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Well, it finally happened. I received an email from a recruiter from a fairly large company offering me a position that pays almost double my current salary and I am finding it difficult to accept the position. I have been working for a small/medium non-profit for the past 5 years and was finally promoted to the position of Systems Administrator last year. The position being offered to me is for a Desktop Engineer and I feel that after working this hard to get to where I’m at, to take this position would be a step back in my career and I would lose a lot of the flexibility that my current organization offers.

I’m just looking to see what others would do if faced with a similar situation. Would you take a lesser position if it would almost double your salary? I feel like I’m crazy for passing this up but I absolutely love the organization I am currently with and I feel like the flexibility can’t be beat. I can work from home as needed and I can leave at a moment’s notice if something comes up outside of work unless something major is happening at work. Thank you for your feedback.

30 Spice ups
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Money isn’t everything. I would rather look forward to going to work due to a nice office, working environment etc

You said yourself, “I feel like I’m crazy for passing this up but I absolutely love the organization I am currently with and I feel like the flexibility can’t be beat”

If the money you are currently on is manageable and you don’t struggle in any means, personally I’d stay.

I’ve recently realised that a happy life doesn’t mean money. Being mentally happy is whats most important!

31 Spice ups
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I agree with what you already said about flexibility. You have money needs, you have emotional needs. If you are satisfying your money needs, look at your emotional needs.

I also think about things in terms of learning opportunities. Do you think you have more to learn where you are? Or is there more to learn at the other?

You also said it yourself, you would be stepping backwards career wise. You just got to a Sysadmin position, I say stay there longer and the next job could be 3 times what you make now because career wise you stayed on an upward path instead of stepping backwards.

7 Spice ups
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Yikes, that’s definitely a difficult decision. I’m in the same boat as you with flexibility… I love my job and what I do… But, I just started a family and my wife took a huge pay cut. I would have to take the position if it was offered to me.

2 Spice ups
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Very much agree with this. There was recently a position that opened up internally in my organization. It would have been a really nice salary increase but the position would have made me miserable. It was an easy decision to pass-up.

I do have to question why you’re looking for another job if you love your current position?

5 Spice ups
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It boils down to what’s more important to you in the position you’re in personally right now. Money or time? Answer that and you answer your question! Good luck either way!

5 Spice ups
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I’m not actively looking. They found my Linkedin profile and reached out.

4 Spice ups
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I’ve worked for a non-profit for 10 years now, and like you I love it. Very low pressure, lots of unexpected perks, like the flexibility on hours and needing to leave suddenly.

The money is a tough call though. But it sounds like you’ve made up your mind to stay. And IMHO, unless you’re struggling financially, your daily stress level and job satisfaction should win out. On the flip side, sometimes you have to suck it up and do what’s right financially.

What’s the short and long term prospects at the new job? How long would it take you to move up in roles? Maybe “Desktop Engineer” would quickly change to more systems-wide roles.

4 Spice ups
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Non profits pay the lowest in my humble opinion. Keep that in mind for future advancement. Oftentimes, taking a lower position in a larger company may be looked on equally to a higher position in a smaller company. Also many job titles are not reflective of your actual talent and the smart people that hire know the difference.

Supreme IT Leader @ 5 person small business < Junior Administrator at Fortune 1000 company.

If the cause of the non-profit resonates with you, then yes, money may not be the most important to you then.

6 Spice ups
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Money vs Job title , first of all what’s the catch in the new role? If they didn’t think you were good enough then they wouldn’t offer you the money. You can always make the job your own. Take me, I was a sole IT person in a company, took a first line role then got promoted to 3rd line in 6 months.

1 Spice up
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I’d take the offer personally, then I can climb the ladder to even higher places.

Don’t get hang up on the title. I was an “system administrator” for an company and my actual job duty was no different than I was “IT assistant” for the same company. I just got paid more and now I have to manage the servers.

