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Topic: Salary versus Subject Matter
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| confuzzed | Posted – 11/15/2007 9:50:01 AM | show profile Hi again. I'm the one who recently started working in a very "locked down" environment for a government agency and has been looking for a new job right away, because the current situation is such a demotivator. Good news / bad news: I may soon (even today) have a decision to make. It looks like I'm being offered two jobs. The good news is I'm likely to be on my way to something new. The bad news is I could make a bad choice again. A tiny bit about me: I'm an online content person with experience managing large content teams for a couple of big content sites. Job #1: Job #1 involves running the Web site for a small print magazine. It would have some management responsibility over a small staff of online editors and some shared resources with the print team. The company is rather small, the people seem nice (though it's hard to get a good read), but most importantly the topic of the magazine is something I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED to write about, cover, and be involved in. The magazine and Web site are about my favorite hobby and passion. The disadvantages of job #1 are that it's a small company (so not clear about resources to really blow things out) and that the salary being offered will probably be significantly less than job #2. Job #2: Job #2 involves working on a new initiative for a very large, wealthy company. The business is a pure Internet business (good, since I'm a Net guy), but it's not a content site. The goal would be to hire me to figure out a way to bring content to a project that is commerce-oriented. I would start out without any direct reports and would really be working from a blank slate. They like me a lot there and have been very generous when discussing money. A lot of people would knee-jerk say "take job #2. Money is important and clearly these people want you." And the people at job #2 are very nice and it could turn out great. It could also turn out poorly because the idea would be for me to get there and then help them figure out how to proceed. It's not 100% clear what I'd do on day #1 after I sit down at my desk and log into the computer. Here's the problem: Job #1 involves writing/editing about a topic that I've always loved and always wanted to pursue full time. I won't reveal the topic, but let's say you were a huge skateboarder since you were 10 years old, you've spent years applying to skateboarding magazines to no avail, and now finally you have a chance to be the online editorial director for a small, but well-established magazine about skateboarding. Would you take the job being online editorial director for the skateboarding magazine, because it might offer you the opportunity to meet your favorite skateboarders, review new skateboards, and sit around the office talking skateboards all day long? Or would you take job #2, because it makes business sense -- they pay quite a bit more, and they're part of a large, stable company. Of course, they also won't be talking about skateboards with you and, while you'll be in charge of editorial, you'll also be in the only editorial person on the staff ("the content dude"), rather than the leader of a team. |
| Mag Girl | Posted – 11/15/2007 10:57:14 AM | show profile You don't know what salary #1 is going to come back with. If it's a salary you can live with, take that job. You're obviously going to be more passionate about it and will actually enjoy work. And job #2 sounds a lot more corporate-y. You sound as if you are trying to talk yourself INto taking job #2. Go with your gut - you sound like you REALLY want to take #1. |
| Janetblueyes | Posted – 11/15/2007 11:02:58 AM | show profile Yup, what Mag Girl said. Follow your passion and the money will come. I say Job #1 all the way. |
| Sam Waynewright | Posted – 11/15/2007 11:20:05 AM | show profile | email poster Salary vs subject matter As someone who has more than once taken the money over the subject matter, I can tell you with some personal expertise to go with what you love. That old saying "A ton of gold can't buy one second of time" and what is the point if you have a fat salary, but start to hate thinking about going to work on Monday every Sunday night and then waiting for Friday afternoon all week? Granted, you have to make a living so job A has to pay a livable wage, but if you are young and don't have a family, NOW is the time to do what you love. And if people are willing to pay you for what you would probably do for free if you were wealthy, it's a no brainer. Good luck! |
| Mag Girl | Posted – 11/15/2007 11:24:34 AM | show profile Sam, seeing your name made me want to say HEE-haw. :) |
