heartbeatocean said:

Heartbeat ~ absolutely take it! Free show tickets and free theater classes ~ figure out roughly what that would amount to in dollars as a form of benefit. It sounds made for you and you never know where it could lead.
[Edited 6/18/08 20:24pm]

KatSkrizzle said:

Yes, my business needs more attention. I started out so well, I didn't even have business cards! But now it's in a lull and I need cash. So I'm designing a card and getting a website up and fishing for clients. But it needs a few months to hit its stride. Taking this job will leave less room for my own clients, but it will pay the bills while I get my act together.

MoonSongs said:

I'm actually looking forward to being a part of the community. It could be very stimulating and educational, and a great place to network. (hate that word but you know what I mean)

heartbeatocean said:

Sounds like you answered your question.

My business that I started with two others had a client before we made everything official on paper...It was like we were ASKED to start a business for them.

That positive energy and thinking with will and work will make it happen in the long run for you.

No. I've done it in the past and will never do it again.

If it was something that was short term, then sure I'd say go for it but I would never allow myself to be in a situation where I was just making it by. I need to be comfortable.

And to be honest, just making it - even if you love your job is not an easy lifestyle. It's high stress all the time.

KatSkrizzle said:

yeah, that's great. It makes more sense if I look at it long-term. Take the cool job, keep developing my business, then transition out of the cool job before they want me to. Now I just have to act excited enough so I get offered the job.

heartbeatocean said:

Been there, done that. Twelve yearse ago, I left a $45,000 job at a university to start my own business. Made substantially less--oh, like $0 the first six months or so. But the FREEDOM!!! I've never looked back (oh, and I've been offered other jobs that paid even more than I made at the university, but I just couldn't go back to that 9-to-5 grind).

JustErin said:

That's true. I thought I had finally given up being an arts martyr and living in poverty. But maybe it could be semi-short term?

Anxiety said:

PREACH!

NuPwr319 said:

I have a severe aversion to 9-to-5. But this job would only be 3 days a week. Still, I feel so wishy-washy...not really committed to one path or another. I drive myself bananas sometimes.

heartbeatocean said:

Dude you so can freaking do it.

I have faith in you!

And besides, for me the job I have now is a little less corporate and it is a non profit. Yes, I am not getting rich, but everyday my job is "making" me give back and save lives. I feel rewarded when I come home frome work. And work DOES NOT follow me home. Very peaceful...no irate clients on a Sunday afternoon blowing up my phone, no vapid emails when I get home from work. When I leave, it is left there.

I work for the Red Cross - donate blood!

heartbeatocean said:

The thing is though, you're in a position where you can do it because you're young and do not have any dependents. You could just see how it goes and if it's too much you can always get yourself a better paying job.

Some of y'all have taken bigger pay cuts than I earn in over a year.

.
[Edited 6/18/08 20:48pm]

Stymie said:

Alright now! PREACH!

Ya'll are so inspiring!

Fauxie said:

KatSkrizzle said:

That's great. I LOVE when my work is tied to some kind of societal contribution.

JustErin said:

I don't know if I'd call 40 years old young. Mid-life crisis maybe...

heartbeatocean said:

In terms of preparing for retirement, it's young enough.

NuPwr319 said:

40k pay cut? Dayum. I can buy a small house here every year for that.

.
[Edited 6/18/08 21:00pm]

JustErin said:

Retirement!

Fauxie said:

A 40K pay cut is pretty severe.

probably not, though it depends on how much I disliked my current job.


The problem is that about 4 years ago I was overpaid [b] AND [/i]b working a job I absolutely loved. Great environment, great colleagues, etc. etc. But all of that stuff is temporary. We *will* end up with a boss you're not crazy about, or job functions you don't like. Everything in business ebbs and flows. There is no 'toa' that you float along in the stream with in business.

You have to make your own way. This means, money and all the benefits of the job outweigh ANY other considerations--cause those are the raft upon which you coast along the stream with, so to speak.

heartbeatocean said:

It always amazes me how many people just don't prepare for that time of their lives.

I don't know if other people experience this, but I've known a lot of people who get moderately depressed (sometimes even really depressed) on Sunday nights because they dread going in to work the next day. I decided fairly early on in my career that I would never be one of those people. Having a job you don't dread is part of the compensation package you have to consider, or at least it is for me. But also important are your short- and long-term career goals. I would consider the opportunities that go along with this job, the possibilities of career advancement, and the chance to make more money there.

One last thing when I'm in a quandary like this and am asking other people for advice. I sit myself down and ask myself this: Am I asking for other opinions because deep down I want them to validate accepting this or do I really want them to justify my turning it down? That's usually the answer to go with, for me.

Imago said:

Interesting perspective.

But the problem isn't that I hate my current job, it's that I don't have a current job. And the question is how long should I hold out for something that pays better, but might not be as fun?

i worked at a non-profit with a mission i believed in for substantially less than I'd made in similar jobs (substantial = more than $10,000) and could walk to work.

then i moved, the org took a turn in a direction i really disliked, which included cuts to benefits, and i left. it's interim, but i'm making even less now but am much much much more happy and have time to do the things i want to do. i, too, find that i am always able to live within the means i have.

go for it -- and if it doesn't work, you leave!

heartbeatocean said:

In this job market?
Take the one that you can get. LEave it when you can.

JustErin said:

At least I would get social security, which is more than I get being self-employed.

JustErin said:

It's all I prepare for, but I don't sweat it. We live with Mon's parents in a wooden house with holes in it. I may live like a pauper at times but I care about my money. Just not about spending it on stuff I don't need. Why move out and rent condo after condo only to inevitably move on when I could stay here and get by and buy those condos and let them out? All I care about now is having enough and finally one day building a house somewhere nice precisely where I want to live and spending the rest of my time there. If I worked harder maybe it would be a 5 bedroom house, but 3 will be just fine.

.
[Edited 6/18/08 21:12pm]

And I'm serious about my above answer. Being out of work means you're not pouring anything into your 401k right now. And that's lost time.

Also, it stuns me when folks can just leave their jobs. I'd have to file for bankruptcy within a couple of months if I did that.