As a career blogger, I get a lot of question here from job seekers and I try to answer them all personally and sometimes will answer them here so everyone can benefit.
Yes, I do have some thoughts. My first thought is, who the hell are these so called career experts. Chances are they are clueless and giving you information and advice from the 1970’s not YKX. Take the job, again, my advice is TAKE THE JOB. Seriously, screw the career consultants. Are they going to pay your mortagage for you? The reality is everyone knows that we are experiencing hard economic times and when the job market turns around, employers will fully understand why you took a job to hold you over.
I currently work as a corporate recruiter for a pharmaceutical company and the majority of candidate and new hires are people that have been laid off recently and many have done other things in the meantime to bring in some money. When I first started recruiting over 10 years ago, there was a stigma attached to being out of work or taking a job because you needed the money. Times have changed…The problem is, someone forgot to tell the so called career experts.
I agree take the job, pay your bills and gain new tools/skills that you can transfer to other positions. It is very rare for someone to stay in the same career yet alone the same field for all of the his or her working life. People and skills transfer and the broader the skills the better.
I agree with you…
I am an INTJ person…in MeyersBriggs
By all means, obviously you are qualified for the position, otherwise, you would not have received an offer, correct? I believe you should accept the job, and keep your eyes open for that “perfect” position you actually seek. Who knows? You might find that this position is simply the catalyst to what you’ve always hoped to achieve in the workforce. Stay positive,, accept your blessing, and give 100% to this position. You mentioned you’ve been out of work since the summer…well I’ve been unemployed for one year, 2 months and 9 days! Lower salary? I would ask is the salary more than the unemployment check you’ve been receiving? Also, did you consider indirect benefits, such as medical, dental, vision, 401(k), or profit sharing (none of which the company is mandated to provide)? Believe me, even if the position is truly not what you expect (at least for now), or hoped to achieve advancement within the organization, if the salary will provide a means for you to support yourself (and your family), please accept the offer. Just my opinion. And…congratulations on the offer.
I do not understand how people can live and not work. Do they live at home with their parents or have a spouse that supports them?
I agree with those before me: take responsibility, diversify, and move on. We all have times in our lives when we have to work at jobs that we dislike, i.e. in factories, selling vacuum cleaners, waiting on tables.
Hopefully, you will learn something from this job and get back into your career at some later point.
Good luck with it!
Dawn,
I agree with you, it’s amazing how many people don’t work – and don’t pay taxes, but get the benefits of those of us who do work. One recent survey suggest 50% of Americans don’t work and don’t pay taxes. Basically the rest of us are paying for everyone else.
I agree taking the job is the right thing to do. It’s common to have to take a hit in pay. You have to set goals and work towards getting back up there again .
When you move on from this position that isn’t in your field, a good employer will recognize you did what you had to do support yourself and consider that a positive characteristic: you get the job done. That’s the kind of employee most companies will want on their team.
Also, you may realize this is a field you truly enjoy. How many times have people been put in a difficult position only to realize after the fact that it was the best thing that happened to them.
Steve,
Not everyone who isn’t working is living off of other taxpayers. Some do have families that support them – and it’s okay with the family member who is working.
There is _one_ drawback of taking the job — the salary is much lower than previous. That will be a career setback unless the job market goes crazy. However if the field’s hiring level picks up again, it will not be that hard to argue for a bigger increase than before when he or she returns to it.
I highly recommend practicing negotiation skills and techniques when that happens. When you know you’ve been undervalued or deliberately put yourself in a lower pay range, you need to let people know and stick to your guns about the fact that 1) that was a different field and job, 2) you expect to be compensated according to the market for the new job (that was in your preferred field), and 3) you not only have kept up with your preferred field (right?), you now have new skills too, as someone else wrote.