To ask if you would choose money or happiness (career wise) ?

[felttippenguin]

I'm at a bit of a cross roads career wise. I currently work in finance while I'm finishing up my degree. My field is charity sector and it's not well paid for how highly educated you have to be, jobs are also somewhat scarce so volunteering etc is expected to gain experience/make connections.

My finance job was a pay the bills jobs up until now. But I've reached a point where I could easily progress within the company and make a career out of it.

My earning potential in finance is higher but I do find it boring. I find the work in my field of education incredibly fulfilling.

I'm trying to think about my life in ten years. Will I regret choosing to work in a job that pays well and funds a good lifestyle but bores me to tears? Or would I regret having less money but an enjoyable job!

I know it's totally individual but I'm not the only one to make this choice and I'd love to hear what people think is more important? Money or happiness?

Money, but the work has to be tolerable. You can’t spend your time dreading it. More money gives you many more options down the road if you invest/save correctly. Also, work isn’t everything, so money can fund a nice life of hobbies and interests outside of work.

Do you want to own a house?

I don't do the finance bit of the finance sector if that makes sense, it's more customer based so there isn't really a middle ground of doing what I do in the sector I'd like to work for. It really is one or the other, they're massively different

Definitely. I've been paying into a help to buy isa since I was a 18

Does it have to be this binary choice, though? If you have found things that appeal to you in your sector, do you have transferrable skills where you can take steps towards a similar but better paid role like that in another sector? You don't have to be bound in by what you have done to date and exclude other options that might require a few smart sideways career moves but get you to a career path that you find fulfilling and has a better earning potential.

Happiness without a doubt as long as I have enough for a home, food, car that goes and a bit spare.

That's what I have done.

No you're right it doesn't have to be a binary choice. I don't really know what else I'd want to do that would be both fulfilling and reasonably well paid though

I'd focus on that. Write a list of the things about the not-very-well-paid job that attract you to it, and another of your skills, and go to see a careers adviser (a good one). There are so many jobs and careers that many of us aren't even aware of. Try to identify on that has what you will find fulfilling AND with decent earning potential then it's a matter of working out the stepping stones to get there. It's worth the extra effort even if it takes a bit longer than either route you've identified: many people don't figure out the best career for them until much later (if at all!) so don't be afraid to take a risk and change tack, with a good plan in place.

I had a similar dilema 20years ago and went for the money. It took me some time to come to terms with not loving my job, however I don’t hate it and the lifestyle it has allowed for me and my family more than makes up for it. I find my fulfilment in life through personal things.

I think there's a balance, but money for me (as long as you aren't dreading going to work each day and it's not affecting your mental health)
Work to live, not live to work.
I can get through a boring or stressful working day if I know I've got nice things to look forward to outside of work.

Money then… st least until you have a decent deposit

Not having enough money leads to unhappiness. But once you reach a certain level, more money doesn't bring greater happiness.

If you’re at the start of your career you may not have seen the variety of jobs in the charity sector yet. If finance is your skill-set then you should read up about emerging fields like microfinance and social impact investment. There are lots of fields that cross over between the two and charities always want people that understand funding.

Also look at jobs at funders, grant-making bodies, trusts and foundations who fund the charities. Or local govt.

Alternatively, cut your teeth in the private sector with a view to moving over to the charity sector at a higher level. If you want kids, charity jobs are often more family friendly and you might reach a point where £40-50k and flexi-time is better than £90k but you never go home.

I'd go for the job you enjoy as long as it covers the bills with sone spare " choosing money".

Money.

Money to get to the point where you can pay the bills, a pension and have some left over for savings and spending. Then if you could choose to make more money or having a happier work life it is a trickier choice.

I would stick with the well paid job for say - 4/5 years, build up a cash cushion, whilst also keeping my hand in at my dream vocation by keeping up to speed with the charity sector, volunteering a few hours per week, carry on skill/knowledge building so you can go into it at a slightly higher level?

Charity sector are keen to have people with a finance mind so your few years on a higher wage could pay in both ways.

I did some freelance marketing work for a pretty big and we’ll know charity a couple of summers ago. It was a three month contract and I stated my day rate and, because they were super short staffed, I got it. But when I realised what those far superior who had been working for the company for 10+ years were getting…I was earning that sum as someone more junior at a or agency back in 2007. It annoys me that so many charity sector organisations pay such a poor wage when they’re pretty well off in a lot of cases. There is no way I would take the long hours the permanent staff were working or the pressures or the tedious meeting to decide everything (teams meetings were taking up at third of my day) for the pittance they were paying their employees. Until then I’d always fancied working for a charity - it tight me the grass definitely isn’t always greener.

Money. I chose a degree-level job with a salary ceiling of £43k (unless I go for promotions / management positions) and I regret not choosing differently when I had chance. I like my job, but I find it frustrating to earn so little. My husband in contrast found himself in an industry by chance when he was younger, realised he was very good at a particular sector of it and worked his way up. He now earns six figures which has given me a certain amount of freedom in my own job - which I think cushions my frustration at my own salary, but if it weren’t for him, I’d have moved industry a few years back to increase my earning potential.

Well I was bored at work once. Then I decided to get studying etc to make it fulfilling. Now, years later I am still in the same job and my advice is always ask for. I turned a dull job into an adventure and the money is really good

Why choose? I have both.

Money unless I hated my job or it stressed my unduly.

Money will pay for me to do the things I want in life outside work and give me greater happiness than a job I love.

Your personal life should be fulfilling.

Your work life should fund your fulfilling personal life.

Trying to meet all your needs from a job is a recipe for misery. You will always be disposable to your employer, which means your fulfilment can be vaporised with a redundancy or dismissal.

I think it's usually not as black and white as that and there is usually a compromise you can make. Ultimately, money affords you the lifestyle you want outside of work which for me is travel, stability, nice home etc so I would never be happy earning a pittance no matter how much I loved my job. Equally, there is no point spending hours and hours a week in a role you despise if you spend all your free time dreading getting back to work. For me the answer was a side step into a slightly more lucrative area of my skillset which bumped up my salary and progression significantly, but my compromise is I am remaining in the public sector due to the interest of the context and the flexibility, I could take my skillset into the financial sector and earn a heck of a lot more but likely at a cost that is not worth it to me, right now at least.

So I would review your skills, potential etc and see if you actually have a middle road option.

If you do a job long enough, even the most fulfilling of jobs will eventually get boring (or at least lose its shine)
I’d always take the lucrative career and fill in the fulfilment void with something meaningful in my spare time. Volunteering in the ‘dream sector’ perhaps?