Convince me that I made the right career move...

[jinduy]

Current job
- just got promoted, going to rake in 70-80k
- location sucks, in a boony area along central coast and that's a big deal for me who comes from Los Angeles
- lots of analytical work, auditing, tedious, repetetive after a while
- horrible asian food

New job
- downtown LA
- 50k
- software engineering, object oriented programming (something i have a passion for)

when it came down to it, two things irked me with the current job: location & function
i definitely knew coming into this job that I would not stay here for the rest of my life, though I think I could have been making very good money by age 26 (23 right now).

i'm a computer science guy and i felt that the skills i learned in college would whither away...

what do you guys think... would you have done the same? btw i alreayd have a home to stay at in LA, so i won't be paying rent woot!

 

[DainBramaged]

wrong choice

 

[BigPoppa]

I personally wouldn't have.

For me:
Boony area > Metropolitan LA
OO programming, no passion for it. Well, no passion for any sort of programming, can't stand the stuff usually.
Taking a 20-30k cut in pay is huge, especially considering your housing costs will most likely rise in LA.

 

[ironcrotch]

It would only be the wrong choice if you continue to do something you dispise.

 

[jinduy]

Originally posted by: BigPoppa
I personally wouldn't have.

For me:
Boony area > Metropolitan LA
OO programming, no passion for it. Well, no passion for any sort of programming, can't stand the stuff usually.
Taking a 20-30k cut in pay is huge, especially considering your housing costs will most likely rise in LA.

sorry forgot to mention i wont be paying any housing bills or utilities if i go back home... my room's still waiting for me, woot!

 

[Orsorum]

Were you doing IT auditing for an accounting firm, perchance? If so, I think you made the right choice. I'm going into consulting myself but I know that I won't be there forever; just too much work and too much time, I want to be adventurous at some point in my 20s and I figure I'll have a dynamite chance after three or four years' experience, just to have some concrete experience and to make some contacts before I go off and see the world for five years.

 

[DainBramaged]

 

[jinduy]

Originally posted by: Orsorum
Were you doing IT auditing for an accounting firm, perchance? If so, I think you made the right choice. I'm going into consulting myself but I know that I won't be there forever; just too much work and too much time, I want to be adventurous at some point in my 20s and I figure I'll have a dynamite chance after three or four years' experience, just to have some concrete experience and to make some contacts before I go off and see the world for five years.

you're pretty close... it's dealing with huge #s... but you're right it's too much work (though not hard) and too much time and yep, i want to build more experience, i pretty much learned all i could, technically, at this job.

 

[jinduy]

Originally posted by: ironcrotch
It would only be the wrong choice if you continue to do something you dispise.

thanks that makes me feel better

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: ironcrotch
It would only be the wrong choice if you continue to do something you despise.

QFT & spellcheck.

 

[Flash1969]

Choose happiness over money every time. Too many people put money first and are miserable because of it.

 

[imported_Kensai]

Personally, I think you made a good choice. It's better to be happy and with a mid-range income than be rich and miserable.

 

[opticalmace]

definitely the right choice

 

[necine]

Man, 20-30k paycut. I couldn't do it.

 

[mitmot]

do whatever makes you happy.. and it sounds like you are happy with programming in LA. :thumbsup:

 

[SagaLore]

You left a rural area, to go back to an urban area? For less pay?

Ouch.

 

[Patt]

I think, with the possible exception of moving back home with parents (I'm assuming), you made a good choice. Money is worthless if you're not happy during the day. I'm at a similar point where I'm at, but don't have a lot of flexibility in the small town I live in.

Good luck!

 

[sswingle]

If you need us to convince you, then you did NOT make the right choice.

 

[Aharami]

i think u made the wrong choice. u couldve used ur current salary for a better paying job closer to LA

 

[Shadowknight]

The extra pay will help you pay off any mortgages faster, allow you to put more into a retirement plan, and have more fun money to blow on stuff like Plasma TVs and such.

 

[shilala]

If you're going to have to make stupid moves that you'll regret forever, 23 years old is the time to do it.
You won't be able to afford to make moves like that when you're older.
The grass is always greener on the other side at that age.

 

[AdamSnow]

$30,000 less in a year?

Wrong move.

 

[y2kc]

5 years ago I had to make the same choice: stay at a job i hated and be miserable or leave, take a 50% pay cut and do what I loved. Trust me on this, your happiness and satisfaction cannot be bought.

Although my (now ex) wife and kids were very supportive the financial strain was almost catastrophic, despite trying to prepare for it.

Now 5 years later I'm making twice as much as I did at the original job that I hated and I'm satisfied. I no longer dread going to sleep at night knowing I just have to wake up and do a job I hate.

job satisfaction is gold, loving what you do, priceless.

do what you love and the money will come to you.

 

[yobarman]

Do what you love is my motto. If you can survive on that kind of paycut, then go for it. But you do live in LA, so that kinda money could be the difference between a 1br apt and a decent house lol.

 

[Accipiter22]

Originally posted by: jinduy
Current job
- just got promoted, going to rake in 70-80k
- location sucks, in a boony area along central coast and that's a big deal for me who comes from Los Angeles
- lots of analytical work, auditing, tedious, repetetive after a while
- horrible asian food

New job
- downtown LA
- 50k
- software engineering, object oriented programming (something i have a passion for)

when it came down to it, two things irked me with the current job: location & function
i definitely knew coming into this job that I would not stay here for the rest of my life, though I think I could have been making very good money by age 26 (23 right now).

i'm a computer science guy and i felt that the skills i learned in college would whither away...

what do you guys think... would you have done the same? btw i alreayd have a home to stay at in LA, so i won't be paying rent woot!

a job you don't like can be a prison, no matter how much money you make. It depends on waht choices and environment you value. If you love LA and hate the boonies...workin in the boonies ain't for you. I've had jobs out in the boonies too...I didn't like them because i felt miles away from civilization...it tainted the experience for me. And if it's doing something you hate, compared to something you enjoy, do what you enjoy. You have to figure in to the equation the whole rent free thing too. That should figure into your calculation of how much you make. 70-80k but you're subtracting say 10k for rent, that's like making 60-70k so the drop isn't that bad compared to 50k, no rent