Are the tools at a job enough to turn down higher pay?

Question

At my current job, I have free reign to use whatever tools/frameworks I please. Such as NHibernate, OSS, Subversion, Castle MonoRail, Windsor and other cutting edge tools. I am feeling like I am not being challenged enough however. I can learn new things, but there is only one other developer that I mentor and it's getting a tad old. I would have to ditch most of the cool frameworks I play with, but the pay is almost 2.5 times higher than what I get paid now.

I would also be going from a government job (k-12 school district), back into the private sector. opinions?

Answer 1

I think the most important thing is how happy you are at the job. If you are unhappy not being challenged, then I would make the leap. You could always (if you have time) use these technologies that you like in your own personal projects.

Answer 2

2.5 times higher pay?

Hasta la vista!

In all seriousness, you are the only one that can make that decision (i.e. only you can place values on the varying criteria presented by myself and others here) - a combination of pay, sociability of coworkers, flexibility of hours and technology tools, etc. should all factor into such a decision. Ultimately, you are going to spend most of your life working - if you are not happy with what you do, the extra pay will not make up for it no matter what that pay is.

Answer 3

It depends: C# vs COBOL is probably worth a lot to you. C# 3.5 vs C# 2.0, probably not so much.

Also, a lot of the really cutting-edge tools might seem fun to work with, but when you get down to it you're still writing code and after you're done there you might find that the skills you learned aren't very marketable elsewhere. So even for the same salary you're losing money by working with the cooler tools.

For 2.5X, I think you'll probably be able to cope.

Answer 4

As with any career decisions, you need to weigh up the +'s and -'s.

For me personally, the two top priorities for me are (in this order):

1. Career development and learning.
2. Pay.

Looks like you could potentially be getting a huge boost to both..

I would have handed in my notice yesterday :D

EDIT:

PS: I would also like to add I would down-mod this question if I hadn't hit the vote limit.

Answer 5

Who ever downvoted this must be jealous and stuck coding in a basement like Milton

Feel free to downvote this too, i need it :-)

Answer 6

@SQLMenace

I think you'll find this question was downvoted because it is pretty pointless to anyone but the poster (as well as not being a programming question).

Answer 7

@Rob Cooper I thought it was a pretty interesting question, do you take the money or do you keep coding but having more fun while doing it? There are questions on SO which are much worse IMHO

Answer 8

I saw an interesting presentation by a studio musician talking about the reasons for taking a job:

• money
• experience
• connections
• fun

You can use these criteria to compare your current and prospective spots. But if you take the new job you should take us all to lunch... you can afford it!

Answer 9

Sometimes its best for your own development to change organisations. Its far too easy to fall into an organisation that you are comfortable in and to stagnate. The fact is that you only have ~45 years of career to fill. Whereas that may seem a lot in your twenties it rushes through into your 30s ,40s and beyond. Now you probably have two priorities,

1. Earn money
2. Professionally develop.

I think you need to evalualte your organisation each year to find they are providing enough of each.

Most organisations will treat employees a commodity. They financially will want to give you the least amount of money possible to keep you there (providing you are wanted). They will only train you if it provides a return on investment. A move to a new job you are being sought after by the company and you are in a stronger position.

As for professional development if you want to learn X and you compnay works with Y. You better have a good business case to do it.

Here's a great article on it employment.

So what's the answer, it sounds like you want a change of scenery.

Answer 10

In your case I would have already left, but it's not because of the money. You said your job has become less of a challenge and your not growing. Well in this industry if you're not growing you're dead. It's time to move on.

Yes there will be tighter controls on what you use in a private firm, but that is because there tends to be more relationship to the bottom line with what you do. You are more important and thus your growth and well being is more important to a private firm. (Unfortunately many companies and managers screw this concept up.)

In my opinion the fact you would get paid more is just a side benefit. Do what you love, do it well, and the money will follow.

Answer 11

I'd say the picture you painted is somewhat incomplete. You mention technology and pay, but, most often, the fun and happiness in the workplace come with the team and the overall atmosphere.

2.5 times the pay sounds like a very impressive raise. But, presuming your current pay is not very low, what would you be required to do at the new job to justify such an increase? Older technology alone does not warrant something like that.

I'd try to get more information about schedules, deadlines, employee turnover and other such topics before taking the plunge, if I were you. Very high rates might mean very aggressive schedules and high pressure, make sure you know what you bargain for.