If you had to pick a big salary vs job satisfaction, which would you eventually settle for? Would you go for the fat paycheck or would you stick with a job that gives you satisfaction and peace of mind? Most people would be tempted to go for the former because money is an important reward. However, as a career professional, before answering this question, you have to consider a certain number of things. Such things include your needs, career goals and much more.
Truly, a job that offers you a big salary gives more leeway to financial stability but on the flip side, a job that gives you satisfaction can also have far more reaching benefits for your mental health, work-life balance and career progression.
If you are in a fix about choosing between a job offer with a big salary vs one that offers satisfaction, here are a few things you should consider before making that final decision.
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Your Career Goals
Before you decide whether to choose a job with a big salary vs job satisfaction, you need to revisit your career and life goals. What do you wish to attain and which jobs offer you the path to reaching your goals? If it’s the job with a salary that has a greater impact on your career then that is the right choice you should make? However, if your short-term and long-term goals tilt towards job satisfaction and having things like work-life balance, you will need to reconsider.
Your Finances
In all honesty, if you are at a place in your life where improving your finances is top of your list, opting for a job that offers you more salary over job satisfaction would likely be a more realistic option. You should, however, look before you leap as there are many cases where organisations promised new talents huge paychecks but fail to live up to their words. In such cases, the company might pay you a big salary for 6-12 months and then begin to default by owing salaries. This gives birth to career frustrations and regrets. In some cases, you could even get sacked. At the end of the day, it’s about being able to take calculated risks before taking the plunge.
Your Learning & Development Plans
Your learning and development plan would play a huge role in your decision while you are weighing a big salary vs job satisfaction. If you still have a lot to learn and develop your skills; especially in you are early to mid-career span, choosing either a salary that offers more salary might be helpful in funding your learning and development. This might prove more crucial than you realise in a company where the organisational culture doesn’t support allocating budgets to skill acquisition and training.
As mentioned earlier, choosing between a fat salary vs job satisfaction would be heavily dependent like on your short-term and long-term needs. Choose wisely and be rest assured that we are here to guide you through your career choices. Have you recently made a salary vs job satisfaction decision? Which did you eventually settle for and why? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.
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