i have a competing company in town that has been courting me for 6 months or so. today they called me and asked how much it would money would it take for me to leave where i am?

why i don't want to at all
1. got promoted to top area position in under 2 years.
2. owner leave me alone most days
3. i set my own schedule
4. i can work from home and do not have to go into the office ever if i chose not to
5. this company took a chance at me straight out of school
6. 6 figure salary with commission, car, ins, and phone on top of salary

why i would like to leave
1. more pay is always nice
2. i would not mind a new challenge


so basically i am happy where i am but am curious if anyone would leave their job for money only. new job doubtfully would match salary but i know their sales manager made 350k last year as a package with the above things i listed i get currently. i currently gross about half of him. the new job would be heavily commission based and not have the guaranteed money i have now. what would you do? note 180k is plenty of income imo. if i can keep the current pace i will retire at 50. is it worth risking a good job for the potential of more money?

12/13/2007 8:47:22 PM

nope

[Edited on December 13, 2007 at 8:54 PM. Reason : unless you're the type that thrives on risk-taking]

[Edited on December 13, 2007 at 8:54 PM. Reason : if you want a challenge, outperform your current job's expectations by 10x]

12/13/2007 8:53:48 PM

i do but i dont. i thrive more knowing my wife and i will retire early and still be able to do what we want. my biggest fear in life is retiring and then not being able to afford to go or do anything. i do like challenges. that is my biggest reason for even considering.

12/13/2007 8:56:43 PM

say at the same place and ask your boss for more responsibility or think of innovations in your field to help your current employer

12/13/2007 11:00:55 PM

'Bout tree-fiddy.

12/13/2007 11:12:24 PM

if you are making 6 figures in your 20s you will retire fine unless you just flat out dont save at all

12/14/2007 12:24:04 AM

got dang, you have a near-ideal situation all the way around

It would take at least 300K (most promised) + the ability to work from home every day. Then again, I'm a huge proponent of remote work, may not matter much to you.

And also, I'm conservative. i.e. If I'm happy, I'll trust the grass is greener on my current side. I'd stay.

12/14/2007 2:10:22 AM

I work for job security not money. You will always get money and live, and have a retirement. If you make 120k or 200k, you still can live really good, so whats the point of leaving a job where it seems like you have very good job security?

12/14/2007 8:18:12 AM

WTf are you people doing?

12/14/2007 1:55:25 PM

i'd leave for 180

12/14/2007 3:17:35 PM

my wife has really spoken up on this topic today. i took her to lunch while i was out today and she is really urging me to stay. she likes the stability right now and brought up the point if it did not work out with the new suitor then i would not be able to go back to where i am now. i think she is right. considering we just started trying for kids stability is important. i am going to throw out a ridiculously number that they cant afford so they will think an idiot is running the competition.

i started in sales, and now am the GM/Sales manager. my location will gross close to 17 million this year.

12/14/2007 4:03:02 PM

Quote :

"i am happy where i am"

can't beat that

12/14/2007 9:59:37 PM

Stay put. It may be smart though to tell your boss that these guys have been "annoying you" by trying to get you to come over. People in competition commonly have common friends that talk. Your boss may get word that they've been calling you. Maybe he should hear it from you, but let him know that you aren't interested in leaving.

I left a job that I was happy in but am now happier at my new job. However I wasn't even getting the average starting salary for my degree so I needed to do something and job 2 wasn't related. I had people calling me at my last job trying to get me to come over, but I knew that the grass was going to be the same color on the other side of the fence. I let my employer know. It would make a long story even longer if I went into detail exactly why I left the first place.

And where do you live? Is 180K a kick ass salary at your location?

12/14/2007 11:10:24 PM

I just went through this a couple of weeks ago and opted to stay. Right now, I make a very comfortable salary, but work 60 hours a week, 6 days a week. The offer i got would have my base salary at about $10k a year more than my total compensation now, and that base salary would be 80% of my total compensation. Aside from that I'd get $450 a month towards a company car, gas paid for (whether personal or "business"), and still get to work at Cisco's campus, with Cisco being my sole customer. And the biggie is that i wouldn't be working weekends anymore, as well as a standard 40 hour week.

The catch is that my wife's graduating from med school in May, and right now I don't know if we'll still be in Raleigh afterwards. If i'm still with Cisco, i can easily find a job elsewhere in the company based on our geographic location then. If i'm with the other company, It would be much harder. With baby that's not even two weeks old, it's a risk that i can't take right now.

12/15/2007 11:51:00 AM

I moved down to Atlanta for a job that paid about 7k more than what I was making in Raleigh, hated the job, held out for 3 months, quit without having another job (not smart I know, but I just couldnt take it) month later found a new job that I fucking love, could see me working here for a long long time and to top it off, got a 5k raise from the job I had just quit. Been there 5 weeks now, just got a 2k raise that I wasnt expecting so within a year I've gone up 14K and live in a city that I fucking love. Funny how things work out

12/15/2007 3:06:14 PM

first job after college lasted 6 months, hated it, been with my second for 3 years....not sure I love the location(moved around a lot with this job) but I figure three years max where I am now then will be looking to move somewhere else.

