Turned down a great opportunity due to salary.

Anonymous

April 29,2022 at 2:11PM UTC

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Turned down a great opportunity due to salary. It was a difficult decision to make but although the job sounded rewarding, I needed to be smart about my long-term finances. Adulting is hard!

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AnonymousApril 29,2022 at 3:11PM UTC
I actually took a $10K pay cut 6 years ago. I wanted to make the change mainly for work/life balance. Within a year I was able to get a $10K raise and promotion - had to push a bit for it but my employer was able to see my value. Since starting at the company 6 years ago my salary plus bonus is just shy of doubling my prior salary. I went from a larger company down to a smaller family oriented company and the opportunities I've been able to grab made it worth it. So I'm not saying taking a pay cut is always the right move but sometimes it can get you where you need to go.
AnonymousApril 29,2022 at 3:37PM UTC
I'm glad your risk turned out and what a rewarding opportunity! This one was unfortunately 20K under and required that I relocated without assistance. If it was earlier in my career, I would have jumped at the opportunity as I saw its potential. Now that I have other commitments including a mortgage, I couldn't take that much of a reduction in salary.
Sophie JoernApril 29,2022 at 5:13PM UTC
That is a tough choice for sure! Keep them on your radar in case anything changes for you, you never know what you might be able to negotiate with them in the future to get the best of both worlds :)
AnonymousApril 29,2022 at 8:07PM UTC
I had to do that twice 2 years ago after being let go due to Covid.
Keep looking - something will come up! Good luck with your search.
AnonymousApril 30,2022 at 9:27PM UTC
Did you try to negotiate before turning it down?
AnonymousMay 1,2022 at 7:12PM UTC
I did that once and I told them why. Never regretted it.
AnonymousMay 3,2022 at 12:27AM UTC
Thank you, all. I wrote the company before declining the offer and discussed why and left things positive. They wished me well and said they would think of me if a higher salary or position opened up in the future. I'm glad I was true to myself. If I didn't have a job, I would have been swayed to make the move but if I'm going to leave my current job, it needs to be for the right reasons.