A Pay Cut for Personal Growth?

As as follow-up to an Ask Slashdot from earlier this week hatch815 asks: "I have recently been extended an offer to come work as an engineer for one of the internet search companies. In responsibility, this will be a step back, as I am currently in a management role, but as a career direction, it will provide me with unlimited exposure, learning, and advancement. The place where I work now is a small non-IT centric shop. Although I am management, I am at the top of the ladder. The tough decision is the pay decrease I would take if I did take this new position. Is the prestige and exposure worth giving up responsibility? I am too stuck in the big fish small pond mentality? Is going back to the forefront better than the psuedo-management I do now?"

Comments

Re:Go with what will make you happy

[Atlantic Wall]

I agree. I left a high paying management Job, for an IT job that i love. In the end i am happier because i am learning more and growing as well. Being at the same job, postion, and state everyday gets boring and eventually the money will not matter, Take the chance now. Eventually your new job will pay you more in money and peace of mind. Make a mistake now is better than making one later

Re:The risk.

[killmenow]

It comes down to this. You have kids? Stay where you are at. As long as the company is not going to go under anytime soon its not worth putting your family through the stress of you working the ladder again.

Well, I'll add my two cents. I do not necessarily agree. I have four children. I quit my job last year to start my own business. On a wing and a prayer. I have told my children more times than I can count: the only thing you can gamble on in this world is yourself. it's the only thing you have any control over. I thought it better to teach my children to follow their dreams, take risks, and try, try again to succeed...rather than to keep the safe job and work 30+ years taking orders from somebody else.

Now, to be fair, had that job had any of a number of certain qualities...I might not've taken that risk even though running my own business has always been a personal dream of sorts. Anyway, I'm happier this way. Even if I fail and lose everything. It may make for some difficult times for my family, but it will not kill us and the risk is worth it, imho.

This is not a rule just an opion, responses to this can state their own opinion but cannot prove me wrong.

My head asplode.

Re:Go with what will make you happy

[Morgalyn]

Whoa dude slow down. All the money in the world isn't worth it if you don't enjoy your job. As long as you make enough to support yourself, you should always try and do what is going to make you happiest at the end of the day. If you are utterly shallow and can only focus on the 'prestige' that money can bring, then fine, whore yourself away at whatever job pays the most. That way you can become a bitter old person who never focused on what was important in the real world, and instead just focused on the bottom line. It's attitudes like this that make all these large corporations we all seem to love to hate.