I wonder what would others choose or think in such a situation.

You are paid quite well, and the salary is "white" (100% legal, which is good for pension savings). Your current job became terribly boring. Basically, you don't learn new things, don't evolve in the direction you wanted. Your team leader and the boss don't hear what you say. Things are done in a strange manner, to say the least... Projects (it's an IT company) are ending, and new aren't coming for 3-4 months. No deadlines, and you find yourself wasting 3/4 of office time, and the rest 1/4 you try to do anything. (This doesn't feel that bad actually: I learned some other programming stuff and read on furniture hardware, to make on my own )

Another option: you're invited into another company, that is short of developers, where you might get more different things to do, and learn. But the salary is 1/4 lower and black (no contract: you may be fired or go away by yourself instantly).









Actually, I've already decided for the second. I'm not 50+ to stay in the same place for years. Nor I don't want to be wasting my life, even if it gives more money.

I used to work in a retail chain, where there's low salary and a lot of pressure, and I must say that work was much more satisfying than this one that I quit last week. I had to fight for my proposals, but when they were accepted, it felt good, and it was a big pleasure to complete them. Then I switched to this work, because they offered a lot more salary. I worked hard for 3-4 months among 10, and the rest of it was mostly a timewaste: everything is decided for you, just do this and that when you have time. So we mostly were surfing on the internet, reading jokes, ski, bikes or hardware prices... I coulnd't help notice this.

As it revealed afterwards, the company was parasiting on rich and big clients, just like some consulting agencies do (most projects were intentionally overrated in terms of man-hours). That's why we, software developers, had good salary but bad working climate and few things to do.

It was hard to decide, because that 1/4 of the salary will be hard to regain, and I got used to being paid much. But I guess, evolving and spending my life in hard working values much more in the long term.

Dude... you're now getting paid less for more work!

I voted for 2.

I'm actually in the situation of number 1 right now though. Decent sized company, make good money, no one seems to care what you do. I'd never complain about my job, its not that I hate it, but I've been here for 3 years now after graduating school and its not exactly getting any more interesting. I don't even mind the people here, in fact most of them are younger like me and they're all pretty cool. I'm pretty good friends with quite a few of them. And there are days that I do enjoy work, actually, those days are usually when I actually have work to do. The movie Office Space is pretty much the story of my life, I end up doing just enough work to not get fired.

I feel like I could take less money and be happier if I woke up every morning and couldn't wait to get to work. I spend the majority of my day at work, I figure being happy there would make the rest of your life pretty great too, even if you aren't making as much.

The grass always looks greener on the other side.

I tutor high school math, and although it's not the most lucrative job, I absolutely love it. I am going to continue with it regardless of whether it'll make me rich or not, because it makes me happy.

Money is everything.....

an interesting job is everything......

+ 1 Moose.

I have a paid mon-fri job

I work free of charge at a zoo on the weekends

guess which I prefer..........

Ain't the first one already the dream job. You can hang there doing nothing surfing teh internet and getting paid for doing nothing.

Tho I think we think differently. For me in a job more important things are the environment I'm working in and the work-buddys and of course that I get paid. I don't think that I really care about what I'm actually doing there as long as I'm not doing a crap work.

A job is everything.

well paid, job is a job because it aint fun, make loads of money and have fun in your own time.

Frankly, I'd rather suffer and get paid, in order to have fun and have the freedom to buy yourself luxuries, than to have fun at work but not be able to have fun with friends/family.

I'm the kind of person who would live in a one room shack as long as i had nice cars so I would be okay with a boring well-paid job.

A is everything.

I voted 2.

Regardless of whether it's 'company time' it's still the minutes of your life ticking away and you're wasting it if you're spending 90% of it unhappy for 10% enjoying yourself.

Given that the only negative you've stated is boredom and not much of a career path, I voted money.

Having been made unemployed 3 times in my life, I have learned one thing about jobs. If you can't find one that really gives you life affirming satisfaction, (highly improbable realistically), then take the money while you can because you never know how long you'll have a job and how long it might take you to get another one. Unfortunately, in the UK you pretty much have to look after yourself, (unless you're happy to live in dodgy areas in relatively poor accomodation and have it paid by the state), and that means having savings to get you through the rough patches. Jobs for life are gone and employers are not interested in training people any more, and fewer and fewer are interested in offering career progression in any meaningful way.

In an ideal world, I'd rather have job satisfaction. But given the reality of the world I'd rather gain my "life satisfaction" outside my job and just use work as a means to an end. Even so, I wouldn't put up with a sh*t job for money, I have my limits.

Depends on your situation - I would love to work for less with better job satisfaction, but I wouldn't be able to afford to drive if i earnt much less...

1/4 isn't that much, if what your earning atm is more than enough (i.e. you have no dependants, no crippling debts, disposable income etc).

B

Because personally I won't do much good if I can't get into the job, thus if I am stuck with A, it is only going to be a short term boost in income, but it won't evolve into a real career. If I am stuck with a boring job, I would learn their trade and maybe start a company.

**** interesting job. Take the money and run!

You'll never be happy until you do what I did....

Poor paying job that you hate. That's the ticket. Makes you appreciate going home much more.

It's good to think about how much time you spend at your job, and whether you're really getting anything out of it apart from the money. Realistically, it's a hell of a lot of time- so i'd easily be choosing the more interesting/challenging job. There are other, more satisfying ways to make your life 'richer' other than money. :hippy:

Maybe I still have youthful values about this that won't wear down, but I've spent most of my adult life avoiding the possibility of 'no.1'. I'm in my early 30s, back at school and beginning things from scratch, with no job- and couldn't be happier.

edit: haha Mike

Quote from whitey6272 :

Money is everything.....

There need to be a 4th option - Balance. I currently have a job i can tolerate, but it doesn't excite me like it used to. The money is ok, better than a lot of people make, but to me its never ever enough..

I've had jobs i love, that pay so badly i couldn't afford the rent. I don't like living hand to mouth, wondering if i can afford to eat that day.

There is no greater joy in life than joy itself.

Now you could argue that all ones personal satisfaction comes from ones private life, but this really is not so. We spend so much of our lives working, and frankly i'm getting too many aches and pains as I race into middle age to continue driving cars around a race track - and I still shy away from committed relationships still - and i'm too old to do all that running around on drugs and waking up in the wrong country.

Given the choice I would take the more rewarding job every time. Luckily for me so far my most recent career change landed me a more interesting job and almost double the salary, I consider myself very lucky.

lol the wrong country? i can't imagine that...but being in the most isolated capital city in the world helps i spose

After working for nearly 20 years with the "more money" state of mind, I can now catagorically state that a "less money more interesting job" is much more appealing.

Trouble is, its probably too late for me to do anything about it now