has migrated to business survival- and since I need to work 5-6 more years I’ll give them all the help I can, plus it’s pretty much a positive endeavor. i was raised to stretch dollars 'til George grins, anyway. It’s all bonnet and no feathers, though, as in no raise- but I’m paid for the actual management time.
I did, about 4 years ago at my present job. Old boss left, subordinate managers got promptly shitcanned by new boss.
New boss decides to reorganize group; offers me support manager position. No increase in pay, just a huge increase in stress and PITA.
I decided that without the pay, I wasn’t excited enough to double my stress level. As it turns out, the person who did take the job ended up only being there about a year and a half; slightly longer than new boss was. 2 bosses later, and I’m still in the same position, but with MUCH less stress and more pay due to steady merit raises.
I’m still not sure I want to be in management where I work; I’d take a worker-bee promotion(there’s one step left before management), but I’m not convinced that being at the bottom of the middle-management ranks isn’t some sort of booby prize where you get all the stress and responsibility of being in management, but without the big pay or actual decision making power or latitude that makes it worthwhile. Plus, at least where I work, they seem to hire from without to fill managerial vacancies, so I don’t even have a lot of confidence that I can even get promoted to anything other than the bottom rung or two of the managerial ladder anyway.
Yes, in an around the bout fashion. I just took a lateral transfer to a gorgeous mountain/ski town. In doing so I gave up a promotion to a senior leadership role in my current district. It wouldn’t have paid much more and would mean I would be stuck (and miserable) in a trashy oil/gas town for probably another five years. Probably shot my career in the head, but when its all weighted, I’d rather have a good quality of life.
Yes, several times. For some reason in the IT world, people always want to promote engineers to be management (IMHO, engineers are generally crappy managers). I’ve resisted promotions to any management position that will take me completely out of doing engineering. I still really love building things, and while I’m willing to do SOME management as well, I’d go nuts if that’s all I did all day, every day, day in and day out. :eek:
I haven’t regretted the decision yet. It would be more money, but you know, sometimes more money isn’t worth the pain.
Who raised them? You seem to be as strange as the rest of us! 
I turned down a promotion 5 years after I took it. I was a skilled trades guy in a union plant. I did my job well, got promoted, and after 5 years, I was very unhappy, and the plant I was working in wanted to lay me off. I got in touch with my old boss, and got my old union job back. I ended up making much more money, having a better pension, more job security. And a lot fewer headaches.
One thing that I noted among the management was that if they refused a promotion, they were screwed. Every single person that I know that refused a promotion was unhappy after that. At best, you were not a team player. One plant manager turned down 2 moves, he ended up with office in the mail room. They let him keep his desk, it was just moved into the mail room. Later he scheduled the training department. Another guy went to Brazil, to interview for a job there, came back, turned the job down. He left the company a year later.