Via twitter I stumbled on this blog post the other day: Trying to keep young employees from quitting? It’s not about money.
It’s an old post from Penelope Trunk’s blog, who is the creator of Brazen Careerist - which, by the way, is another social networking site that I am now a member of. Anyways, the post basically highlights what young (Gen Y) employees are looking for and according to her, it’s not money.
I agreed with this post wholeheartedly. Do I want to have enough money to pay the bills? Obviously, yes. But if I’m not pulling in giant sums of money, I don’t really care. To me, it’s more about learning, gaining experience and doing something I enjoy and I am passionate about.
The four things that she said were important to young people are; working on good projects, flexible hours, training and intrapraneurship opportunities.
Flexible hours are very important to me. How many people work 9-5 jobs and spend 2 or 3 hours a day on facebook, blogs etc? Probably a lot; I know I did when I worked a 9-5 job. With my current job I am expected to be there three days a week from 9-12, but I can stay longer or come in earlier if I want to and I love that. I’m also able to take work home with me and work from home, which can be the devil on some nights, but other days is really, really convenient and nice.
I spent four summers working at a community pool as a lifeguard and swimming instructor. I made a great wage and worked 40+ hours a week. I did not enjoy my job and other than the occasional warm, fuzzy feeling when a child finally got their starfish floats right, I did not find it fulfilling. This past summer I took a rather sizeable wage and hour cut to work at a PR/Marketing firm that actually began as an unpaid internship. I was bringing in about half of the money that I used to make as a lifeguard but I learned so much. I have gained some very valuable experience at this position that will do me a world of good when I graduate next spring and since it’s the beginning of my career, I think the paycut is worth it. So, yes, I’m coming back to school this fall with a much smaller bank account than I’m used to, but it was worth it.
That being said, I don’t have a family to support – if I did, I might value wage more.
There’s also been a lot of talk about four-day work weeks lately. Personally, I’m not a fan of this model because 10 hours is a long time. I think I’d rather work five days with flexible hours – work until the work is done! But what do you guys think? Those of you with a long commute would probably prefer this.
So tell me, what is most important to you in a job? Wage or experiences? Regular hours or flexibility?
PS: One thing I did this summer is work with our senior consultant to create a strategic marketing plan, website and now some print tools for a client. I got to work on this particular account from start to finish and I learned SO much about building a website. So I thought I’d share the final product with you guys:
www.thompsoncommunityservices.com
I wrote all the copy, created the navigation map, did the photo sourcing (which takes hours), and uploaded all the content and photos onto this site. All with the edits and help of the team at my office, of course. It was really fun and a great learning experience!
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting topic, I have to say I’m a fan of the four day work week just cause I’ve done it before and it was great for travel. But agree that often the job is about what you get out of it than what you make at the end of the day. My current job isn’t the highest paying for it’s scale but I love it (most days).
And good job with the website, it’s easy to read and well laid out and the photos are really great. Good on you
it’s not so much about money, you’re right, but at some point it is — especially when you’ve got a mortgage to worry about (if you knew how much i paid – i don’t know!)
But like I’ve said in my previous posting about being stuck. That is one of my biggest issue, I feel like i cannot grow. As much as my supervisor emphasizes doing this or that, but things take so damn long to get through at a corporation, it’s very difficult to grow. Even though my company is “big on letting their employees grow” but they don’t make it easy!
they have a development course– but i don’t find that a lot of the stuff is applicable to me. see we’re mostly a food service, err, we’re a service corporation basically we provide most services to any company that needs it. so most of the training is focused on the employees that do this. I do the graphics & proposals for our sales team to present to the clients. i just find that my job isn’t fulfilling – ideally i’d like to get into the sustainability side at the corporation, but it is incredibly difficult.
I’m looking forward to seeing what others have to say.
Great question! Right now I feel like I’m stuck in a dead end job. The pay is above average and the benefits are great but I don’t feel as I’m using my education (or my brain!) at all. If I didn’t have a mortgage and student loans to pay off, I definitely wouldn’t be working where I am! I like flexible hours (I work 20 minutes extra/day to get one random day off/month) so that’s important. I’d hate to organize my entire life around my job! Wage is important, but like you I think experience is much more important. If I could afford to do it I’d take a pay cut and go back to doing what I love.
First, good job on the web site! I used the same navigation scheme on my http://www.flynntechnology.com site and found later it has a few flaws. but the brand is consistently communicated throughout, and that’s what’s important. you need more descriptive page titles too. sorry, building web sites is how i’ve made a living the last 10 years.
