What do you count as most important? Is it the money, or how much you enjoy the job...? If you have a job that you're fairly happy at, how much of a pay difference would it take to make you leave and risk ending up at a job that pays more, but is worse?

ill be interested to see what people say here as i am facing this problem at the moment with my career choice stage

i do well at school and consequentially i am pushed to do medicine/dentistry/law etc. i have been pushed from such a younge age i dont even know what is satisfying anymore but purely choosing based on money. therefore dental, with the highest suicide rate in professions (apparently) .. obviously there is something more important then money.

my mother is currently really upset as shes reached a really high point on the corporate laddar amongst those who are much older then her, though we are well off, she is miserable, she does not want to go to work anymore, which is so sad

so i am scared now...
i think job satisfaction is more important as long as you have enough money to live comofrtably, as if you are like me, what you find satisfying can gett boring and then comes the regret..

This is an interesting one, and I think it rests squarely with personal values. Do you value sanity over money? Or vice versa? Or can you handle an absolutely mind-numbingly painful job for a good 10 years while you get some money under your belt?

Personally, I prefer job satisfaction over money. But if that meant being extremely happy at work but living in a cardboard box for a home, I'd take the money.

This is a really tough one for me...as I have encountered direct lessons re both sides to this issue but am now at a point where the money is always going to be there for my work in my chosen profession. My job can be mind numbing at times but I would prefer that over someone always in my office whinging or having a partner to some law firm curse at me at the top of his voice so the whole office stops dead in their tracks... I love the fact that at any point in time (within reason...and sometimes it is hard not to be spoilt) that I am not happy with my environment I can walk out and have a new job that same day...and be paid reasonably well.

I was once told that if the money isn't there to begin with and you are good at wot u do then the money always comes! Its with any profession really. You don't all of sudden start out on a great salary doing wonderful work that you enjoy. You prove urself etc etc.

Kaz...a friend of mine has researched the suicide in dentistry and it is (in a nut shell) because the teeth are the most reincarnated part of the human body and seem to carry a lot from the past... Supposedly, that is why there is a high suicide rate behind the profession. More to it but wont bore u.

Post Last Updated:01.07.2007 at 08.11

That's kinda really fascinating about the teeth.. i want to hear more! it's quirky :)

I say job satisfaction. It reflects my values actually. To raise children I think the woman has to be satisfied with the life she leads. At the end of the day, I think a balance of both a reasonable paying job & reasonable satisfaction with the job, when choosing between jobs/career paths is essential.

So controversial really. What if a woman has to choose money over satsifaction simply because she is a single mum? Some women are still able to show their children love & teach them important virtues. Some women can handle a career in business/law and raise proper children, aka NOT like Paris Hilton. Some women like to blame not being satisfied about life on their career choice. If it wasn't for the traditional/conventional view of women, I don't think this would be an issue. & in a relationship, supporting one another is fundamental to extracting more job satisfaction too I think.
I wouldn't hesitate to pursue a career Kaz. If you have the capability & u know it, follow through I reckon. Sometimes it takes an easy going attitude to have a successful career which inflates your bank balance as well as your emotional state.

Post Last Updated:01.07.2007 at 18.44

working for for pleasure and for money and keeps me busy i really like.

the money thing for me is like a reward for doing work i actually enjoy

i'm a graphic designer and photographer on the side... working as a graphic designer i really enjoy in two studios. i did a website for a musician here in perth finnaly finished it 2 wks ago... good pay i'm not that expensive but we were both happy with the end product and i rewarded my self by buying a nice sweater or jumper (in australia lol) so that was the first time i actually did something like that otherwise money comes in and out (on ebay too lol)

but still the photography side of things are great finally found places where they pay which i like as well as free drinks but back to the point, i love shooting at clubs, fashion, people, weddings did one the other wkend first time - not a lot of stress i was suprized lol - and studio shoots which are great (need more ideas) but as a profession the photography side of things are not as rewarding as design.. tho i'm working and putting my name out there as a photographer i say gimme another 2-3 yrs compaired to other photographers who get work or don't realy put the effort in to get themselves know - but i want a lot more work and am slightly in demand between a few night clubs now lol but i enjoy the atmosphere, the music, the people of course and the great feeling of having the opp to shoot and shooting is just what i love to do. hope my blabber wasn't too much lol

=)

/// a t t

there has got to be a happy medium here. good pay and have a good job. Id hate to be in a job if i was completly miserable even if i was getting lots of pay. Id also hate to be sturggling from day to day to pay the bills for the rest of my life. Struggling to live due to money isnt exactly a happy time so even if u had a job u were happy with, being worried about $$$ would still upset u and make u unhappy.

not to sound shallow..... but id prefer to live wealthy even if i didnt love my job so much. As long as i dont dread each day. Money can by happiness in sum areas.... id be happy with a $5 million house and an enzo ferrari in my shed. If i have a bad day at work, take the enzo out for a drive.... that will make me smile lol

I love what i do and i get payed peanuts. but i wont leave... because i know one day the experience i am gaining and the contacts that i now have will benifit me at some stage during my career.

Its all about figuring out exactly what the reward is for the job you are doing. For me... by a long shot.. its definately making contacts and quenching my thirst for knowledge within the footwear industry.

For example... you cannot put a dollar value on getting the chance to travel to china and develop footwear right at the coalface all day then to go out to dinner with the Provincial Minister for Exports and talk politics regarding the dumping taxes in europe and other countries around the world.

Done :) But done what?!

thnx