Let's Discuss Re-employment and Paycuts

[1984vt]

Salaries are in decline especially right now. I applied for a business analyst position that required a person to assign weight to variables - you really have to have a quantative degree or at least years of experience in order to do this. Their salary; $36,000. I of course didn't realize it was so low and had listed my required in what I thought was an acceptable range for depressed times, needless to say - I priced myself out of the job.

In normal times, there is no way I would have done that job for 36,000 - but I would if I were about to lose my home. The funny thing is, I have ended up taking a higher paying job with a defined pension plan and I will not use a fraction of my skills in the new position. I would prefer to have done the analyst job because it sounded very challenging and interesting and would have used all my skills.

BTW - they had a hard time finding anyone to do the job within that range and finally had to redefine the position to just compiling spread sheets and outsourcing the analysis. I wonder how much that cost them?

[cityhopper]

Ultimately, my choice became pretty easy as I was called and told the position has been put on hold until further notice. And the quest continues....

In regards to the thread topic, ultimately I will have to evaluate positions that require pay cuts on a case by case basis. I would prefer not to have to consider it period but I do understand that is not the nature of the game right now. If the gap did not exceed $5k, this would be a lot easier to swallow (considering I did not make a significant amount of money at my highest wage).

[danameless]

Originally Posted by annerk

That's like comparing salaries in NYC to salaries in Jacksonville.

It's really interesting that you said that because it reminded me of a company I was with about 5-6yrs ago, I got assigned a project that required me to move to Jacksonville, FL for almost a year. At that time, I was making about $65K in NYC and could barely live on my own and save. When my project was completed and I was planning on moving back to NYC, the manager in FL asked if I would consider moving to FL and they would offer me a Manager position, but then proceeded to tell me that my salary was too high and they would be offering me a lower salary that was more in line with the market in Jacksonville. When I came back to NYC and talked to a colleague, he showed me the salary ranges for the company, and all the roles in Jacksonville were about $15K-$20K lower than the equivalent in NYC. So your right, you can't compare salaries in different cities as the standard of living is different.

As for the OP, whether I would take a paycut would depend how badly I needed a income and the bills I have to pay. I think it would be foolish to pass on a job because of a paycut if you have a mortgage to pay and a family to feed. But if your financially stable and afford to be a little patient, then there is nothing wrong with holding out for a bit to see if a better opportunity comes along.

[JS1]

Count your blessings. I took a 45% paycut (40,000 fewer dollars per year) in order to get off unemployment.