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Topic: How low should I go?
| Author | Message |
| JellyGoes | Posted – 7/9/2007 11:44:39 AM | show profile I was laid off this spring, and when I started looking for a new job I had a pretty selective eye, since there was a decent severance package in place. I've had a few interviews, but the salaries were both about 15K less than at my last job. Based on discussions with HR and former colleagues, as well as looking at salary surveys, I am confident that the range I am seeking is well within the average zone for my years of experience (5-10). However, considering my situation, I am wondering if a pay cut not just likely but going to be necessary in order to get a new full-time position. I've never been laid off before and would love to know what, if any, compromises anyone who has made it through this had to make. |
| candylilacs | Posted – 7/9/2007 12:11:09 PM | show profile OK, but I think I need to know what you're looking for and where you are before I comment. There's a difference between low-paying and paying lower than you want. Low-paying to me is anything under $35K, everything else is relative. (I live in an area that anything under $40K is considered low-paying, but some people demand six figures.) ------ http://www.mswritesguide.blogspot.com |
| JellyGoes | Posted – 7/10/2007 8:56:55 AM | show profile The positions were not low paying by any means, just lower than what I made before. I have been in magazines for 10(ish) years. Small niche mags and one big newsstand deal. Most recently I was an ME/project manager type at a custom pub and am looking for something similar. It is almost embarrassing because it isn't a question of having enough to live on as much as living as easily as I was. I can certainly make some sacrifices--I've done it before--I'd just like to get a sense of what other's experiences were. Something I could use to gauge, for lack of a better phrase, what is normal, as I seem to vacillate between thinking 'I should wait for a job I would have left my last one for' and 'I should just take the first offer I get because who knows when I'll get another.' |
| candylilacs | Posted – 7/10/2007 11:56:53 AM | show profile For me, it's a combination of things. Will you learn something in this job or better your skills in some way? Is the environment seemingly healthy (meaning no crazy drama or everyone looks like zombies awaiting the apocalypse?) If you can better your skills and the environment seems fine, then you can't go wrong. But if you're taking a pay cut to go somewhere toxic and take a glorified editorial/production assistant, then probably no. The whole idea is to think in a year or two -- is this going to take me to the job I really want? You probably already know the answer. Good luck. |
| beachbum | Posted – 7/10/2007 3:24:22 PM | show profile I agree. When I was layed off it took me 7 months to find a new FT job but I found it in a stable company and the pay was $1000 more than the previous. At least I didn't take a pay cut, but the new job wasn't that interesting. I took it b/c I needed a job but needless to say I didn't last 2 years. I think it depends on whether you can wait it out longer. If you can, I think you should try to find the job you really want. If you're running out of money, that's another story. The bad thing about taking a pay cut or lower position job is you'll be demoting yourself and it will be harder to ask for more money or higher position in your next job. Still, if you need it... It's a hard decision |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 7/10/2007 7:39:33 PM | show profile Jelly, how much were you making before? So we can get a better gauge as to how much of a bite a $15K pay cut really would be. For some, that's a 50% pay cut. For others, it's lunch money. |
| ConfidentDesigner | Posted – 7/10/2007 9:09:31 PM | show profile I was laid off right before 9/11 (also with a nice sev. pkg.) and it literally took me 18 months to find a decent job for which I had to move clear across the country to an area I had no desire to live in. I was making about $65K when I was laid off and had to settle for a job making $45K 18 months later AND with MANY more responsibilities! The bennies were looking mighty good to me and the area was MUCH cheaper for me to live in. Fast foreward to now and I'm back where I love but STILL not making what I made in '01 and it's super expensive to live here. I think the industry has cheapened itself considerably. Good luck with your search. |
| JellyGoes | Posted – 7/11/2007 6:58:50 PM | show profile Thanks beachbum and ConfidentDesigner for sharing your experiences. It is really very helpful to hear how others got beyond a layoff. Candy, you are totally right about environment and new skills. That is absolutely something I try to consider. I think part of the problem is that I think I have lost sight of/don't necessarily know where I want to be in a year, which is definitely what I should be thinking about. ManhattanMatt, I was making in the high 70s, and the interviews I've had were going to be in the low 60s. I live in New York, so the lower range is enough to live on, meet all my expenses, and still enjoy myself. It is more a question of being able to save and occasionally splurge. As I said, it is almost an embarrassing question b/c it is not like I'd be struggling to make ends meet. I just feel like I worked hard for a number of years, I'd finally gotten my paychecks into a truly comfortable zone, and I'm wishing I don't have to go back down again, though starting to think it might be inevitable. |
| beachbum | Posted – 7/11/2007 8:36:37 PM | show profile JellyGoes, can you tell us which field/job you were in? $70K a year sounds pretty good to me. I make high $50's here in Florida, but the salaries are not as good here. And it WAS cheap to live here until 2 years ago when the real estate market went nuts. Since then the prices have dropped, but not enough. |
