Posted: 8/17/2010 7:14:38 PM EDT
| I work in a small county jail. Not much chance for promotion or any pay raise any time soon. It is a very stable job though. I now have an opportunity to go back to work in the oilfield making $20+ an hour. I like my current job, but I'm just surviving and have no money to do anything with. Do I stay with the stable job or actually go and make money while I can? |
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It boils down to this, IMHO:
-what do you lose by leaving vs. what do you gain by leaving? Paycheck alone isn't the answer; some benefits depend on years of service (vacation, sick days, pension, whatever) Also, when the oilfield work dries up (as it sometimes does) what is your next step? Can you pick up where you left off with the govt job? If not, will the experience (either oil field or govt) help you? Plan 2 steps ahead. Think about what you most value and what you will wish you had valued 10 years from now. Then do what seems right for you. Good luck. 
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I know your decision is going to be tough.
I just left the best job i ever had to go back to the oilfield. I need to pay bills and we were getting behind and did it to make the good money. If you are in a situation like I was or still am a bit, then the money is the deciding factor. Small sacrifice right now for me to be gone all the time, but we will keep our house and everything I worked my ass off for. Good luck. |
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Quoted:
It boils down to this, IMHO: -what do you lose by leaving vs. what do you gain by leaving? Paycheck alone isn't the answer; some benefits depend on years of service (vacation, sick days, pension, whatever) Also, when the oilfield work dries up (as it sometimes does) what is your next step? Can you pick up where you left off with the govt job? If not, will the experience (either oil field or govt) help you? Plan 2 steps ahead. Think about what you most value and what you will wish you had valued 10 years from now. Then do what seems right for you. Good luck. Good input. OP- are either of these jobs what you really want to be doing in life? What would be your dream job, and what steps would you have to take to get this job? |
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Quoted:
It boils down to this, IMHO: -what do you lose by leaving vs. what do you gain by leaving? Paycheck alone isn't the answer; some benefits depend on years of service (vacation, sick days, pension, whatever) Also, when the oilfield work dries up (as it sometimes does) what is your next step? Can you pick up where you left off with the govt job? If not, will the experience (either oil field or govt) help you? Plan 2 steps ahead. Think about what you most value and what you will wish you had valued 10 years from now. Then do what seems right for you. Good luck. Excellent points. How old are you? That plays a large part. I assume you're a government employee, so you can entire after 20+ years. I'm a city employee with 27 year retirement. I've got 11 years in, so for me I'm vested and it would take a lot for me to move on. I can retire when I'm ~48 with about 75% of my pay rate. You're probably similar. Can you physically keep up with oilfield work? I've never worked that, but I imagine it's a pretty physically intense job. Do you want to be doing that when you're 40? As an example, my father is a plumber who had his own small company. Just him and a partner and an occasional apprentice. He and his partner decided they didn't want to me 50, 55, 60, etc. and still crawling under houses and dealing with people's shit, so he closed and took a job with a piping company. Ask yourself that question. Are there any larger cities near you that you can apply to as a corrections officer? How about a true LEO? |
| Right now I'm mainly looking at the money. I am living paycheck to paycheck and if something unexpected comes up I am screwed. The only things keeping me here is that my job is stable and I don't hate it. With the oilfied job I would be able to save some money and pay off some bills. It's not totally unstable. After all saltwater has to be hauled off no matter what happens. |
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I'm currently 33. I was a full time LEO but suprisingly got laid of when the dept had to make budget cuts. I don't believe I was suited for it anyways. Also, it doesn't really pay any more than I'm making now.
Ten years? Every time I try to make a realistic plan for the future it falls apart. I can't even make lunch plans for tomorrow. |