| foodlit | Posted – 11/15/2007 12:48:41 PM | show profile Confuzzed, Take job 1. It's clear that you really want it and the only issue is money. When you consider how much of your life revolves around work, and how much time and energy you spend there, this seems like fate, frankly. It's rare that you get the chance to follow your passion to this extent. It seems like a golden opportunity that if you pass it up, you will regret it. You also may be able to leverage an offer from job 2, to increase the offer that job 1 gives you...make it clear to job 1 that you really want to work there, and that your only concern is salary. It may not be a concern at all, once you have the offer! Good luck, Pam |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 11/15/2007 4:18:28 PM | show profile "Follow your passion and the money will come." BS! While we know such phrases are a sure thing for selling issues of "Cosmo" to guileless readers, we all know that it's total, utter crap. How old are you? Are you married? Do you have kids? What are your LIFE ambitions (not connected to CAREER ambitions). Do these ambitions involve financial security, or even the possiblity of financial *independence*? Trust me, "passion" for any work eventually fades. When you're pushing 50 (or even 60), still working paycheck to lousy paycheck with no end in sight because you "followed your passion", you're going to really resent not having bit the bullet and going for the gold while you still had the chance. Think about the jobs AFTER jobs #1 or #2. What kind of career trajectory will each launch for you? At the end of the day, it's COLD, HARD CASH that pays the mortgage, puts your kids through school, and pays for your retirement. |
| confuzzed | Posted – 11/15/2007 9:10:50 PM | show profile Passion Followed Hi All I just wanted to tell you that I just completed negotiations with job #1 and accepted their offer. We came to a compromise (with some incentives) that makes me feel really good. I am nervous b/c I really want to do a good job for them and to earn their trust and earn the flexibility I got from them on salary. But I'm also excited. Now, all I have to do (and this makes me very nervous) is tell my current boss at the government agency that I'm leaving. All week long, I've been acting like a person who is going to be there forever (scheduling meetings, making project plans, etc). Now, I've got to walk in and tell her "sorry that was all a lie." Well, it wasn't a lie, b/c I didn't know for sure I was leaving until tonight, but I'm sure she'll be really angry. I'll offer the standard two weeks notice, but she may very well kick me out on the spot, which I guess would be fine though embarassing and sad. |
| Mag Girl | Posted – 11/15/2007 9:48:41 PM | show profile Yay, confuzzed! Good for you! Congrats on the new gig, and best wishes. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 11/16/2007 12:26:13 AM | show profile Congratulations ... ...and good luck! |
| confuzzed | Posted – 11/16/2007 2:21:14 AM | show profile Job title now? For my last trick, I need to suggest a new job title for the position I took. I know it sounds odd, but the job title for the position was inappropriate (and the employer knows it) so they asked me to suggest an alternative. What would you call the person who is the head editor for a Web site, where a print magazine also exists? Online Managing Editor (one problem I foresee here is that there is already a regular "managing editor" for the print side) Online Editorial Director or something else? |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 11/16/2007 3:44:20 AM | show profile Don't worry -- you aren't the first person who has quit on your boss, and you won't be the last. And until you know for sure you're leaving, you just keep on doing your job as if you will be there forever. That's the way it works. If your boss gets angry, well, tough. Because, believe me, if your boss got a great job offer, she would do the exact same thing. If a boss gets angry in this situation, it just means they're a jerk. By the second or third time you quit a job, this will be no big deal at all. --Now, all I have to do (and this makes me very nervous) is tell my current boss at the government agency that I'm leaving. All week long, I've been acting like a person who is going to be there forever (scheduling meetings, making project plans, etc). Now, I've got to walk in and tell her "sorry that was all a lie." Well, it wasn't a lie, b/c I didn't know for sure I was leaving until tonight, but I'm sure she'll be really angry. .-- |
| foodlit | Posted – 11/16/2007 12:47:29 PM | show profile Confuzzed, Congratulations! I think you definitely made the right choice, and you know what, it is so true that if you do what you love, the money will follow. I've been recruiting for years, and have seen that proven over and over again....the combination of passion generates drive, if you love what you do, you tend to work harder and are more successful, and are happier and more satisfied, and the natural by-product of that is usually more money...because you are earning it. :) When you give your notice, one way you may want to approach it is to say something like, "It's been great working with you, and I really appreciate the experience, however, I have just been offered a position that is really my dream job and I couldn't pass it up. I will do whatever I can to help with the transition during the next two weeks." That way, it's not about this job being a bad fit, but more about the opportunity to follow your passion...surely they can understand? This way it's nothing negative about them (even though it sort of is), but it lets you leave graciously. They'd have be absolute schmucks to give you a hard time. Good luck! Pam |
