To turn down a massive pay rise to stay in a more interesting job?

[StokeyWonk20]

Trying to be scant on detail but the above sums it up. I love my job but have the chance to turbo charge salary and responsibility by moving elsewhere. My current job has good prospects in the long run but I’d probably have to wait at least three years and face much more competition to match the salary/responsibility on offer.

AIBU to consider turning it down?

YANBU at all, just depends what’s more important to you right now. We spend a lot of time working, being able to enjoy that work is a real blessing. But only you know if the salary increase right now would be more important.

Or if a few years of slightly less interesting on more money might get you somewhere even more interesting! What’s the long term plan?

I took on a lesser paid job because it was SO much more interesting and good for my professional development. I felt I was at a dead end in my last job.

I took a deduction of 9k per year, I'm not a high earner so this was a fairly steep loss but it was doable and my mental health is much better for it

I love going to work, love watching the company I work for grow and it keeps me on my toes.

I’ve always been terrible at five year plans, but at the moment the long term plan would probably be to come back to where I am now at a more senior level. But it’s an organisation that favours internal promotion.

I think it depends on your circumstances. I would always opt for more pay but that’s because we’re not rolling in money. If you already have more money than you know what to do with it would be mad to give up an interesting job.

I stayed in an interesting job rather than take a job in a different company which would have led to quicker career progression. In the long run I regretted it. Internal promotion opportunities waned with the recession and management restructures, and the longer you are with one company the harder it is to get another job elsewhere - you become (and are viewed as) institutionalised. Looking back I wished I’d left earlier and focussed on promotions, money and career development rather than on interesting work.

Do you know for sure the new job is uninteresting?
Is it a stepping stone to the next level of interest/challenge in your career?
There are no guarantees of promotion where you are, people will be clinging to jobs for longer in the current climate. But then it's also a risk to move and lose employment rights for two years.

I'd go for it, climb upwards as quickly as you can and then look for the interesting work.

I chose a job with low pay over a very well paid job because the latter made me feel exhausted, depressed and stressed out, while the former brings me joy and a sense of fulfilment and purpose.If you can afford to manage on a lower salary I would definitely choose job satisfaction over anything else.

Would the money improve your life? Would it enable you to get on the property ladder sooner? I took a gig purely for the money and while it was awful, it was ultimately worth it because of that bump up in lifestyle it gave me.

I’m not sure how much of a difference it would make although I’d definitely get some healthy savings out of it. I’m naturally quite thrifty so wouldn’t start spending like mad. It would enable me to jump a rung on the property ladder for sure, but me and DP were already planning to move somewhere nicer before this came along.

@jay55 I don’t know for sure it’s uninteresting, and we’re not talking mind numbing. Everyone I know who has worked there has enjoyed it. But it’s definitely less interesting that my current job and also takes me into a more niche area.

How important is job security to you? If the new job is in a different company you would have very little security for the first two years - particularly in terms of redundancy.

Not necessarily a reason to turn down the opportunity but worth considering in the current climate.

I'd go for it. Or alternatively lay your cards on the table with your current employees and see what they suggest. You might be surprised. Ask for a pay rise or more responsibility/further challenges.

This seems like a no brainer for all the reasons blogdog said.

Better to take the opportunity and move back if you decide its not for you.

Take the better paid job. There are uncertain times ahead. Financial security is more favourable than "satisfaction". We need to thing pragmatically now.

Do what you think you'll be happier with, it's not unreasonable to choose either, you know yourself best.

The pandemic has shown that for huge numbers of us nothing is guaranteed to stay the same, both options appear to allow you to live comfortably, go with your heart

A lot of people will tell you to follow the money but job satisfaction is right at the top of my list , and by a long way. To me, doing a job I love is the secret of a happy life. Besides , I wouldn't last very long in a job I didn't enjoy, irrespective of the salary.

YANBU. I work in the third sector and I've been offered jobs in industries i am not remotely interested in. I'd rather earn less but be where I am right now and get to travel.

I would far rather be happy in my work than earn any amount of money. Do what will make you happy - money isn't the be all and end all.

I've taken better paid jobs & gone up thde ladder in my career (& down in last recession) & up again. I do think it is a case of the more you earn, the more you sell your soul. It got to the point that I was too tired to properly enjoy eves/ weekends but that being said for alot of years I had challenging family circumstances outside work with teenage kids & elder care also.

I recently declined a very large payrise & co-ownership prospects (more work on top of longer hours) on the basis that I made a choice to prioritise other things that are important to me above the job. More money is nice but it isn't everything. I have a good salary as it is...I'll never be a millionaire but my only debt is my mortgage & I can manage everything on my income.

I moved to an interesting but less demanding & equivalent well paid job (before the payrise offer). And I have better job security. And I am so glad I did as there are furloughs/paycuts & redundancies in my former job, owners working night/weekends to keep it all going in pandemic. I am wfh on full pay in new job. It depends on what your priorities are & what you have plans are in your future...kids maybe...

Only you can know where you find your fulfilment & happiness in your life & decide what is right for you...

I did something similar: I left to take the job and then returned a couple of years later on a much bigger salary and then quickly went up the ranks. The experience and confident I got elsewhere really helped.

Well it’s a lovely problem to have and Congratulations on the job offer. I would say, take the higher paid thing (presumably it’s more responsibility). You will learn things you don’t already know then you can come back in a few years to the work that you love and run it yourself and shape it how you think it should be, improving it with the skills and experience that you have acquired.

It really depends on how much you're currently making and your needs.

I've been doing this for years: slightly less senior role / worse pay in exchange for more interesting content. But then, I'm a senior executive in a corporation, i.e. I get paid more than I actually need already.

If this was a question of "waitressing at a more or a less fun restaurant - while having to feed a family of seven", I'd take the money every time.

In my experience, internal promotion opportunities don't come along as often as you might think.

I stayed in a job for 8 years and my pay increased by less than £2000 in that time (though they did fund a professional qualification).

I left for a job paying £13000 more. Then I left that job for £5000 more after a year.

I seems to me you are trying to make a longer term decision without a longer term plan.
If your goal is to save like mad and retire early or to buy an enormous expensive house then follow the money.
If getting to a certain position in your career is most important and you think you will get good career progression into a role that really interests you in your current job then stay.
However, whatever you do, make it an active choice and own it. Don’t just let the deadline for the other job drift by and sit there thinking “what if” for the next 18 months.