Careers - doing what you love versus the money?

[mrk2010]

Hey guys ,

At one time or another we've been hit with a decision in our careers, do we choose what we love or go for the more appealing money option. Well today via a jobsite I got offered a job earning over £30,000 a year in a field which is similar to what I'm doing but not exactly what I want to do. I was offered a car, a Blackberry and private health insurance but you know what I turned it down because it wasn't what I wanted to do and there was loads of travelling involved selling biological and medical products to different companies. I basically want to be a teacher but I want to do research too in a microbiology field so I went with my heart.

Has anyone else had this decision to make?

[Blue]

Yes, turned out the best choice I ever made career wise. I was driving for a local company, home every night, but only making 400.00/week. I got an offer to go long haul for 600.00/week average and took it.
Sure I wanted to be home, to work on building my house, I wanted my weekends off and, I gave that up for the long haul job.

Nine year later I was making over 80,000 a year with full benefits 100% paid by the company. This spring I was diagnosed with diabetes and put on insulin so, no longer able to drive tractor trailer. My company kept my salary going for three months while I got my disability approved and, to this day they still pay my life insurance and put 200.00 per week in my 401K (retirement plan account).

Yes I was their top earning, top production driver, making the the biggest profits of all of their trucks. 2 million miles safe driver with them, NEVER late to a customer and, was very instrumental in working out the salary plan they use to pay drivers as well as converting the company form paper logs to electronic logs and, getting on board satellite communication into the trucks. But they could have cut me loose entirely the day I was unable to drive. They didn't and, had I stuck to my preferences, I'd never have gone to work for them.

Of course today, my house is built, got that done with what home time I had. I'm pretty well set financially and, am trying to find a job I can do simply because I like working but, had I gone for what I like over the money, I'd be screwed today.

For me, the money and benefits are more important. I can handle a few years of a less than ideal job when it gets me where I want to be for the future and, more money with better benefits is a key factor in getting the retirement you dream of.

[Matty71]

I work from home for a Social Media company. Overall, it is great working from home (Although I make considerably less than when I worked in an office); I never have to see or talk to bosses and, if I do, it is via email. That is nice.

I am happy at my current position.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Personally I always went for things that made me happy(ier) than for the money.

Understand I'm a content person who is more content with less than more. I live in a house that is only 450 square feet, The whole thing can fit into the main living space of most of the suburban cardboard boxes that are built today.

I don't own the 2 acres that that house sits on. I actually tend the property (mow it, water it, planted lots of trees and stuff). Its a good situation, the owner allows me to do a lot of things, such as installing 3 more small koi ponds and planting a large vegetable garden. The vegetable garden has more square footage than the house. :tongue:

I drove a 1977 suburban for years, earlier this year it committed suicide, throwing a rod through its oil pan, sad story.

Currently I am in the transition phase from business owner to 'disabled pensioner'. I worked for a long time for myself as a small construction contractor. I would say handyman, but due to the many con artists and down right sick individuals in the trade the word handyman has gotten a bad rep.

Way back when mammoths ruled the earth (when I was about your age), I was in seminary and working through/with a friary with the intent of becoming a priest then a friar. A Friar is similar to a monk, robes, living in an order/commune/house and taking the Vows:L Celibacy, Obedience and Poverty. The only real difference is monks tend to enter seclusion, friars throw themselves out into the community and play active roles in various areas.

I did work in an office type situation (even as front desk clerk at hotels) - These jobs were not satisfying to me. I earned money, yes, but the whole process of pushing paper one day in order to empty your desk for more paper seems pointless to me. Its not like building or fixing something and stepping back to see that you have done something. It is really no where close to helping someone in need and stepping back and seeing, if only for a brief second, a smile on their face.

If in the next two years as I jump through hoops to demonstrate that yes I actually do rely on that cane more often than not, and yes I really am in that much pain that I need those pills and thus am technically unable to work, the economy improves and running a small construction business can make enough money to put food on the table, I will most likely opt out of SSI/SSD and go back into that line of work.

Truthfully, since my truck committed suicide (which was the final straw) I have been slowly going stir crazy. While I am medically 'disabled' and really medically 'deserving' of disability, mentally I am one of those people who are happiest doing something, yes even if it means it hurts - a lot.

Its not about the money for me, for me its about the satisfaction of doing something constructive, something that actually matters (to me at least) in some small way.

[Pix]

I generally go with happiness.

Even people who go with a lot of money can find they make less with the higher paying job simply because they have so many other expenses (have to maintain a certain look, certain gadgets, end up paying for vices to feel better about their unhappy life which can lead to additional legal & medical expenses just as the stress of working a job you hate can, may lead to a dependency on counseling & psychiatric drugs to function, etc). In my experience it's better to lower overhead rather than work for higher pay, though obviously if you need the latest gadgets and name brands and hot cars to feel fulfilled (or at least content) then you should go for the higher pay over the lower overhead (or perhaps learn new ways to amuse yourself and occupy your time and realize you can make friends that you don't have to compete with by showing off your expensive toys & labels to each other).

That said, I don't think they have to be mutually exclusive. As long as you hold your higher paying job as a "means to an end" to achieve your actual goals (especially if you think of it as something you're doing until you're more stable--careful not to let your overhead rise right along with your earnings--or until something better comes along) then it shouldn't be a big deal. It may not be your dream job but it can still help you achieve your dreams. Not all of us define ourselves by our jobs.

The question is, is that higher paying job going to help or hinder you? Will it make you better able to meet your dreams or will the "hidden price tag" mean you lose more than you earn anyway? And can it help in other indirect ways (like learning your subject better or gain valuable experience for when a new job offer of a job better suited to your desires is available)? Are you using it as a stepping stone to your dreams or whoring out your soul? That's something only you (and maybe those closest to you) can say, not anyone else.

[Lunar]

I personally would choose happiness over higher salary.

It's difficult to have that resolve when our society is overrun with materialism and a constant desire to own more than we need. I'm comfortable living within my means, knowing I constantly strive to better myself as an individual. I'm really considering becoming an educator as well. I do enjoy working in a laboratory, but I want to reach out and make a difference in my community. I tend to hold education in high esteem and am almost certain that a proper and challenging school environment could unlock the creative potential within the minds of students. Maybe I'm just being naive.

My issue is, I can't seem to commit myself to one profession.

Following your heart and ambition, with your passion and committment is far more honorable.

[ceez]

lucky for me I love working with technology and there is a lot of money in it no matter what the job is, and there is money to be made with jobs on the side.

[East]

Definitely went with happiness over money...very easy choice for me though...gave my Dad a headache.

[princealbertofb]

Oh, money is so overrated.... Look what happened with the banks, did money make them thrive, did it make the world happy????

[Lilitu]

Just wondering... since I'm at this sort of period right now, how much do you guys think decisions made during the secondary school->University transition phase and what courses you do at university affect this balance between money and interest?

If I make a bad decision at this stage, do you think I'll be stuck with it forever?