Wage comes with experience and so does demands on that wage. get a few mortgages and a couple of kids and you’ve gotta make that bank just to keep food on the table. When i sold my business and took this job I took a 60% pay cut, so wage isn’t everything. but it is still important. I took that cut to go from working 14 hours a day in my office to working 6 hours a day from home so I could see my kids. Flexible hours rock. But the projects i have to work on are boring, i have been very dissatisfied with my job lately. There is no room for advancement, no chance that I will ever get a raise. Very little chance that I will get onto a more interesting project the way our company sales have taken a nose dive. And I’m constantly under threat of layoff since April. It’s a very tiring and stressful position with an abrupt end in sight.
So what I’m looking for now is a job with a larger company (more stability) where I can get on a corporate ladder (advancement & raises) and work on something interesting. The pay ranges have still been higher than what i’m making now, but some offer flex time (every other friday off – 9 hour days) and I really like that.
Good post! it’s a hot topic for me right now, and I’m sure for others too.
I have to feel important in my job. I have to feel needed and necessary. I worked an office 9-5 job for a year and absolutely hated it. I was in administration at a college and felt so useless half the time. I was miserable. So feeling like a valued employee is very, very important to me.
Funny you posted about this because I’m in the phase where I’m questioning myself what I REALLY want to look for in a job. While money is a factor, deep down I know that my passion should be number one. When you are doing something you truly enjoy, it doesn’t even matter if you work 9 hours or flex time. Both have their pros and cons but I’ve only tried the 9-5 route and I’d be glad to try flex time for a change.
Also, the people I work with on a daily basis is a big factor for me.
This is a fantastic post Amber.
In February I left my high stress/high paying job to do admin work at a low income housing company for about $10K less per year.
Even right now I don’t find the work to be that stimulating, but I have SO many opportunities here (will pay for education, put me in the field I would like or if I change my mind, so many other avenues to explore, stuff like that).
I would MUCH rather have a job that stimulates my mind and encourages me to want to learn new things…my old job just made me want to pull my hair out.
As for families, we could live off my husbands salary and still have some room, so I am very lucky there. We just use my salary for fun money and to add to our savings and stuff.
Congrats on the website – it looks really good and the photos are great.
Thank you so much for writing this post and linking to the Brazen Careerist! I’m totally lost at the moment career-wise and have no idea what to do – that site looks really helpful.
For me, experience totally outweighs wages – so long as I’m earning enough for me and am enjoying what I’m doing, then I’m happy. And I hate the 9-5 format. I’m ok with it for a few months, but I get bored with it within a year. I just don’t like being that restricted – I like to be able to feel as though I can do what I want, when I want (to a degree).
But then, as you said, it’s easy when you don’t have any dependents or major financial payments to make each month. Which, for me, means that I really want to take advantage of the time that I have now to enjoy new experiences and challenges.
Awesome job on that website! You really are getting so much great experience through this internship – will really help you build your career and gives you a huge edge over your competitors!
What I look for in a job has changed. Money became more important when I accepted my target job, only because I have so much student loan debt so needed a boost in my income to afford them. BUT, that is not why I chose Target! I chose them because of their culture & the career opportunities. They have a strong sense of volunteerism & give back 10% of their profits to the community, which is awesome. They value their employees and do things like throw a big concert once a year and bring in people like The Black Eyed Peas and Faith Hill. They really care about your career development so part of my program has lots of networking opportunities so I can figure out where I want to end up in the company.
That’s just a few. But it really doesn’t come down to money. I need to make enough to live comfortably, but that’s not what gets me out of bed every morning.
I think I would be the type of person to love working a 4 day work week. I would be ok with getting to work a bit early and leaving a little later. I’m tired at the end of the day no matter what, so I don’t think 2 hours would make much of a difference in that way.
I’m a nurse so my hours are ever-changing. Currently I work four days a week: two 12-hour shifts and two 8-hour shifts. The days change from week to week. A lot of nurses work three 12-hour shifts a week and I have to say that I would love to do that except I’m used to the pay I get from 40 hours a week plus overtime! An extra day off a week really makes a difference.
I completely agree with you – for me it’s not about the money. I need a certain amount of money to get by (and more helps!) but it’s so much more important to me to enjoy what I do
That’s such a tough choice for me right now. Financially the past year has been a really tough squeeze, with my partner being laid off and qualifying for f-all in benefits. Studying fulltime and working parttime still doesn’t stretch quite far enough and I am SO tired of being stressed about money! I know (fingers crossed) it’s not going to last forever. I just want to be making a decent wage so we have enough to get by. But at the same time I’m about to graduate and need to do what it takes to get on track with my career. Which will probably involve approaching my current bosses and asking for a fulltime job!
For me, it’s about having the opportunity to learn, grow and advance, having great colleagues and a supportive boss. Flexible hours would be a bonus; I’m not a fan of long days either but I would definitely be up for trying a 4 day work week (I do have a long commute). I think it might be worth it for a three day weekend!
PS – that site looks great!
Great job on the website!
You always have such awesome posts BTW, this is another great topic!
