I turned down 10K

I got offered a job this week from a "sister/parent" company that was worth 10k more + car allowance.

The new job is basically a business analyst/software designer, which is my parent companies core business.

But I work for a part of the company that is right in the dirty end of fuel/diesel right now.

I looked at myself honestly and my honest opinion is that I am a "nuts and bolts" kind of man, not a corporate man or a "software designer"... I could make a go at the other position but my natural strengths are in doing real physical work not writing detailed line by line specs for software and playing corporate games. I had a part in building the operational system of my old company but I didnt code it. I just wrote a few common sense documents about how to deal with fuel cards.... stuff that anyone could do but because I put my hand up and did it people think Im something Im not.

Beyond that, I looked at the company I worked for, and when I became bankrupt they stood by me and supported me 100% What kind of cunt would I be if I walked away now and left them stranded cos someone offered me a bit more dough and a car?

_

Im writing this to ask, what is more important to other people?

A "career" and a bit more dough? Or looking yourself in the face? Or maybe most people work in conditions when the two combine

 

Being happy with what you do is the most important. Success is defined many differnt ways by different people. How you define success is all that matters. Doing what truely makes you happy is the ultimate.

 

Mine combines both.

Though, working in Afghanistan and having strong business ethics, makes strong sales figures and constant negotiations with government ministries a serious bitch.

And I mean, a serious bitch.

The thing is, I could easily bribe my way through to get almost any US$5m to US$50m project in this country.

I even had a US$125m project right there in my hands not so long ago, but I didn't go froward with it, as it was all an illegal affair.

I rather make a tiny fraction of what I could (which is still a substantial number); but go to sleep, and look into my fiancée's and my future children's eyes with a completely clear conscience.

I know many people, who commit crimes as a means for their end, will delude themselves into a clear conscience; but I am not capable of being the same.

 

to be honest Im quite drunk and Im not sure Im expressing myself very well.

But I agee that to me money isnt my measure of sucess. I like the work I do and I dont really want to "step up" to something that means turning my back on what I do now.

I get that people who get ahead arent like me but I accept that

 

Strange... I can appreciate the desire to stay where you are and not take on extra responsibility. Sometime the stress that comes with a bigger position isn't worth the extra money.

Several years ago, I took a role that had a lot more responsibility, it was way more entrepreneurial that I now know I am prepared to be. While I am good at what I do, I am not good at being the driving force for growth. As a result I found my current job and am a lot happier for it.

In recent years I have been offered jobs that are like the one I left. I have been offered more money than I make in my current job. I turned them down. I know what I want to do and I know what will make me happy. That said, I am still not settling in my current role. I am looking for a new job that pays more and is bigger than the one I currently hold. The difference is scale rather than type of job (if that makes sense).

 

You might be underestimating yourself here. It's quite possible that this skill set is a lot more work, for other people, than you know. I'm always surprised about how easily I do things that I think should be easy, but otherwise competent people can't seem to get the hang of. Not that you should build a career out of doing something you don't like, just because you find it easy. That would be boring.

 

I think you answered your own question really - money isn't everything. I am quite aware of my own limitations and am quick to pass on things that are outside my skill set. You are also showing loyalty to the company that helped you out - just don't let this loyalty by a millstone forever

 

I keep thinking back to a story I read about 6 inner city kids who all became successful professionals (from an area where the dropout rate was 60% or so), about the person who had the most influence on their lives. They had all had the same English or History teacher in their high school. This man's first lecture was about The Big Game that everybody played... the game of Life. He explained that everyone had to play, but few really knew the rules for winning. He told them that the great thing about Life was each player got to define the formula for winning... be it being rich, being famous, having friends or family, travelling a lot, working with the poor/disadvantaged... whatever would make the person happy. He told them that being happy was almost a sure sign of having won at life. Being rich when that wasn't your goal wasn't winning; being famous when you really want to be left alone wasn't winning; being saddled with 6 kids when you'd rather be a hermit wasn't winning. Winning is different for every one. And once you've won once, you can change the rules and try to win another way. There was no limit.

One other thing he stressed was that when you let others define winning for you, you've almost certainly lost, whether it was your parents, your teacher, society, whomever... it is almost always a bad thing to let others' expectations define what's right for you in Life.

So, bottom line to me is, YOU need to decide what's important for YOU. Don't let others tell you how to win.

For me, my family, and my modest financial success have made me happy. Like you, my integrity and reputation were more important than chasing maximum dollars, and it worked for me. Now I'm working on my next winning formula. I'm thinking jet fighter pilot or fireman.

 

Lucky me. My job combines stuff I love doing - driving huge bulldozers and sometimes trucks - with lots and lots of money.
The mine I work in isn't the best paying by far, but I like working there.