Post: #1

I've had a pretty easy office gig for coming up on 3 years now. Lately, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm selling myself short or if it's going to cost me opportunities in the future to keep sitting at a desk and doing the same shit over and over again for years on end.

The job pays pretty well and it's pretty easy, but whenever I have to answer the "what do you do" question I feel like I always have to add the caveat that it's boring as fuck. It's getting to the point that it's bothering me that I have to make excuses for what I do every day.

Post: #2

There's an opportunity cost to everything. What are you forgoing to stay at your current job?

Post: #3

I don't know what age you are, but I deeply appreciate each extra skill I acquired not just throughout my 20s but from hobbies prior to that.

Post: #4

^ beat me to it. Definition of opportunity cost is the best alternative forgone. Breathing has an opportunity cost of a few joules of energy.

If you'd struggle to get a better job, then you're not giving up much. If your job means you stress less, approach more, go to the gym more and don't worry about money then boring can be a pretty good tradeoff. It doesn't sound like you hate the job. Start thinking of a side hustle or new career and save as much money as you can while the going's good.

I don't know who you're making excuses to, no one really gives a shit what you do in this world except you. Heartiste had a post a few years ago I think about how you can make the most boring thing in the world exciting if you spin in the right way.

Post: #5

(09-17-2014 10:20 PM)Vitriol Wrote:  I've had a pretty easy office gig for coming up on 3 years now. Lately, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm selling myself short or if it's going to cost me opportunities in the future to keep sitting at a desk and doing the same shit over and over again for years on end.

The job pays pretty well and it's pretty easy, but whenever I have to answer the "what do you do" question I feel like I always have to add the caveat that it's boring as fuck. It's getting to the point that it's bothering me that I have to make excuses for what I do every day.

I am in the same situation. I happen to do my work for a high profile oil company in the logistics department. Have I learned anything regarding logistics from my job? Hell no. It is brain dead work that a middle schooler could do. However, they are paying for my grad degree, and I definitely milk my "seniority" by playing 2 hours of full court basketball during lunch every day of the week.

My thoughts on the situation: Every job in my field (supply chain management) will feel below my intellect. While it may take a couple months to adapt to new roles, I will always hit cruise control after I do adapt. Therefore, chasing higher gigs really doesn't matter to me. Obviously, I want to chase a higher salary after my five year mark. That is mainly because I have a resume that displays "loyalty", and I will be fully vested by then.

I'd advise against being a job hopper. It is a vicious cycle. Those people are never happy because the position they apply for is always sold as more challenging than it actually is. Remember, a paycheck will never remain "enough". If your job is carefree then I recommend that you enjoy that. Just watch all the stressed people walk around like crazy persons and enjoy the fact that your work day is completely over at 5PM.

Post: #6

I depends on what you want. Typically a yearly raise is 2% if anything at all while htey say switching jobs or companies you typically get a 12% increase so potentially if you move on every few years you can bump up your salary quite a bit.

The other thing I was going to say was at some point you kind of get sick or burnt out of doing a particular job and it's just time to move on. It sounds like your at that point althoguh if pay is good and your comfortable keep in mind the grass isn't always greener. I've left jbos I thought I was sick of just to wind up going to a different company and thinking oh man I had it pretty good over there.

If nothing else something I would do is explore other opportunities maybe look for a side gig while you continue doing your day job.

Post: #7

There's more to life than job security. I've always made about 8-10k more per hop when switching jobs. Much better than a bs cost of living raise most companies give you. I would have lost out if I stayed.

Follow your interests. You can make money doing anything.

Post: #8

What do you do at the moment?

If the job is easy then you could put a few hours a side to educate yourself on some other skill / self improvement topics, but I suppose that depends on if others can see what you're doing. I hate it when you have to look busy in the office.

Post: #9

I'm not sure I'd call it an opportunity cost. But there's definitely inertia. I stayed in my first job out of college for way too long for several reasons - because it was more comfortable and easy to stick with what I knew compared to going to the trouble of job hunting, because I'd been taken care of financially as a revenue source, and also because I had the job locked down. I don't think I necessarily left a lot of money on the table, but I definitely ignored signs that I wasn't learning more or progressing in my career and wasted time basically punching a clock until the unhappiness become impossible to ignore.

I wouldn't advocate constantly hopping jobs or your resume will end up as one big red flag, but you should absolutely learn to recognize when you aren't growing in your current job and it's time to move on to a new challenge. In retrospect the signs are glaring.

Post: #10

(09-17-2014 10:20 PM)Vitriol Wrote:  I've had a pretty easy office gig for coming up on 3 years now. Lately, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm selling myself short or if it's going to cost me opportunities in the future to keep sitting at a desk and doing the same shit over and over again for years on end.

The job pays pretty well and it's pretty easy, but whenever I have to answer the "what do you do" question I feel like I always have to add the caveat that it's boring as fuck. It's getting to the point that it's bothering me that I have to make excuses for what I do every day.

Yes it is costing you something.

At best your current employer is gonna give you a 2-5% raise.
You'll get more from a new employer who wants someone with experience.

