Pay cut for location and change?

HarmonicaDuel

Hi folks,

Just want to hear opinions on this. I have two job offers in front of me. One for south Ireland and one for the West. I am originally from the West and would love to move back. The problem is is that both jobs are in two different industries, basically niche software vs medical devices. The niche software job is offering 45k and bonuses etc but its in the south, and due to my lack of experience in med tech they would only offer me a very junior program and the salary is 30k. I would be on that for two years.

Any opinions on this? Would you take such a hit to change industries? Am I mad? The benefit of med tech is that there is a lot of that in the West so I imagine I would have a long career out of it kind of thing compared to my current niche software scene. I did the maths on tax and I would be losing a chunk per month but its not actually as big of a gap as I would have thought due to tax.

Thanks.

Depends on the role. If you are getting an engineering level role in med tech than I'd go for it. €30k is brutal but €45k for a "niche" role is brutal as well.

€50k/annum isn't out of the way for med tech roles in the West with some experience (unless you are an operator).

Realistically you'll most likely have to leave the €30k job company as they won't be throwing €15k+ of a rise at you over two or three years IMO but some other crowd would I'd think.

HarmonicaDuel

Augeo wrote: »

Depends on the role. If you are getting an engineering level role in med tech than I'd go for it. €30k is brutal but €45k for a "niche" role is brutal as well.

€50k/annum isn't out of the way for med tech roles in the West with some experience (unless you are an operator).

Realistically you'll most likely have to leave the €30k job company as they won't be throwing €15k+ of a rise at you over two or three years IMO but some other crowd would I'd think.

Sorry, yes it is a research and development engineering type role essentially, nothing on the line or anything like that.

Avatar MIA

What are the job prospects in 2 years? Any other benefits in each company?

HarmonicaDuel

Avatar MIA wrote: »

What are the job prospects in 2 years? Any other benefits in each company?

It's basically a grad program. In 2 years you are basically off probation and it becomes a 'full' role I believe, even though its the same thing just a different title. I don;t exactly know how good the prospects are in the company going up. I am only a few years out of college and only have around 3 years experience in my niche industry, so I guess I wouldn't be losing too much.

The usual benefits in both; health, pension etc

Del2005

How far from each company will you be living and how's accommodation? No point in earning more money to spend hours commuting and/or paying huge rent. Look at the work life balance as well as the cash.

HarmonicaDuel

HarmonicaDuel wrote: »

Sorry, yes it is a research and development engineering type role essentially, nothing on the line or anything like that.

OK, so you have 3 years software experience and a primary qualification presumably. If you take the med device R&D eng role is a year or two you could potentially be a good candidate for well paying roles like
- R&D
- CSV in med devices (computer software validation)
- process development
etc etc

Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Aerogen, Proxy Medical, Transitions Optical, Merit Medical etc are all in Galway ....... Vistakon in Limerick. Another lash of options in Athlone.

If you are from the West and would love to move back I'd take the job in the West. You won't lose your 3 years niche experience

HarmonicaDuel

Augeo wrote: »

Is it a software role in a med device company?

3 years experience isn't insignificant by any stretch of the imagination.

No it isn't, more mechanical engineering so 0 years experience in that side of things.

Del2005 wrote: »

How far from each company will you be living and how's accommodation? No point in earning more money to spend hours commuting and/or paying huge rent. Look at the work life balance as well as the cash.

The commute and accommodation would be similar in both places, we are talking 10-15 minutes. The only difference would be the commute back West on the weekends from the south. The only difference is I know nobody down south and loads back West. I guess that would change though with time.

dixiefly

Augeo wrote: »

OK, so you have 3 years software experience and a primary qualification presumably. If you take the med device R&D eng role is a year or two you could potentially be a good candidate for well paying roles like
- R&D
- CSV in med devices (computer software validation)
- process development
etc etc

Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Aerogen, Proxy Medical, Transitions Optical, Merit Medical etc are all in Galway ....... Vistakon in Limerick. Another lash of options in Athlone.

If you are from the West and would love to move back I'd take the job in the West. You won't lose your 3 years niche experience

+1

I agree with this.

scarepanda

Work life balance is very important. Do you think would you be going back home every/most weekends? Is moving back west your long term plan? At the moment do you have a 'gut' feeling about whether you will regret not taking the job in the south? Do you play sports like gaa at home that would bring you up and down regularly for training etc? Money is important, but it's not the be all and end all, you need to take into consideration the bigger picture of the rest of your life outside work as well.

Cork to Galway is a 2.5/3hr journey on **** roads most of the way. I did Athlone to cork for nearly two years, it's a pain in the rear end. If your going back and forth regularly like I was, i found that I was living out of a suitcase and caught between two locations and both my personal and work life were affected. Now I was a bit crazy and did a round trip at least twice a week, but everything except the job was at home.

I would do whatever you think suits you OP
If in a few months you regret it you are only 6 months away from being almost a year in the new job so can go job hunting again than
Conceptually just know that you aren't boxing yourself in by this choice, it won't make or break you.

HarmonicaDuel

scarepanda wrote: »

Work life balance is very important. Do you think would you be going back home every/most weekends? Is moving back west your long term plan? At the moment do you have a 'gut' feeling about whether you will regret not taking the job in the south? Do you play sports like gaa at home that would bring you up and down regularly for training etc? Money is important, but it's not the be all and end all, you need to take into consideration the bigger picture of the rest of your life outside work as well.

Cork to Galway is a 2.5/3hr journey on **** roads most of the way. I did Athlone to cork for nearly two years, it's a pain in the rear end. If your going back and forth regularly like I was, i found that I was living out of a suitcase and caught between two locations and both my personal and work life were affected. Now I was a bit crazy and did a round trip at least twice a week, but everything except the job was at home.

Yeah I imagine I would be travelling back most weekends unless and/or until I found a decent group around the new job. From what I have found though is that that is much more difficult than it sounds.

Another option is to take the southern job for up to a year and wait for the 'right' job to pop up back West. Again, the danger is you get stuck :P

Thanks for all the responses though, ye have been a great help!

jimmycrackcorm

Take the job that offers the most potential to increase your salary in the future. Not necessarily with the same employer.

scarepanda

HarmonicaDuel wrote:

Another option is to take the southern job for up to a year and wait for the 'right' job to pop up back West. Again, the danger is you get stuck

That's the problem. I started the job as a temporary fill in for someone while they were gone on holidays. It started off as two weeks that turned into a month which then turned into nearly two years. Despite all good plans, it's hard to leave a well paid job. In my case it took my health being affected for me to jack it all in and move back home.

How motivated will you be to look for and apply to other jobs that come up in the West?