It’s not just about the money…

Don’t just go for the biggest salary.

What?! Why wouldn’t I get the most money I can Simon, are you mad I have children to feed?!!

Because the most money isn’t always the best move for your career.

And when you find the right company, the money will follow

I’ll say it again – THE MONEY WILL FOLLOW!

Time and time again I’m saddened to see people make the wrong career move because the salary is higher and nine times out of ten they are looking again in a year and struggle to find the next role because of inflated salary expectations.

Why are they paying so much then?

Here are some of the reasons:

1. The company overpay because they’re not a great company to work for. They’re paying more so they expect longer hours, the director will call you at 10pm on a Friday or 5am on Sunday. “Personal life? We’re paying you to be on hand whenever we need you.” Zero boundaries, long hours and high expectations. It’ll probably be all your fault when something goes wrong too.

2. The tech is stagnant – they’re paying more because nobody else wants to do the job because your skills will stagnate. A beast of a solution written in VB.NET or Webforms, for example and with no intention to move it forward. Sure you get more money but you’re stuck there doing the same repetitive work and not learning.

3. Skills shortage – they struggle to recruit so pay an inflated salary to get them through the project. Guess who’s first out the door once that is delivered and they can replace you with two people because the market has calmed down.

Don’t misread me, some of these roles might be right for you and your lifestyle and that is perfectly fine but go there because of that reason, not because the money is higher. If it’s just about money you can probably get that from your current company (though ask for it before you look for a new role, not at resignation stage as accepting a counter-offer is not good for your career – read more about this in our blog “You weren’t worth it until you quit”)

Go somewhere where you will be valued, challenged, supported and learning, learning, learning.

Your career will thank you for it and so will that company.

They will give you pay rises, bonuses, progression and more.

And if they don’t? Your skills will be in even more demand as you will have improved exponentially

Want help to explore and discover if you should truly move on or not? I’m always happy to chat, advise and guide whether we ever talk about roles or not.

Don’t follow the money, follow your career and the money will follow you.