Money and Career

How Does Money Affect Your Career Decision

The age old question: Can I find a career I love that pays well? A quote by Koyal Guha in India speaks for many I feel, he was quoted in Economic Times saying “It is foolhardy to chase an ephemeral dream. Job satisfaction is not a constant concept. Hard cash is an assured, while pursuing happiness is usually just a pipe dream,”, a common belief by many. Its unfortunate too because with a little creativity, one can achieve a job promotion with a raise or transform their current position into one that the company considers essential and invaluable. Yes, it takes a little work, a little time and some ingenuity but its well worth it.

Take a common accounting position within a small to medium size business. There are many ways an accounting employee could justify a job promotion and increase the value of their position at the same time. Businesses often hire financial consultants to perform audits, trouble shoot cash flow issues, and acquire growth capital, among other things, so as an employee, you have the opportunity to save your company money, time, and possible future headaches by providing the services yourself.

Another tactic is creating and marketing your brand. Self promotion isn't just for independent contractors and businesses. With the increased competition for jobs, you can increase your value, earn more money AND keep your job at the same time. One of the best methods is becoming an expert resource for reporters, magazines and other news sources or become a regular writer for a trade magazine. If you have poor English skills, hire an editor as its well worth it. Be sure you can back up your claim and that you ARE an expert, and continue to learn everything you can about your subject of expertise. In this day and age with the Internet, there are many sources looking for content such as www.helpareporter.com who email their requests for information out daily.

There are of course many other methods of self promotion including:

1. Website that highlights your professional background, offer testimonials and volunteering.
2. A blog that discusses your opinions, knowledge, ideas about the industry you are in. Be careful to write your opinions in such a way that they don’t appear derogatory or anti-industry.
3. Find opportunities to get in front of people such as participating in panels at industry conferences.
4. Learn, learn, learn. Make a commitment to take 1 class every 6 months or more.
5. Rub elbows with important people regardless of what industry they are from. A lot of business still takes place on the golf course according to Forbes but connecting with CEO types may occur in some very unusual places. One not so unusual anymore is the Internet. Find people you want to follow that have a blog and comment once in a while. http://bit.ly/b9qH8J

To summarize - listen, ask, and learn. If you love your job and want more money, get passionate about it. Convince management of how valuable you AND your position are and I bet they won't want to lose you to a company that will pay better.