3 Spice ups
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So I’ve recently been interviewing for candidates and I’ve seen a mixture of those in larger companies and those in smaller ones (we are medium sized at c100 employees). For the position (1st/2nd line generalist support) I’ve had applicants from the larger companies demanding a double salary to others because that’s what they are currently on. The experience hasn’t been beneficial and is often very segmented (specialist in DNS support - yeah ok because that’s a thing that should be separate). Those in smaller companies have been on more reasonable salaries and have the experience of understanding more points to the business they work in due to higher exposure. Larger companies may be able to pay the bigger bucks and training courses but I haven’t seen more ability from that side at all.

I would say give respect to your whole IT career. You may have many years of roles in the future and look to build your employ-ability and grasp of the full network. If you can find great pay elsewhere for a lower position, great, that means you may be underpaid and could look at other jobs of a similar position in that ballpark for salary.

I likely won’t work for a big company in the future unless I’m fully on board with the vision it has and I’d only be coming in at a higher technical or managerial level. I wouldn’t waste your time dropping your career to a 1st/2nd line at a big company. That’s a common way I see stagnation if you don’t retain good knowledge across multiple areas of business.

4 Spice ups
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I’m in the boat of staying in the job you are happiest with, no point working in a job you dislike, will only degrade your performance.

If the money increase will make you happier, go with the new position, if you prefer your flexibility, stay where you are.

4 Spice ups
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Left non-profit job for a bigger-money contract with a chance to become a full-time state worker with access to excellent health insurance. Transition to merit employee has yet to happen… but then I found out my previous place is in a mess, everyone’s trying to leave, CEO harassing subordinates, firing folks for “not giving him a heads-up” that a harassment claim was imminent… sounds like I got out just in time.

Money can’t buy happiness. But your responsibilities are your own, and that includes this decision.

5 Spice ups
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Reading your post - no way I would move. If there is even a question about if it is wise - it is not. Do yourself and the other company a favor. Consider yourself blessed with a good job and let the other place move on.

(Far too many times I have seen that “Dream Job” turn into what was really a “Project Job” for some new high paid guy for a few months - then, your out and some other dude has the job at the old place).

3 Spice ups
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Title doesn’t always mean what we think it means. My current title is “Technician”… but I’m system admin, network admin, and help desk all rolled into one. However, I completely understand the “I’m happy here” mindset. I have taken steps back in the past to get into a position where I could say “I’m happy here”, and expect I will again in the future.

4 Spice ups
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The best advise I can give is to be honest with yourself and write out a pro/con list, sleep on it for a few days and the answer will be clear.

4 Spice ups
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There’s something to be said for moving out of your comfort zone, and sometimes you have to take a step back to eventually move several steps forward…

7 Spice ups
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I agree that you should not trade up just for the money. However, make sure you do your homework. Reach out to someone who works there, and if you can’t, check Glassdoor or some other job review sites to see what the people who work there are saying. Is it a good place to work? Are the people cool? Would it be worth maybe at least interviewing and seeing if there is room to move up, or see if they are flexible as well?

On some level I think we all fear change. I know if it were me, that would be a factor. So, just make sure that fear isn’t messing with your decision. If it really isn’t, and it is all just money, and you don’t need that money, then no worries. Stay where you are, and enjoy it. Just think about it first, because it would be unfortunate to give up a good opportunity just because you didn’t want to face a little fear. :slight_smile:

4 Spice ups
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Personally, I would talk with the company offering the job to see if they can accommodate some of the perks you have at your current job. I talked to my father about his case quite a few times. He gave up a job working with the best surgeons in my area and left his very good reputation for a job that pays nearly double and isn’t surgical at all. To this day, I still come across doctors and physicians who talk very highly of my father but when I ask him if he made the right decision, he says he did. He still has regrets about taking the job from time to time but at the end of the day, he is still happy he took it. I would try to negotiate and if they don’t seem willing to work with you at all, pass. Otherwise, I would take it and as others said, climb the ladder at the new company.

2 Spice ups