The things I love the most about my current job are the fact because of the type of management position that I’m in I’m able to leave when I need to. My boss is laid back and doesn’t care if I take off early to go run errands etc. I also enjoy being able to plan my own day; I know what needs to be done so as long as it gets done then I’m all good. I find that I can accomplish a lot more when I plan my day out too.
Overall a very flexible and relaxed work environment.
I would love the four day work week. It would never work for me because I am a teacher and young kids could never sit in school for 10 hours. But if I had a different job I would definitely go for it. I am at school from 6:30-3 every day which is already 8 1/2 hours and then 4 days a week I go tutor at least 1 kid, 2 on Mondays- which means that most days I work at least 10 hours and sometimes 11. So…give me my Fridays off! haha.
I do like the idea of having a 4 day work week, but I’m not sure how I’d do with a 10 hour day. It might be ok for a little while, but I think eventually working that long in a row would get to me.
And if you want to talk about job perks, have you seen some of the on site benefits at google’s San Francisco office. They have crazy things there like a gym, a masseuse, and even a room to take naps! Which pretty much gives you no reason to go home, and I think that might kind of be the point.
I really liked that article as well. I’m not sure where I found it first. She seems like she has a great understanding of what it is like to be a 20 something starting out. To the Gen Y-ers, it is the connection and experiences that make a job worth while. I think for me if you just threw money at me to accomplish a boring task I would resent it. I like being part of the team and helping grow and shape something. Great post Amber!
Hey Amber- great topic! Awhile back someone actually did a study that found that people’s job satisfaction had almost nothing to do with the size of their paycheck- instead, it relied on things like how much they liked the people they worked with, and the type of work they did. So definitely go for the job you like rather than the fatter paycheck if you are financially able to do so. I feel like if you really have passion for your job, you will advance further anyway, which means more money in the long run.
I like that my job, like yours, has fairly flexible hours. I work in a research laboratory studying the affects of stress on health, and if I’m not helping run a participant through and experiment, I can shuffle my hours around as I need to. Which is really, really nice. So is the fact that I like helping out with important research (even if I mostly just data-check) and I love my coworkers. To me, that’s infinitely better than some waitressing job that might pay more anyway.
BTW, in case you’re interested, I’ll probably starting writing some more on the blog. I know I’ve been gone for awhile, but if you want, stop on by. I’ve always loved your comments
~Amanda
I am a huge fan of 4 day work weeks. That said, I would really like a position with more flexibility and different hours. I must make enough money to support myself but I am ok if I never pull in large sums of money. I want to feel a connectedness to people and the work I am doing. This is a really interesting topic.
this is something we (everyone in my grad program) spent a LOT of time contemplating last year! We had heard both sides; but there’s a huge variety of job opportunities in Dietetics in this area (DC), so it’s harder to decide to where “start”. For me, it’s not so much about “Flexible” hours as it is about Knowing my schedule. 99% of the time I’m done with work at the end of the day, my hours are the same – no curveballs and I don’t take work home. I also love my weekends/holidays off (not something you get in a hospital!). The “non-monetary” benefits of a job really add up! And, obviously, it should Definitely be something you’re interested in and passionate about – all other motivating factors (i.e. money, vacation days, etc) fade pretty quickly when you Really dislike the job….
My job is 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., so the hours aren’t too bad. I’d rather be able to wake up an hour later, but I love that my evenings/nights are completely free. Since I live about fifteen minutes from work, it’s not bad. Honestly, though, I’d love a Monday through Thursday job–right now, I work Monday through Friday. I absolutely LOVE three-day weekends. Two days just aren’t enough to enjoy the time off. I feel like my weekend goes by much too quickly.
When looking for a job, I do look at what the pay is. I mean, if I’m choosing between a job with flexible hours at a dollar or two less than a job without flexible hours, I’d definitely choose the first, but pay is important. Schedule is extremely important, though. I like my job because if I need to leave an hour early for something, no one questions it.
I typically look for something that will look good on my resume, too. If it’s not going to help me move up in future positions, I’ll likely not give it a chance.
Right now sadly I’m here for the money. I’ve gotten so good at my job that its boring. I’ve been here for seven years and I wait until I have a chance to do something else. I can move wherever in the company but basically its the same thing everywhere. I want a complete change so that’s what i’m working towards. Right now we work 8.5hr days and get every first and third Friday off, which is great, you can’t say that for most companies here. We also get a ton of sick days and vacation day all paid and appointment days…..something unheard of at my husbands company. I want to run my own business, not sure which one to start with though and also timing is key. We just bought a house and got married so we have some bills to catch up on and then we’ll see
Hoping for spring or next fall depature from here LOL
I work 9 hour days and get every OTHER Friday off. I am a huuuuuge proponent of this. I agree 10 hours is too much, but coming in at 8? No biggie. I’m up anyways- might as well get credit for it!