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Career Age: Passion or Money?

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Both. I chose a career that I was passionate about, and the money came, as experience went up. But, it's different for everyone.
 
Try to have a good balance. Money is great, but if you don't enjoy your job at all you will inevitably do it shittily and not advance in the workplace. Passion for work is great, but without money your world will stop turning and you will no longer be able to pay the bills.

If you have to go for the black and white scenario then take the money, at least you can do something fun during your time off. Also, being passionate about something and then doing it for a living with a poor wage could turn you off it. A lot of musicians and artists I know came to hate their chosen line because they weren't able afford the basics and ended up working in Tescos and elsewhere to supplement their income. One even ended up becoming an area manager and is now working in their head office on their environmental impact office (which he loves because he is a green).
 
Speevy said:
Tell me where I can make tons of money with my business degree. Please.
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Perhaps, you're not working hard enough or not taking advantages of the opportunities in front of you.
 
jmcca098 said:
Perhaps, you're not working hard enough or not taking advantages of the opportunities in front of you.
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I'm certainly not disagreeing with the sentiment that hard work and taking advantage of opportunities are necessary routes to success, but I think you have a lot to learn about the nature of college degrees and rejection.

And just so you know, I'm pursuing an MA in teaching, something I want to do.
 
Speevy said:
I'm certainly not disagreeing with the sentiment that hard work and taking advantage of opportunities are necessary routes to success, but I think you have a lot to learn about the nature of college degrees and rejection.

And just so you know, I'm pursuing an MA in teaching, something I want to do.
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Believe me, I understand rejection all too well. I've been working in retail for 4 years now. With the current job I've been working for, I've only gotten a 5 cent wage increase from minimum wage. Lets just say, I'd rather be positive than live in despair. I'm also planning on going into teaching after I get my degree.
 
Some people get lucky and their passion also happens to be something that brings in a lot of money. Some of us aren't so lucky however, and it's a tougher decision.
 
Pro-tip: Find a way to make money with the things your passionate in.

If you can't, do what you're passionate about after you've worked for good money.
 
jmcca098 said:
I'm doing a political science degree at the moment so it's obviously passion. Otherwise, I'd be doing a business major to make tons of money.
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A business degree does not guarantee you tons of money. It's not like companies just hire everyone with a business degree to be ibankers or management consultants. I bet most end up doing average analyst/(non-big4) accounting jobs.
 
Life is shorter than you think and you don't have anything to lose by doing what you want to do. You are definitely going to die one day, why wouldn't you do what you want to do?
 
buhdeh said:
A business degree does not guarantee you tons of money. It's not like companies just hire everyone with a business degree to be ibankers or management consultants. I bet most end up doing average analyst/(non-big4) accounting jobs.
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Yeah it's highly depended on what level and what you actually specialize in(for a starter position at one of the bigger companies). After that it's all about what kind of working experience you have.
esquire said:
Life is shorter than you think and you don't have anything to lose by doing what you want to do. You are definitely going to die one day, why wouldn't you do what you want to do?
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A lot of people need money to do what they want.
 
In your 20s, passion can drive you quite far. In your 30s, other things such as money will become a factor, especially if you get married, have kids, etc.

I would go back to my old jobs if they paid better, passion just isn't enough for me anymore, the greedy bastard I am :-(
 
Dreams-Visions said:
Pro-tip: Find a way to make money with the things your passionate in.
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People can make good money here in Academia, but It will take several years just to get close to the entry level salary people from my program usually get for more 'application oriented' areas.
Slayer-33 said:
No stress and stability these days.
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Which kind of job is that?
 
I'm choosing passion, but I also feel like I don't need a significant amount of money to be happy. I'm confident I'd be able to live comfortably on even a teacher's salary. My only fear then would be medical expenses.

Though I'm also not planning on ever having kids so that helps a lot in the "I don't need much money" department.
 
A professor once told me to not define myself by the job/carer that I have. After that, things became less stressful. Applying to dental school next cycle.
 
You can do both, or at last have a good balance. You only live once, however eventually you will be responsible for not only yourself, but others as well.
 
Tunavi said:
Most people in the world are clueless for a career. You take opportunities as they come.
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But being focused sure helps. Most opportunities won't open unless you go explicitly after them.
 
2San said:
A lot of people need money to do what they want.
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If it is important to you, you will find a way. If it's not, you'll make an excuse.

If 'money' is your excuse then you aren't as passionate as you claim you are about what you say you want.
 
esquire said:
If it is important to you, you will find a way. If it's not, you'll make an excuse.

If 'money' is your excuse then you aren't as passionate as you claim you are about what you say you want.
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What I want is to laze around all day play games, watch movies, read comics, hang out with friends, have a house a car and be able to provide for my family. Hmm which job fits that description again?
 
Work out what your minimum "I can live comfortably enough on this" wage is, then look for passion jobs that have that minimum. If none exist, you go solely for money until a passion opportunity presents itself.

Basically, both, but with a certain minimum of money. You don't need to be rich, but you do need to make ends meet, with enough disposable income at the end of each month to save a little, support a hobby and be able to go for a drink or two each week.

