Those of you with enough time on your hands to have followed my career via the Dope have seen me finish my bachelor’s degree, waste five years in retail, go work for a law firm, go to law school at night, finish, and become something of a star in my (tiny) field.
The week before last, I took a short vacation to NYC with my wife, and met up with my brother and sister-in-law. When I got back, I had an email from the largest firm in the state (you’ve probably seen their commercials unless you live on the West Coast) offering me a job that would have doubled my salary. Life-changing money - the sort that gets one demonized during presidential debates on tax policy (though not the sort that lets one, say, own a beach).
I turned it down. I’m very happy where I am, and I don’t need more money (our house is nearly paid off, my student loans are nearly paid off, and our needs are limited). I can always use more money, of course.
Part of me is really proud of me for seeing past the paycheck. Part of me thinks I’m a nutball. my current “boss” agrees that I’m a nutball - she resigned herself to losing me the moment I told her about the offer, and started crying. I’m pretty sure what I did is un-American, so I hope they don’t come and take my green card away.
But ultimately, I didn’t want to move (it was only an hour away, so I could have commuted for a year), I don’t like the idea of the work I’d be doing at the new place, and I didn’t want to fuck up the cushy gig I have now. Do those seem like valid reasons?
I mean, I think you’re insane, but if you won’t enjoy the job and you just want the additional income, that’s all the reason you need. I doubt anyone died thinking, “If only I’d taken that 500K a year job shooting kittens out of a cannon.”
You gotta be happy with all aspects of it. Money isn’t everything.
I’ve turned down jobs paying much more than my then-current salary in the past, mostly on the basis of the number of hours the new job would expect me to work.
My one management job offer back in the 90’s: Required to be there 6am-6pm, wearing a coat and tie at all times, warned that this time will be all management meetings and work and any time needed to actually manage my team would be over and above the 60 hours of mandatory meetings. :eek:
The pay offered, 87.5% higher than I was making working 25 hours a week at the time. For a minimum of three times the hours.
Do you have kids or are you planning on any? With your current job which you prefer, would you be able to maintain a health work/life balance?
If you prefer the job, make enough to plan ahead, and can look ahead to a solid family situation, what is not to love?
I got off the Partner track at the consulting firm I was at when my second child was born and I got a job at a local smaller company. I was home by 6 or 6:30 most days and I made dinner and was nicely engaged in my kids’ lives. My gosh, that has turned out to be so special in the relationships I have developed with each of them.
Good for you, RNATB. That’s a tough decision, but it sounds like you made the decision to prioritize life over money, which is often hard to do.
I’m currently a fairly senior person in information security at a private company. I just accepted a job as a university professor. It’s a big pay cut. But I’m gaining so much scheduling flexibility and free time. I have two small kids, so that will be so nice. The pay I’ll be getting isn’t bad at all. It’s plenty, just not the stupid money I’m getting now. I think it’s the right decision.
Once your paycheck keeps the lights on and the fridge stocked at home, and you’re putting a responsible amount away for retirement, and you’re able to go out and play a couple times a year, extra money is extra money. Which is cool to have, to a certain extent, but at some point it’s much more than you need. Pursuing the extra money becomes an end in itself, and then at some point you have to decide whether you’ve spent an inordinate amount of time as a whore rather than as a parent/spouse/citizen. RNATB, if you’re satisfied with where you are, then you’ve effectively looked the devil in the eye as you peed on his hooves. Nice work!
The hours would actually have been better, though I’m mostly free to come and go as I please now; I could work from home most of the time if I wanted to. No kids; we’ve been “thinking about talking about it” for most of our eight-year marriage.
It wasn’t quite that bad. I probably would have found it more rewarding in terms of whether I was Helping People (right now, I represent large faceless corporations and in the other job I’d be representing the little people on the other side), but it’s not practicing law so much as negotiating settlements all day. That doesn’t appeal to me.
Yeah, I think I realized that chasing promotions and raises was just a kind of score keeping. “Ooh! A raise! I’m winning!” My wife and I are saving for retirement, saving for kids’ college, and we can still go on trips. And now I get to be home with the kids every afternoon. “I’m winning!”
I’m curious about what your field is, if it wouldn’t identify you too much.
I can see why you’d choose that. There are diminishing marginal returns to income and once you have enough, it’s more about quality of life, relationships, purpose.
Did you use the offer and the fact that your current employer really wants to hang on to you to get more advantageous conditions at your current job?
You gotta do what you feel is right. For me, I’m worried about paying for kids’ college. I don’t know how expensive it’s going to be when they get there, so being able to save a few extra hundred thousand dollars would buy a lot of peace of mind. My setup is pretty good now (flexible schedule, short commute), but if someone offered me double, I’d give it up for a little while just to save enough to set up the kids.
I’d shoot kittens out of a cannon in a heartbeat if you paid me $500K. The only question would be if I could work overtime.
If you’re happy where you are, your needs and wants are getting met, and you have some future career growth ahead of you where you are, then you’re fine.
Now, what if they come back and say, “Hmmm, obviously you drive a hard bargain. How about salary of $X times two what we offered before, plus bonuses?”
I didn’t. I told my current boss because I always tell her when offers come in (though usually I tell her I’m not interested). I also make a point of telling her I’m not telling her to shake her down for more money, and I told her I had turned it down before negotiating for money money.
One of the good things about being in such a small field is that it’s quite easy to figure out what you’re worth. Right now, I’m making about 25% more here than I would be at any competing firm on this side of the bar. They’re going to give me more money anyway, so that’s nice.
It’s workers’ compensation. Basically what FGIE is thinking, except this firm advertises so much that the ambulances come to them.
It’s not a salaried position. The pay is 25% of fees collected, straight up (it would be salary for the first year or so until my case load builds up, but that’s optional), and non-negotiable. Their existing attorneys in this group average double my salary. Some of them have been mailing it in for years, so I’d probably make more than that quite easily.
My only observation is that you’ve got to think long-term about these things. Beyond the advantages and disadvantages of your current job, you’ve also got to think about what sets you up better for other opportunities down the line, which may be better than either of the jobs you’re comparing now.
One good example of this is when law school graduates have the opportunity to go to top-tier law firms. These firms work their associates insane hours, and it’s very hard to make partner there, which are arguments against going there. But beyond the high salaries at these firms, they are also far better as springboards for better and easier corporate jobs down the line, which needs to be a consideration as well. You have a major firm on your resume, you’ll find it much easier to land some job as in house counsel for some corporation than would someone else applying for the same job who took it easier early on.
Not to say that’s the only consideration, of course. But it should be a consideration.
Couple of months ago I got one of these automated emails offering “JOBS IN YOUR AREA!!!”. In this case the suggested job was collecting shopping carts at a local supermarket. So I forwarded this to my supervisor, noting that he needed to make sure to keep me happy because I was very much in demand with offers from all sides. (He started speculating about how much money such jobs pay, but I countered that you needed to also factor in the quarters people sometimes leave in the carts - that’s where you make the big bucks.)
It wasn’t quite that bad. I probably would have found it more rewarding in terms of whether I was Helping People (right now, I represent large faceless corporations and in the other job I’d be representing the little people on the other side), but it’s not practicing law so much as negotiating settlements all day. That doesn’t appeal to me.