On the employee track, Every 2 years you should be moving to a bigger and better thing.

More importantly, if the economy turns, it's good to know before hand what you're real market value is.

Believe me you can get caught unaware if there is downsizing.

Don't take my word for it

check this link on Forbes

http://www.forbes.com/sites/cameronkeng/...d-50-less/

WIA

Post: #11

There are diminishing returns for staying in the same gig for more than 3 years if you eventually plan to leave anyway. The next employer is not likely to give you much extra credit for 5 years in one role as opposed to say 3 years. But, you don't want to leave a day before 2 years is up if you can help it. So, at exactly two years is the best time to dust off your resume and get on the market (hopefully resulting in 2 years and a little change on the resume).

But, recognize that this is most critical for those in their 20s (up through very early 30s at the max). There is a crossover point where you are supposed to be not only good at what you do, but also an expert in your industry. At this point you will do better just parking it and moving up the chain.

Post: #12

(09-21-2014 05:33 AM)mymotivation Wrote:  What do you do at the moment?

If the job is easy then you could put a few hours a side to educate yourself on some other skill / self improvement topics, but I suppose that depends on if others can see what you're doing. I hate it when you have to look busy in the office.

I think this is an excellent point, I stayed in a dead end fairly low paying job for almost 5 years, part of the reason being that I had hours of downtime during the day to educate myself on new skills, blog, affiliate market, start side businesses.

For the most part I made a little money here and there with blogging but nothing compared to what having a better job would have paid me. Maybe I bring in an extra 10k or 15k a year but making 30k I'm only really bringing myself up to what I probably should have been paid at a job more suited to my skills anyway. It wasn't until my most recent business that its actually been a real success. None the less had I been at a more serious fulltime gig I would have never been able to get my business off the ground however the nature of my current job actually allowed me to run my business for 2 years while working a fulltime gig and making an exit plan so sometimes staying a job isn't bad as long as its to further some other goal, if your just sitting around there doing nothing else there is probably a cost to staying.

Post: #13

I'm not quite in the same boat, but similar enough that you guys might be able to offer some advice.

I'm a couple years shy of 30 and have worked for a major aerospace company for almost the last 4 years. Doing well, getting better than average raises, and earning opportunities that Many in the company haven't gotten. I have a security clearance and am going for a higher one, and my company will pay for $25k in grad school costs toward an MBA, which in my field is almost a requirement to advance, let alone secure the six figure salary I want if I'm going to be a wage slave. The kicker is I love the company and opportunity abounds if I stay around (boomer generation is within 3-7 years of retiring en masse) but getting the grad school paid for signs me up for an additional 2 years at the company so after 3 years getting the degree, I have to wait another two before I could leave and not pay the money back. The other option is leave the company and foot the bill on my own (ideally with hefty scholarships since I'm ethnically ambiguous and an admissions officer's demographic wet dream) and have the ability to control my destiny afterwards. I've been tossing around this question for the last 6-12 months while I bang out some certificates the company is paying for, and ill be taking the gmat next spring. But to all the advanced players, in life and in pussy, your well considered advice would be much appreciated.

Post: #14

(09-23-2014 10:22 AM)HungWeiLo Wrote:  I'm not quite in the same boat, but similar enough that you guys might be able to offer some advice.

I'm a couple years shy of 30 and have worked for a major aerospace company for almost the last 4 years. Doing well, getting better than average raises, and earning opportunities that Many in the company haven't gotten. I have a security clearance and am going for a higher one, and my company will pay for $25k in grad school costs toward an MBA, which in my field is almost a requirement to advance, let alone secure the six figure salary I want if I'm going to be a wage slave. The kicker is I love the company and opportunity abounds if I stay around (boomer generation is within 3-7 years of retiring en masse) but getting the grad school paid for signs me up for an additional 2 years at the company so after 3 years getting the degree, I have to wait another two before I could leave and not pay the money back. The other option is leave the company and foot the bill on my own (ideally with hefty scholarships since I'm ethnically ambiguous and an admissions officer's demographic wet dream) and have the ability to control my destiny afterwards. I've been tossing around this question for the last 6-12 months while I bang out some certificates the company is paying for, and ill be taking the gmat next spring. But to all the advanced players, in life and in pussy, your well considered advice would be much appreciated.

25k per year or just overall?

Post: #15

Per year. So going to USC part time would cover about $75k of the ~$108k that it costs.

Post: #16

(09-23-2014 12:39 PM)HungWeiLo Wrote:  Per year. So going to USC part time would cover about $75k of the ~$108k that it costs.

Probably worth staying then IMO. ~30k gets paid off a lot quicker than 100k+. But that's assuming no scholarships. If you like the job in the first place, I'd say go for it. It's an entirely different story if you're just staying in order to get grad school paid for, but from your post that seems like an ancillary benefit to a job you already like.

Post: #17

(09-23-2014 10:22 AM)HungWeiLo Wrote:  I'm not quite in the same boat, but similar enough that you guys might be able to offer some advice.