Another good metric is if <that band you like> had concert tickets going on sale for $70 each and you wanted to grab one for you and one for you girl RIGHT FUCKING NOW, knowing you'll have to spend a further $100 to book the hotel to spend the night in, would you feel the squeeze too much and have to not go out for a couple of weeks or not? If you can buy those concert tickets without having to change your weekly routine then you're comfortable enough.
 
"Death is certain, its hour uncertain." Prioritizing money suggests that we have plenty of time left, which may very well be a delusion. Following one's passions at least has a more direct value and so is less likely to cause us to assume that we have time that we might not have.
 
Such a tough question. Some people are looking for anything in this economy. But for the long term passion is very important.
 
From what I've learned in my 31 years on this planet, and 13 years as a business professional, making a decision solely for money will usually lead to intense unhappiness.
 
I did it for money for 3 years, but now that I have money saved up, I want to switch to passion.
 
Passion is king. There is money in pretty much every profession. You'll spend much of your life at work, so spend your time doing something you actually like doing. As mentioned before - life is too short.
 
Life is too short, I choose passion because money doesn't do anything for my state of mind unless I can't support myself - which I can and I don't make much, but I'm very happy with my life.
 
Prologue said:
A professor once told me to not define myself by the job/carer that I have. After that, things became less stressful. Applying to dental school next cycle.
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I wish I could follow through on that advice but some professions take so much out of you that it's hard not to associate your self-worth with your career (ie academic science).

In regards to OP, right now passion but I'm getting real close to selling out for the money.
 
Having grown up with a family that dipped into poverty and lost almost everything we had, I'm partial to working for money. I'm willing to work a job that isn't my absolute passion in life if it means my family will be taken care of.
 
Passion matters. Maybe you can focus on money in your beginning years of working but I wouldn't stray too far from your passion. A lot of people can get stuck chasing after dollars but have no time, or worse yet forget how to enjoy it. It eventually makes going to work harder and harder. It seems like a small price to pay when you're younger but you might regret it once you're financially established and feel stuck doing something you don't love.
 
I don't like my job. It pays me well. Not amazingly well, but pretty damn well. I'm accustomed to the quality of life it affords me, and extremely grateful for the financial security and ability to grow my savings. But I've been doing this for almost 10 years, and lately it feels like I cannot do it for 40 more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9l_zAypP7Q
 
neutralgamer02 said:
Don't listen to this. When it comes to industry vs academia it is either one or the other unless you are some sort of hot shot. If you go to industry first, you will have a very hard time getting a tenured tracked assistant professorship position afterwards. Whatever you choose you better hope it is the right one because there really isn't going to be a second choice.
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This didn't get any attention, but is largely correct, particularly if you are interested in the teaching side of academia. (I imagine there's more fluidity between industry and being a professor at a research-oriented school where you are promoted and assessed on your publication and ability to bring in grant money, instead of ability or even interest in teaching. If that's the case, though, why not just stay in industry then?)

However, lest the first paragraph be read as endorsing you jumping to academia now, there is somewhat of a dark side to this. Perhaps it's different in the hard sciences, but professorial hiring is drastically contracting in the humanities and social sciences, and only people from the top programs are able to make it instead of wasting 5-10 yrs and be unable to get a job in the end. That is to say, OP, unless you are confident you are pretty close to the best of the best, your industry->academia dream is not terribly likely.
 
Why the two extremes? I am sure there are many people who are good at what they do, find it enjoyable but is not their passion. It is about finding a right balance. If you are able to acquire an economic level following your passion, you are one of the fortunate ones.

People say money doesn't buy happiness and after a certain level, that is true. The flip side is that lack of money can definitely bring unhappiness and take something away from the passion you start out with.
 
DS-61-5 said:
This didn't get any attention, but is largely correct, particularly if you are interested in the teaching side of academia. (I imagine there's more fluidity between industry and being a professor at a research-oriented school where you are promoted and assessed on your publication and ability to bring in grant money, instead of ability or even interest in teaching. If that's the case, though, why not just stay in industry then?)

However, lest the first paragraph be read as endorsing you jumping to academia now, there is somewhat of a dark side to this. Perhaps it's different in the hard sciences, but professorial hiring is drastically contracting in the humanities and social sciences, and only people from the top programs are able to make it instead of wasting 5-10 yrs and be unable to get a job in the end. That is to say, OP, unless you are confident you are pretty close to the best of the best, your industry->academia dream is not terribly likely.
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Depends on the field of specialization I suppose. I observe business/economics tend to be easier to do industry > academia then the other way round.

The issue with doing what you love is that you will find yourself working with a lot of people who hate their jobs and just want to get their pay. (relatively speaking)

The issue with doing who gets you the dough, but you don't like...has a certain risk that you get burnt out and either (1) find yourself working "too hard" and thus spend more to "cover" or (2) become unwilling to do more till you get paid more, or both.

Does anyone feel this way too? Or it's just me?
 
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