Leave current hourly position for lesser paid salary position?

I am currently a Field Technician for a pretty large medical company making $/hr. However I do not feel there is a chance for promotion because everyone in the IT department is young and seemingly contact. I just interviewed with an IT Company that works for many different medium-sized businesses, who offered me 30-35k (not confirmed yet), but the position is Tier 1 Systems Administration. They might offer me $30,000 which is a decent sized pay cut. The newer job is about 45 minutes closer and I do not think there is much requirement for driving my own vehicle. They made it seem like the potential for promotions and raises based on performance is very likely. My current company treats me well, but my career might suffer and become stagnant due to lack of promotion and high raise possibility.

If I am offered equal (35k) or less, should I take the new position? Mind you, I have only been with my current employer for a few months.

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Comments

SoulSearcher

Definitely chose the company where you can lay some roots. The job I'm at now doesn't pay much, but once I really establish myself and some other employees move up or on, it'll open up some of the high paying postilions.

The job i'm at now, I'm next in line for the big wig job. May be a few years but it will be worth it in the end being the man and basically being able to name my raises every once in a while.

cg31

Well my current company treats me great, however I am one of 4 field techs, with a supervisor my age and a manager not much old who have been there forever. I may not ever get promoted to a better position and it is likely the raise per year might only be the standard 3%. I don't work with much server related things, which I believe to be important skills. I'm undecided, but this new company may be better in the long run.

NetworkVeteran

If I am offered equal (35k) or less, should I take the new position? The newer job is about 45 minutes closer

45 minutes x 2 directions = 60-90 miles driving/day = ~3 gallons of gas/day @ $3.33/gallon = ~2,500/year. On gas costs alone--excluding wear and tear, value of your time, etc.--reducing your commute has monetary value.

If the jobs were equal, I'd probably take the tiny pay-cut, and invest the ~400hrs/year saved into self-improvement.

UniqueAgEnT

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

45 minutes x 2 directions = 60-90 miles driving/day = ~3 gallons of gas/day @ $3.33/gallon = ~2,500/year. On gas costs alone--excluding wear and tear, value of your time, etc.--reducing your commute has monetary value.

If the jobs were equal, I'd probably take the tiny pay-cut, and invest the ~400hrs/year saved into self-improvement.

Shorter commutes are much nicer and like NetworkVeteran said, they can be worth the pay cut. It seems like the new position would be ideal. Shoot for 32k+ though.

cg31

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

45 minutes x 2 directions = 60-90 miles driving/day = ~3 gallons of gas/day @ $3.33/gallon = ~2,500/year. On gas costs alone--excluding wear and tear, value of your time, etc.--reducing your commute has monetary value.

If the jobs were equal, I'd probably take the tiny pay-cut, and invest the ~400hrs/year saved into self-improvement.

Yeah I mean, i get reimbursed for any driving done from my home base at .565 cents a mile. Which ends up paying my insurance and then some, but I want to do something more challenging. Thank you guys for your advice.