For love or money

[CUSTARDSOCKS87]

I've just interviewed this week for a role in HR at a junior level for a slight pay cut of £100pcm. I think I'd be a good fit for the role and would enjoy it...not sure how interview went, they were lovely and could picture myself working with them but I don't want to get my hopes up! However I'm waiting to here back from 2 other public sector jobs. One is 25k and the other is 27k. These are substantial pay rises however for generic supervisory/executive admin roles where progression is through recruitment competitions which attract thousands.
I am happy and willing to do extra hr courses etc if it meant I could climb that ladder.
Do we think its better to take the small pay cut for future progression or take the payrise for what will probably be a generic and "possibly" boring job for life? I know that sounds awful but I think it would be hard to move on from and expect the same salary. Only job area I think it would lead to is an "office manager" role.
(I looked at the other hr job the company i had an interview for had advertised (due to someone being promoted) and the salary was almost 37k, so there are prospects!)

Also if you work in HR, I'd be grateful to hear your experience.

Obviously this is going to depend on your circumstances, but the fact you say £25K and £27K are "substantial pay rises" suggest that you are currently not on a huge wage.

Now, if you have had a large inheritance / lottery win / other windfall and are sitting pretty in a nice house in a decent area with no mortgage, then I think you have to consider the "considerably larger" salary.
I don't know what part of the country you live in, but on £27K you would be able to start thinking about mortgages, whereas on - say £19K ? - you won't. That sort of difference has a HUGE impact on your life.

I think having the "luxury" of being able to do a job you love, for a small pay packet is a luxury reserved for those who are more comfortably off than it sounds as if you are.
I've recently had a similar conversation with my (adult) ds who has been applying for better jobs than the one he was in for about 3 years.
He has had a really good jump in salary and is lucky enough to really be enjoying the new job. Now he has been called for interview for a job with even more money, but little else to sell it to him. He was going round and round about what he should do and has decided to stick with the job he is now doing. In his case he can afford to make that choice because his new / current job means he will be able to get a mortgage for a small property here once he's saved a deposit. Had he still been in his old job, then he'd have taken the interview as he couldn't afford the luxury of wanting to "love" the job as it couldn't sustain his lifestyle.

Name changed for this, but here’s how my HR career has progressed, based on age and salary.

Age - Role - Salary

22 - HR Admin - £22k - Company A
24 - HR and Recruitment Officer - £32k - Company A
27 - Senior HR Officer - £45k - Company B
29 - HR Business Partner - £58k - Company C
32 - Senior HR Business Partner - £78k - Company C
36 - HR Programme Manager - £106k - Company C
40 (now) - Head of HR - £126k - Company C

In the last ten years, I took a huge risk by joining a start-up, did an additional HR-related degree, did a law-related post-grad, became qualified in loads of related skills (mediation, adjudication etc), went on every single leadership course work offered me, took advantage of coaching and mentoring programmes.

I absolutely love my job. It’s varied, busy, interesting, often good fun.

Take the lower paid job with better prospects, without a doubt.

Thank you all, my thought process on the higher pay is that would be my wage for next 10 years whereas the pay cut could lead me to better things as illustrated by @AlasAnon!