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If it is this vs. nothing I don't see what you have to lose by taking it. You can always keep looking in the spring and go for something else should it come up.
TAKE THE JOB! You will not find a better job in your 50s with no experience. Even people with experience can't find a job after the hit the big 5 - 0.
This is a mentality I cannot understand. I will be working for *at least* another 15 years. How many people who are 25 are going to be working for the same company 15 years from now?
In addition to having a lot of work experience in Hospitality and Lodging, I have a good education, a solid work history *and* I won't be taking any maternity leave any time soon. LOL
I am a person who strongly believes that the reason you work is to make money. Having said that, I know that it is also nice to do a job that you enjoy doing, or are passionate/enthusiastic about, even if it does not pay a lot of money.
My dilemma.
I may be offered a management position in a field that I very much enjoy and have a great deal of experience in, Hospitality and Lodging.
During the initial interview today, we discussed salary and when I told the hotel owner/GM that I was hoping for at least $30,000 (which was very low as far as I was concerned), he told me that since this was, essentially a "start up" situation, they have only budgeted $24,000 for the position.
I did a search on salary.com and was horrified to see that the low end of the salary scale for this position (in my city), was $35,513 and that the *average* in my city was $48,269.
Now, by way of explanation, the job is at a "low end" property, *and* it is a start up, *and* I have limited management experience, so I am not expecting to be in an upper percentile, salary-wise. But I still feel that, since I do have a lot of Hospitality and Lodging experience and have a lot to contribute in the way of marketing experience, computer expertise and other assets, that $24,000 is really really scraping bottom, money-wise.
Keeping in mind that I have been looking for a management position in the field for several months with little or no luck (in fact a lot of frustration, thanks to these stupid ONLINE applications), I am not certain what other opportunities will avail themselves to me. Likewise, we are season here in the Branson area, so there are NO jobs to be found until next Spring - three or four months from now.
My dilemma is whether nor not to take the job if it is offered (and I have a strong sense that it will be, if for no other reason, that the GM isn't going to find many people in this area who is willing to do this job for $24,000. Like I said, I love the work. I just feel like $24,000 is such an incredibly low figure. I wonder if it wouldn't be better to wait to see what spring brings.
Your thoughts?
20yrsinBranson
It seems as if you are not working now, so any job is better than no job, maybe?
The issue is you might up and quit when you find something better. I know in my field you don't want to be doing that often, but in other fields it's quite normal, and something like hotel management would seem like one of those fields.
Also, you said your low expectation was $30K going in. $6K after taxes is not a whole lot, so I don't find $24K to be too far of a disparity.
Another thing to consider is if they will pay you more once things get going. Startups often do this.
All things to consider and you should make a list of pros & cons. However, to me the major one is the first one. Will there be any consequences to upping and quitting if you find something better?
My husband once took a job for the money and he hated every minute of it. He quit six months later, regretting the chase after the dollar rather than continuing to enjoy where he was. It was a wise decision to leave - about a year after he left the company's stock fell to pennies on the dollar and the company eventually folded completely.
My best job has also been my lowest paying job. I took a 30% paycut to join my current company, and have no regrets. I have the best boss in the world, work for the best department I've ever worked for, and a company that is solid and not going anywhere anytime soon. I may have random bad days here and there, but 99.9% of the time I have a great time at work and it's due almost entirely to my positive job environment and personal satisfaction. I don't see myself ever leaving this place, despite the lower-than-normal pay.
I will also add that despite taking the 30% cut in pay, my boss has handsomely rewarded me over the four years I've been here, giving me two promotions, a couple small bonuses here and there AND about 15% total in raises during those four years to help increase my pay. I think by 2017-2018 I'll finally be at my "normal" pay range that I enjoyed for 10 years before coming to this job.
I think if you go there, and knock their socks off and really do a good job, you will be rewarded eventually. But you have to be patient and let that happen.
The job I have is interesting and easy. I do GIS mapping for an archaeological consulting company. It's an ESOP (employee owned company), all my co-workers are great people. These archaeologists all work very hard and I am happy to try to make their jobs easier. Management is great, all people that are easy to talk to anytime. I have my own office (with big window). We even have an office cat!! I live 4 miles from work, I usually ride my bike to work. The only downside is the low pay, ~$30k. I could probably be paid much more elsewhere doing GIS work, but it's beyond pleasant to be where I am now.
I would do it to get the title and experience on my resume, which I'd then use to change to an employer who pays market value. Breaking in is hard, especially into management, so I'd just bite the bullet for a while. (I don't know if that's the "right" answer but what I'd do.)
I would take the job especially since you've stated that you don't have a lot of experience and this isn't a main gig. My mother took a lower paying job and did so well that she got 30k/year raise!
Same thing happened with my husband. He took a lower paying gig (for our area) following graduation 2-3 years ago because we were afraid he wouldn't find anything else F/T given the recession. He has since more than doubled his salary and is supervising his lab (start up co). It can turn out well for people.
I am a person who strongly believes that the reason you work is to make money. Having said that, I know that it is also nice to do a job that you enjoy doing, or are passionate/enthusiastic about, even if it does not pay a lot of money.
My dilemma.
I may be offered a management position in a field that I very much enjoy and have a great deal of experience in, Hospitality and Lodging.
During the initial interview today, we discussed salary and when I told the hotel owner/GM that I was hoping for at least $30,000 (which was very low as far as I was concerned), he told me that since this was, essentially a "start up" situation, they have only budgeted $24,000 for the position.
I did a search on salary.com and was horrified to see that the low end of the salary scale for this position (in my city), was $35,513 and that the *average* in my city was $48,269.
Now, by way of explanation, the job is at a "low end" property, *and* it is a start up, *and* I have limited management experience, so I am not expecting to be in an upper percentile, salary-wise. But I still feel that, since I do have a lot of Hospitality and Lodging experience and have a lot to contribute in the way of marketing experience, computer expertise and other assets, that $24,000 is really really scraping bottom, money-wise.
Keeping in mind that I have been looking for a management position in the field for several months with little or no luck (in fact a lot of frustration, thanks to these stupid ONLINE applications), I am not certain what other opportunities will avail themselves to me. Likewise, we are season here in the Branson area, so there are NO jobs to be found until next Spring - three or four months from now.
My dilemma is whether nor not to take the job if it is offered (and I have a strong sense that it will be, if for no other reason, that the GM isn't going to find many people in this area who is willing to do this job for $24,000. Like I said, I love the work. I just feel like $24,000 is such an incredibly low figure. I wonder if it wouldn't be better to wait to see what spring brings.
Your thoughts?
20yrsinBranson
If you can live comfortably (the definition of that will differ person-to-person) on $24k while having enough left over to save for the future, as well, I'd probably take it. You can always re-negotiate later on.
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