What's better -- high pay or a good team?

August 5, 2009 7:30 AM

Should I stick with a secure, high-paying IT career where I'm a solo developer with no possibility of advancement, or switch to a much-lesser paying career where I can be part of a team and a larger company and perhaps even advance in the next few years?

Sure, there are many nuances to this question, and it's more of an opinion piece than a question that has a direct answer, but I'm hoping to hear from some people who've had the same choice to make or just want to weigh in.

I have a family and kids, and the job market blows, but my entire department was let go (not financial, just a restructuring) and they're simply not going to need me to do anything but program the one remaining application for the rest of my life. They've specifically told me that I've got a job for as long as I want it, so I have security in these trying times, but the next time I switch jobs I will definitely be taking a major income hit. Should I just do it now and get it out of the way?

posted by anonymous to work & money (15 comments total)

It all depends on if you have enough money to get by after the income reduction.

Right now I'd say try to just live off the lower salary, and put all the extra salary to paying off any debt you may have (car loans, credit cards, etc) or put it into a nice large savings account to have a buffer in the future.

The job market will only improve in time, and so I'd say try living off the lower income for six months as described above, and if you don't mind making less, then you'll have no debt, a good savings, and then you can start looking for new jobs.
posted by arniec at 7:34 AM on August 5 [2 favorites has favorites]

Do you want to manage people, or do you want to be a developer? Because moving up in a team at a larger company usually means becoming a team lead or project manager, with less actual development time.
posted by smackfu at 7:38 AM on August 5 [2 favorites has favorites]

When there are kids involved, you do need to think about the monetary and stability aspects of the job.
There may be potentially a better team/job out there, but you don't really know. It could be far, far worse. Right now, the market is just absolutely crazy -- we've had people offer to work for us for free, just to keep their skills current.
They just let your entire team go -- surely they were doing something useful? You might be able to pick up some of those tasks and grow your knowledge base, raising your chances of finding a higher paying job down the road.
Lastly, I like arniec's idea of trying to live off the lower salary and see if it's doable.
posted by j at 7:44 AM on August 5

I left a stable academic job where I mostly worked on teams of two or less for a small company where I'm working on a bigger project with a team. I always thought that I could keep my skills sharp by working on OSS projects in my free time, going to user group meetings, etc., but I never did as much of that as I hoped to and think I probably did myself a disservice staying at old job as long as I did.

I still miss it sometimes, but I think staying at a job out of fear is inadvisable unless you and your family really are close to the edge in some respect. That said, I still write software, so it wasn't a career shift or a pay cut for me, and maybe making the move right now isn't the best idea. But surely there are still financial/skills/networking goals you can work on with a timeframe in mind for making the transition, no?
posted by substars at 7:46 AM on August 5

I've always been happier in lower-paying jobs with good groups of people.

Heck, a window with a nice view, or an office with fresher air is worth more than an extra $10,000 to me. I might be odd, though. Not a big fan of money.
posted by rokusan at 7:56 AM on August 5

Honestly, you have kids to think about. Stick with the high-paying job, at least until you've saved more than you think you need.

I know we all spend 40+ hours at work and we'd rather not hate them, but more money means more options for the remaining hours. With the kind of stability you seem to have, you can wait for a great opportununity, not a possibly-great-in-a-few-years opportunity.
posted by spaltavian at 8:00 AM on August 5 [1 favorite has favorites]

The grass is always greener on the other side. Except here. Think of the situation you are in...and the situation you are romanticizing (much-lesser paying career where I can be part of a team and a larger company and perhaps even advance in the next few years). Most people in the OTHER situation would rather be where you are now.

Good luck.
posted by hal_c_on at 8:15 AM on August 5

Consider staying put and wait for the economy to improve.

You will have many more options and the risk will be smaller.
posted by santogold at 8:57 AM on August 5 [1 favorite has favorites]

Unless you're very unhappy there now, I would stick it out for year or two and see how the market changes. Firstly, your present company's prospects may improve, and then you might have the chance to stay and advance where you are. Secondly, if things don't improve where you are you've lost nothing, and kept a high paying job during a downturn, and you still have the option to find a better opportunity when the market picks up.
posted by crocomancer at 9:03 AM on August 5

Unless there's something left unmentioned about your current job that's making you miserable, I see absolutely no reason at all why you would want to switch jobs right now.

Stepping backwards is rarely a good way to advance.
posted by ook at 9:13 AM on August 5

Alternative: Make a budget based on the lower amount you expect you would make elsewhere, and try living on it for a while, but stay where you are. Save the rest of the money in a non-volatile account like high-yield savings (which is probably under 2% these days, but still) or CDs. You'll find out if your lifestyle with the lower income level is acceptable, and you'll have a nice savings account, which will help allow you to move later if you want. If you then decide to stay put indefinitely at the higher salary level, take some of the savings and take a nice vacation.
posted by pengale at 9:14 AM on August 5 [2 favorites has favorites]

Pengale's idea is brilliant.
posted by rokusan at 9:52 AM on August 5

How are your relationships with your boss/coworkers? (Do you have any?) These are an enormous intangible. I would say if you get along great with your current coworkers, I would stay with that, to the exclusion of almost anything else. You spend at least 8+ hours of the day working, it is incredibly important that you spend that time with people you like and energize you. Nothing sucks the life out of you like a personally toxic work situation.
posted by spatula at 10:50 AM on August 5

much-lesser paying career where I can be part of a team and a larger company and perhaps even advance in the next few years?

Or the new career could get you laid off in six months, in which case you're not in a good position. You've just seen it happen to those around you, after all. A bird in the hand, in this case, is worth two in the bush. At least for the time being. As long as the work isn't soul destroying, I'd stick it out.

Anecdotally, I recently ran into an old friend of mine who moved countries with his family to get a more secure job, thinking the writing was on the wall for his previous employers. He considered security at this moment to be worth the pay hit he took, purely because of his family obligations.
posted by Sparx at 5:59 PM on August 5

Wait it out till the job market improves, then switch. Maintaining the same program forever is in your company's interest but not yours-- you're not going to be learning new things, keeping up with technology, learning from other programmers, or having the opportunity to manage.

Plus, they've just demonstrated what they think of developers and how they contribute to the organization.
posted by zompist at 7:20 PM on August 5