I'm a couple years shy of 30 and have worked for a major aerospace company for almost the last 4 years. Doing well, getting better than average raises, and earning opportunities that Many in the company haven't gotten. I have a security clearance and am going for a higher one, and my company will pay for $25k in grad school costs toward an MBA, which in my field is almost a requirement to advance, let alone secure the six figure salary I want if I'm going to be a wage slave. The kicker is I love the company and opportunity abounds if I stay around (boomer generation is within 3-7 years of retiring en masse) but getting the grad school paid for signs me up for an additional 2 years at the company so after 3 years getting the degree, I have to wait another two before I could leave and not pay the money back. The other option is leave the company and foot the bill on my own (ideally with hefty scholarships since I'm ethnically ambiguous and an admissions officer's demographic wet dream) and have the ability to control my destiny afterwards. I've been tossing around this question for the last 6-12 months while I bang out some certificates the company is paying for, and ill be taking the gmat next spring. But to all the advanced players, in life and in pussy, your well considered advice would be much appreciated.

I think it wouldn't be bad for you to stay at your current job assuming you like the job and the atmosphere. I think the onlyr eason to really move on or have an attitude that you have to move on is if there's limited opportunity for advancement or raises, or if the only raises your going to get are 2% cost of living wages where as if you hopped companies you could probably get 10% to 12%.

Anyhow, it sounds like you don't mind your gig, they are willing to pay for you to pursue another degree which would probably run you 20k to 30k so you figure yeah your committing to two more years but that degree essentially gives you a salary bump of 10k to 15k a year in the grand scheme of things.

ALso, you mention people will be retiring in mass which could mean big jump up the ladder and assuming you like the gig, decent work life balance I'd stick with the known vs the unknown of a new company, esecpailly considering you havn't hit a ceiling and still have opportunity for advancement and more money and also for self improvement ie a degree which is good with your current company and elsewhere should you choose to leave after 2 years.

Post: #18

You're either gaming them or they're gaming you.

Learn everything you possibly can, and take advantage of every learning opportunity and tuition reimbursement to make yourself more marketable.

Be loyal to your friends, family, and people close to you, but no employer has ever deserved my loyalty. They see you as just a number no matter what BS they are spewing to your face.

Post: #19

yes, and there is also an opportunity cost for leaving that same job.

I left a company once, it got sold shortly after and the people still there all got huge buyout checks.

I left another company and got a big raise.

Post: #20

Update on this from me:

There were some layoffs in the past week, and the relatively small company I worked for has turned into a skeleton crew (even though I survived for now). I'm on my way out. I was obviously thinking about this beforehand, but now I pretty much have to look for other opportunities.

As a side note because I didn't mention this before, I was underemployed when I started this job and basically worked my way up to around what I should be paid within about a year and a half. If a get a better job that utilizes my credentials, I should be able to make even more money. I just got comfortable and stayed too long.

Post: #21

I would say if someone has been in the same position for more than three years, it's either better to get a promotion or lateral transfer within your company, or change employers. Staying in the same position, even if the pay is good, can result in a stagnant career a few years farther down the road. When looking for a new position, I would look at yourself and ask: "Can I walk into any of 100 employers, and have strongly in-demand skills that will make them want to snap me up?"

Make sure you check the job boards and identify skills that are actually being listed in job ads. It's not enough to think you have great aptitude to learn new skills in your field if you take a new job. I think you need to put yourself in a position to get hands on experience with the specific skills listed in current job ads. You may want to come up with excuses to use new technologies or skills sets in your current job, just so you can put them on your resume.

Too many jobs have specialized skills that are in a narrow niche. Sometimes a narrow niche means you have a valuable specialty, but sometimes it means you are in field with weak demand. I would always have an eye towards maximizing the demand for your services, so you can get another job at the drop of a hat. Unless your skills are already this marketable, I would plan your next career transition to broaden your skills strategically.

Post: #22

Update: Thanks for all the advice; so far I'm staying with the company and I have even more opportunity than I did before with even better raises and prospects. I'm in the middle of studying for the GMAT and should have the test done in a couple of months. After that it's decision time but I'm leaning towards staying with the company and letting them pay most of the cost (unless I pull Ivy League GMAT numbers than all bets are off).

Post: #23

(09-18-2014 12:38 AM)ddjembe mutombo Wrote:  [quote='Vitriol' pid='832842' dateline='1411010411']
Remember, a paycheck will never remain "enough". If your job is carefree then I recommend that you enjoy that. Just watch all the stressed people walk around like crazy persons and enjoy the fact that your work day is completely over at 5PM.

This made me cringe. Even though what you described might be a "cushy" job, I'd rather kill myself than live with this type of existence- being under the control of someone else.

You guys who have an easy job and are making good money are selling yourself short by not using your money to start your own project. You're damn right a paycheck will never be enough.. that's why you have to create something for yourself that does not have a fixed income. You should decide how much money you name, not leave it at the mercy of your boss.

Post: #24

Never get comfortable that's how you end up on the lay off list. Always be networking either online or offline.