Dilemma - money or career?

needhelpguy

Ok so it's not exactly as black and white as that, but I'm in a situation as follows. I work in IT and at my current workplace I feel I am quite underpaid for what I do. I was contacted by a few recruiters on linkedin and I managed to secure an interview with a company that I worked for previously. They were very impressed and have called me back for a final interview.

Great you say. But the role is a very specialised one which focuses more on functional side vs technical side, and there doesn't seem much scope to move into a technical area. I am a technical person and would prefer a career, in this field, with a some technical elements (development etc.) or at least an opportunity to move into that over time. I do a lot of this in my current role, which I really enjoy.

That said, the minimum salary offered is 10k above my current one, which is a huge increase for me, and I really would like the money. On top of that the company is close to home (no commute). On top of that, I was told there is scope to move into a more senior role over time and specialist senior guys in this area can expect to earn an excellent salary (i.e. close to 100k).

BUT, with this role I would be pigeon-holing myself into a very niche area, and thus restricting my future career potential to this specific area. There are not many companies in Ireland that seem to have these types of roles. Additionally I don't feel I would be happy, career wise, working in this area without being able to have a technical element, i.e. solving problems through code. Functional roles are more about making sure things work as they should, turning business requirements into solutions, and ensuring end-users are well supported, but without doing any real technical work.

In my current role I am getting real exposure to development, although it's mostly a functional role. If I stick to what I am at now, I would have a much wider selection of jobs to choose from in future. It's just I'm chronically underpaid compared with my peers in the industry, with no scope of an increase in the near future.

The new role is very tempting money & benefits wise (assuming I am offered it, but I would be quietly confident of that) and I think I could be really good at it. But I feel it will lead me down a cul-de-sac career wise and even if I wanted to move on, in a few years, the lack of using my technical skills over that time would hamper me in getting a more technical role (or would it?!).

My head is wrecked. It's hard to know what do do. Any advice is appreciated!

Xterminator

The improved commute situation and future promotion possibilities would make this a no brainier for me.

I would say you could take a little of the extra salary and spare time from not having to commute & do a further certificate or diploma course keeping your career options option while enjoying the benefits of the better paid position.

X

iatethepies

Additionally I don't feel I would be happy, career wise, working in this area without being able to have a technical element

I think you just answered your own question above. It's very harsh being underpaid but would you rather be in a job you enjoy or better paid and not enjoying the work? I had a similar experience to you, went from a technical role to a functional role and I must admit, I have liked the change so far. I still review code and tech specs etc but do virtually no development.

I don't think this will kill any future prospects for you but there are bound to be some technical analyst roles out there which would suit your preferences more.

Nothing wrong with trying a functional role for a few years and maybe doing a night course in some scripting languages to keep your CV current but if you don't enjoy being in meetings for 40% of your work week it won't suit you.

MentalMario

needhelpguy wrote:

Great you say. But the role is a very specialised one which focuses more on functional side vs technical side, and there doesn't seem much scope to move into a technical area. I am a technical person and would prefer a career, in this field, with a some technical elements (development etc.) or at least an opportunity to move into that over time. I do a lot of this in my current role, which I really enjoy.

My situation is in a different industry but might help you answer.


2 years back I was in the same boat. Move to a very niche and specialist position or stay doing more general work in my industry. I moved, got an extra 10k and loved it for approximately 18 months. I now feel that I have to take a step back salary wise to get into a more general role again which means any extra income I made over the past couple of years will be wiped out in the next couple.

Personally I'd say stick with the job you're doing at the moment. If a similar job comes up elsewhere jump at it but never move just for money. If there are other underlying reasons for you looking for employment elsewhere, that's a different kettle of fish but if it's just money, stick it out.

discus

Use the extra free time and money you get with the new position to break out, and start your own company eventually?

Eoin

It's just I'm chronically underpaid compared with my peers in the industry, with no scope of an increase in the near future.

If you're in a technical role at the moment and you're that underpaid, then why not hold out for another technical role elsewhere? Don't jump at the first offer. An easier commute and extra money is nice, but you forget about those perks quickly if you're not happy going into work.

Functional roles are more about making sure things work as they should, turning business requirements into solutions, and ensuring end-users are well supported, but without doing any real technical work.

Obviously I don't know what area you're thinking of moving into, but I'd be surprised if you won't learn skills that could be transferred outside of this niche area. The responsibilities you've described would be great experience for a load of different positions in IT.

That doesn't address the lack of technical work though - and if that's what you enjoy doing, then I'd stick with it and wait for an offer that's what you want to do.

druidhill

I'd imagine the longer this thread runs, the more likely it will be a 50/50 split between stay or go, which is probably not what you were hoping for.

Have to echo what iatethepies said. Explore other opportunities on the technical side if that's what you like to do.

Are there no technical roles closer to home (or within that particular company even)?
Why did you leave there in the first place?

What you'd learn in the new role could be skills to take with you sure, but getting back to technical roles after a potentially long gap may be more difficult than you think, although not impossible - you really have to be in it to keep pace.

Whatever you decide after careful consideration, make your choice and don't look back or second guess. Good luck with your decision.

Aska

I'd go for the money, I like what I do but I have no life now due to the financial constraints. If I could turn back time then I would in a heartbeat, but my ship has sailed.

_Kaiser_

I had a similar dilemma earlier in the career.

Started off answering calls on the helpdesk in a multinational but moved up rapidly to level 2, then Deskside IT, then server admin. I always liked the technical/problem-solving aspect, but I got to a point where I wasn't going to get much further without putting in significant time and money (on an ongoing basis) on courses and certification in more specialised stuff because Server Admins became devalued by the glut of people coming out of college with IT qualifications, and the reality I suppose that servers and software have gotten much more reliable over the years. Plus to be honest, I was kinda burned out at that stage with the joys of fixing Windows every day

So I took a chance and moved into a IT Administrator/Manager role for a non-IT company that allowed me to keep the technical aspects (and increase them as I did pretty much everything with an "IT" tag) and responsibility for the "back office" stuff as well - procurement, tender negotiation, budgeting, managing the Helpdesk and a small team, project management etc... as it tuned out as I'm pretty good at that stuff too

This also suited my personal life better as with the management role came more flexibility in terms of the ability to step back a bit from the day-to-day (although I'd still get stuck in when possible/needed) and I was home earlier or could work from home in the afternoon/evening which helped with the old work/life balance. It also gave me the chance/time to study a bit more as well to shore up the hands-on experience I'd gotten with theory.

Anyway, these days I manage a global IT team for another multinational as well as the same back-office stuff above, and I still manage to keep my hand in the technical side (which I think is important for me but also if leading a team as you need them to feel confident in your abilities and understanding of what they do) and I've found these added "soft" and "management" skills to be far more portable over the years than a purely technical background.

Digger35

i dont know anything about IT but I would go with what I enjoy doing. Perhaps further opportunities will come up for you if you stay where you are. You might get very fed up if you take the new job and feel like you are stuck there. You spend so much time at work, if it is possible to enjoy it you should and feel that there some chance to grow. Plus the days dont drag when you are doing things you enjoy. I would only move if I really needed the cash or if you circumstances change in that you want more free time to spend with family,study etc., with shorter commute.

needhelpguy

Just to update the thread, I decided not to go for the functional role. I'm keeping my eye out for new opportunities and I seem to get interest from a recruiter every couple of weeks or so, and I'm currently waiting on word back from an interview I had last week