Which is more important: a well-paid career you enjoy in a depressing location or an underpaid job you don’t like in a place you love? #CareerDilemma #JobVsLocation
What would you choose? I need to make a decision by the end of the year and I’m torn between these two options. Has anyone else faced this dilemma before?
**Factors to Consider:**
Location Impact
– Consider how the location can affect your mental well-being and overall happiness.
– Visualize your daily life in both places to help make a clearer decision.
Career Satisfaction
– Think about how much you enjoy your current job and if it gives you a sense of fulfillment.
– Explore potential growth opportunities in both career paths.
Financial Stability
– Evaluate the financial aspects of both options and how they align with your long-term goals.
– Consider the potential for salary increases in the future.
By weighing all these factors, you can make an informed decision that aligns with your values and priorities. Don’t hesitate to seek advice from others who have been in a similar situation to gain valuable insights.
I’ve already chosen the latter option. Jobs are up and down, but if your home life is always miserable, it’s not worth it.
WHAT job let’s you sleep like a baby at night?
Living in a place u love!!!!!
I cant imagine being well paid but living in a place i dont like…cause if i have hundreds of thousands per year, why would i remain in that place? I choose the money for sure
This is from my own very recent personal experience. I was in law enforcement in the Midwest with an extremely high salary that continued to increase each year (by about 10k). As of Feb 2024 my salary was $90k but I was pulling in about $20k more with overtime. I loved my job more than anything, so much that it became my life. I would work only because the quality of life outside of work sucked. I dealt with winters, not having anything to do.
I made the change to move to FL for a civilian job making now only $50k. I am learning to budget well within my means and still save. I am enjoying days off now simply by sitting outside or going to the beach on a Saturday.
The money aspect of it sucks but it allowed me to have a better quality of life. I also met my boyfriend within 2 weeks of moving down here because my attitude on life had changed.
I am much poorer. But I am much happier. I’ve learned a lot and everyday the thought of me going back to my old job lessens and lessens.
A well paid job that you enjoy means you will also be able to pay for pleasant housing in that depressing place and the ability to travel to better places over the weekend. Take away sleep time, it means you’ll be happy 95% of the time and depressed 5%. The underpaid job, you’ll be happy 7% of the time and miserable 93%.
sadly i’m in the first situation , working far from home , finding myself lonely whitout my famely and love one ,it’s taught situation
I’m a traveling wind turbine technician. The money is good enough to enjoy life and send some money back to my mom. The work is strenuous sometimes but there’s also times I get to fuck off or stay at home and get paid due to the weather. I’m currently using extra time I have not working but getting paid to learn more and finding ways to make money so I can eventually stay closer to home with my family. But out on the road is tough some times. Not being able to find a serious relationship because i won’t always be there, either on the road or close to home. I don’t regret the path that I’ve taken, but I’m yearning for a change.
Gotta live. Money isn’t everything. But, it really depends on how much money. Is it, “can’t go out to eat,” or, “can’t afford decent housing, constantly worried about money” difference.
Maybe tell us the places too because sometimes the grass just looks greener.
Live in a place you love, no debate
If a place makes you miserable, get out of there. The toll it will take on you isn’t worth any money that you will be spending on every opportunity there is to get out of there. It is not a glamorous getaway we talk about, but a sanity trip. Life is too short to make yourself miserable.
The happiest people I know work so they can live, not the other way around. The reason I work is to do things I enjoy and be in places I love. If the lower paying job pays enough to do that, or doesn’t matter about the higher paying job.
Do the first one early on to get leverage for later
If it’s a very well paying job that will later make you move to a place you love and set yourself up well, then just have it for a period of time then move. If it’s an average paying job, then definitely move from now.
Have a plan. Jobs come and go and it’s ok to take one for a little bit of calculated time to set yourself up better. Where and how do u wanna live and plan.
It depends what you value and how much time you are spending where.
I’d rather be someplace I enjoy with a lower paying job. I have witnessed too many people in high paying jobs with no free time or no friends or just hating the job and that feeling starts to spread. The when they get let go or something changes their world falls apart.
I’ve also known people who get paid Pennies working for non profits but they enjoy their location and people and have more free time and seem vastly happier. They also have time to acquire other skills which can end up paying (someone I know started selling their art and animation)
Money all the way
I could earn maybe 50 to 80k more in a major city. But I live near a farm, and it’s beautiful.
I love what I do but don’t love in the least where I am at all. That said, I am not one who buys into the belief that one Must be depressed because we live in a crappy situation. There’s clinical depression sure, but there’s also the kind that is heavily within our own control by how we chose to frame it. I don’t like where I live but I have to be here so have made it work. Instead of reminding myself how much it sucks and developing negative neuron pathways and depressive thought loops, I am just thankful I am managing to keep a roof in these tough times. There is still a lot of enjoyment for me to be found Outside my city and I compromise by basically doing all my living in those other towns and just keeping my stuff here. Life is what you make of it, wherever you are.
We live on the Caribbean (well, right next to it) and a former colleague who is now a big boss at a big bank called and offered me a job making TRIPLE what i was making at the time with the caveat being we’d had to move back to the US.
We still live on the Caribbean.
Good job/bad home. So I’m not sure what exactly your situation is, that would make your home and town depressing to live in. Hicky? Not LGBTQ+ friendly? Crime? All I know is that you don’t want a terrible, underpaid job.
Tough it out in the ‘bad home’ part, as you can save up enough money for a change later. By that time, you can also find an option that better splits the difference between job and home enjoyment.
I’ve been in both situations. Was recently in a place that I loved but the job was terrible (low pay, terrible culture, etc). The company was so terrible I moved to a place I hate but the new job is good money. I regret my decision everyday and wished I had tried harder to stay where I loved.
I would say if the place you love has good job opportunities perhaps take the low pay and look to move companies after some experience or build up your savings in the well paid career and move to where you love in a couple years.
You should choose the career that will provide you more knowledge and in the end you will get a better job and live in a place that you love and working in the area that you studied.
The money isn’t worth it just my opinion
Most people seem to pick more money, and depression.
Think about it: Hawaii is t overpopulated for a reason. It’s paradise, but no work,
I’m currently moving out of my hometown to a state and city where I don’t know anyone for a better paying job and there’s a lot of growth opportunities.
It could be fun, it could be miserable but I wouldn’t know exactly until I actually do it so I’m doing it.
Underpaid job in a place I love. I’ve had a well paying job that I hated in a place I hated. My current job is underpaying but I enjoy it and in a town I love. I’m a university librarian, yes it’s as boring as you think and pays @ss. Since it’s a large college town in rural PA it brings in a lot perks. A ton of sports, concerts, comedians and hiking trails. You don’t have to love your on the clock time but you should love your free time.
I’d always choose the later. I did the first for so long and sacrificed my mental and physical health.