How big a raise to stay in a job you didn't like?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Let’s say you were successfully doing a job for which you were well-qualified. However, your contract is up and you’re looking forward to going off and doing something else. You’re not sure what that would be, or what you’d get paid for it. But you’re looking forward to it because you’re tired of your current job and don’t think it’s the best use of your skills.

Then your employer comes to you and offers you a substantial raise to stay. You’d be doing the same work you were tired of.

How big a raise would it take for you to stay? How would you cope with spending 40-50 hours a week at a job you didn’t like all that much? Is good pay an adequate tradeoff for feeling stagnant? Or would NOTHING impel you to stay?

This is, alas, not a hypothetical question. We’ve been going around and around about this in my faily; I’d love to hear how others would puzzle through it and justify their answers.

2

I work to live, not live to work, so the money I make is important so I can do fun/exciting stuff. (i.e. travel, buying a nice vehicle, etc). The point here: My job
right now sucks. High pressure, daily deadlines, seemly clueless customers. But I get paid a good salary for it so I live with it. But if I had the chance, and my boss knew I’d be out the door otherwise, looking for new work,
I say 'DOUBLE the pay, and I stay"

Good luck tryiing to decide Cranky. My colleagues and I battle this question regularly.

3

You’ve just about described my situation.

My job is not horribly miserable, but I’m pretty bored with it, and I don’t particularly like my manager. The work itself is challenging enough that I can do it and not complain, but writing software for storage management is about as exciting as it sounds.

The other side of the scenario is that I have a great salary, and stock options that, barring the total collapse of the stock market, will allow me to either not work or work a “fun” job, depending on how frugal I want to be (ie, it’s not enough to retire in style, but it’s enough to pay the basic bills and maybe buy a simple house.) The kicker is I have to stay here for another 2 years to vest completely.

Work conditions are pretty good - not a lot of overtime is expected, I have a real office with a door that shuts, and a window with a view of the mountains if I crane my neck.

“Stagnant” is a really good description of my work life. I really really want to stay for 2 year, because I think the payoff will be worth it. Meanwhile, I enjoy a good salary, and can buy as many toys as I want.

I haven’t found a great solution to this. I’m not happy 40 hours a week, but I’m not miserable, either. My SO suggests that we make the most of our free time, and do things like take mini-vacations and buy nice cars, since we can afford it. He does his best to make my life pretty nice outside of work.

I guess I just deal with it by telling myself that there’s a LOT of people out there who would like to be in my situation, and I just got here cuz I was lucky (right place, right time.) A couple years isn’t THAT long, and I can get through it. But those words of comfort don’t help much when I’m sitting at my desk wanting to scream…

4

It depends on how unhappy i am with the job. In my experience a bit of praise and a raise will do a lot to increase my job satisfaction.

At my last job, which i held for 3 years, i got a great raise on year and then my next raise was put off a bit longer than i expected. I asked about it and was told not to make waves and not to expect another great raise. I got increasingly inpatient and on a whim sent out my resume ( it had been updated a week before to show a friend how to do her own. I was offered a great job at much better pay. When I gave notice, my boss was suddenly willing to throw money at me to stay. There was not enough money in the world to keep me there at that point. I was so mad at being put off when I asked about raises when they could suddenly offer more money if i wanted to leave that I could not speak.

They tried to replace me with 2 ppl but neither position stayed full for long.

5

Whenever I hear this kind of question, I am reminded of an old Doonesbury strip.

Mark Slackmeyer has finally graduated and is preparing to enter the work world. His father asks him “What kind of job are you looking for?” Mark answsers “Something challenging, exciting and fun.” His father answers “Work isn’t supposed to be fun! I’ve been working for forty years and I’ve hated every day at my job.” I think that pretty much represents my view towards employment. :smiley:

But seriously, to answer the question in the OP - there are many variables involved in remaining in the same position. Depending on your field, it may be detrimental to your career to stay in a job where you are not learning new skills or making the best use of your existing skills. You should factor that into your decision.
As far as when the contract terminates - I personally think you are in the best position to be looking for a job when you are already employed. Otherwise there is the temptation to take the first thing coming around. So I would say accept the continuing contract but keep on looking for the better opportunity at the same time.
How much money would it take for me to work at a job I hate? That is a tough question. I have previously received offers from companies for jobs that I wouldn’t enjoy (mostly due to long commute times.) My way of “refusing” was to demand a very high salary that I knew would never be offered. And if they did offer it, I figured that I could live with the commute for that price.
I personally could be happy working at a job at which I am bored but receiving high pay. I have many other extra-curricular events to occupy my time so I would view my workdays as some of the drudgery that needs to be done in life, similarly to washing the dishes, cleaning house or doing laundry.

6

I suppose it would depend on how long the term of the contract is. If it is only one year, I would consider staying. You can command more money at a new job if your previous one paid well. I’d think twice, I suppose. If something wonderful cropped up before I had signed the contract, I would take it and split in a moment. But if nothing better arose, them I’d just take the money.

MR

7

Well this situation just came up to me. About a year ago I was laid off from a job as a contractor to the Feds that I liked. I wanted to get on with the feds for years for pay, vacation etc but didnt. then a couple of weeks ago the old company was hiring again at about 5k less than I was making now. I HATE my current job because of stress, idiots, and the OT. the only good thing is that it’s 10 minutes from my house and the old job was over an hour by train. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go down the road for 5k less or stay with the stress, then my current job offerend me 5k more to stay, 10k more than the other job, so I was getting ready to stay.

The good thing is that a week after I was going to tell them that Id stay the feds called! I’m out of here for 5k less than I am making, BUT it will be a much better job with a lot less stress and everything even with the 5k more and 10 minute commute now. so I guess for me 5k was debateable and 10k I would stay.

8

When I graduated with my degree, I applied for just about anything that I thought I could do regardless of whether it was in my field of interest or not. I was offered a job to do that I knew I could do blindfolded but that would hold little interest for me. Fortunately the guy that offered the job told me that he had started out as a breeding bird biologist and when he was offered a job to teach microbiology, he took it as he envisioned it as a temporary situation. Twenty years later, he was still teaching microbiology. He regretted his action and asked me to think hard about my decision. I took a deep gulp (I was unemployed with plenty of student loans to pay off) and then declined the job. A few months later I landed an ornithology position for which I had been trained and wanted to do. I am still in this position, which has evolved beyond what I had ever dreamed.

For me, going to a job I dislike is like going through hell. Doing it for more money further would suck me into that abyss.

9

D’oh! It’s obvious I’d never be offered an editing job.