12/16/2007 7:03:38 PM

grass is always greener on the other side.

stay put.

12/16/2007 9:11:36 PM

if you're happy and well paid thats half the battle with most careers

if you need more challenging work talk to your boss

12/16/2007 10:43:34 PM

stay put, sounds like you have a great situation where you're at.

12/16/2007 11:15:47 PM

Really sounds like you have about an ideal situation. Not just compensation-wise (stop to think that the average 2-income household probably doesn't come close to what you're making all by yourself, and this before age 30.) but with all the other perks of your position, and stability

It might not be bad to mention the competing interest to your boss, just so he doesn't get complacent about having you around. But it seems like it would be foolish to leave.

[Edited on December 17, 2007 at 2:01 PM. Reason : bleh]

12/17/2007 2:00:23 PM

Quote :

"the new job would be heavily commission based and not have the guaranteed money i have now. "

no, not worth the switch

12/17/2007 3:19:07 PM

if this place doesn't promote me again this year, it's not going to take anything to make me leave.

12/17/2007 6:59:07 PM

I wouldn't leave my current job unless something happened to my current employer that made me seriously question the future of the company. I think I would consider relocating with my current company if I could expand our clientele in Florida enough to justify a satellite office.

12/17/2007 8:27:45 PM

let me ask you about your current job?

what the hell do you do? and how did you get this job? why the hell didn't I do this?

12/18/2007 2:31:27 AM

the reason i got a chance with my company is because my father has been the top sales person for them for 15 years. i grew up knowing the industry and knowing the ins and outs of the company. i went to them looking for a job when i graduated and they asked if i would be willing to relocate and drum up new business in a town 3 hours away from main territory. i did and it turns out my experience's through the old man gave me a huge head start. he started charlotte 15 years ago and i remeber all of his complaints and just learned what he had to figure out the hard way. when i came to charleston it was easy to grow. with huge sales in the first year they moved me over to sales manager and recently added GM to my plate.

my company manufactures and sells construction materials.

12/18/2007 5:55:34 PM

i call bull shit....w2 or it never happened....no way you make $180k, and thinking about leaving it for $350k.......bs

[Edited on December 18, 2007 at 7:11 PM. Reason : .]

12/18/2007 7:09:01 PM

Quote :

"he reason i got a chance with my company is because my father"

good for your pops.

must be nice for you.

i hope i hook my kid up someday.

12/19/2007 12:27:58 AM

Quote :

"i call bull shit....w2 or it never happened....no way you make $180k, and thinking about leaving it for $350k.......bs "

you obviously have no idea what this industry generates in annual sales. there are guys at 84 lumber, stock building supply, and the building center making 400-500k per year.

chew on this. if a house build cost is 1M, that is material cost not labor, they have to spend the money some where. if you sell them 1/2 of the products needed to build that house then you have gross sales of 500K. if you make 8%, for simple numbers since your mind is having problems comprehending things, then you make 40K on that one house. Then keep in mind none of my guys have any builder doing less than 1 house per year. and each of them have roughly 15 accounts that build cost range from 100K to 500K. if one of my guys sells 3M at 8%..... keep in mind a top sales person should generate 7-9M per year in sales... you do the math.....

Quote :

"good for your pops. must be nice for you. i hope i hook my kid up someday."

i owe it all to him, he got my foot in the door. i have had to do all of the work from there. i started out with a base of 42K plus bonus. bottom line is it was step in the right direction.

i too hope to get my kids started in some way. i do hope they do not do what i do since the stress is ridiculous. i would like to buy into our location as a partner. if so i will make sure we have legacy plan in place for our children should they want to take over.

12/20/2007 7:49:29 AM

You are really starting to sound like a bitch.

12/20/2007 2:25:39 PM

^

lol

12/20/2007 4:24:47 PM

^^ u are starting to sound jealous

i have been surprised at the number of pm's i have gotten who are curious about the industry.

[Edited on December 20, 2007 at 5:04 PM. Reason : ]

12/20/2007 5:03:53 PM

right, b/c tons and tons of million dollar homes are being built and selling every day.......checked the news lately? Home sales are pretty much near one of the worst declines YOY in history....

again

Quote :

"i call bull shit....w2 or it never happened....no way you make $180k, and thinking about leaving it for $350k.......bs"

12/20/2007 5:35:16 PM

if you are making 8% as a salesman what the fuck are the higher ups in your company making?? does your company mark shit up 100% or something? you are either lying or talking about some RETARDED profit margins if you are relatively new/low in the company and make 8% of every home sale

12/20/2007 7:22:31 PM

Quote :

"right, b/c tons and tons of million dollar homes are being built and selling every day.......checked the news lately? Home sales are pretty much near one of the worst declines YOY in history.... "

it has slowed down but we do not sell to track builders. everyone here will agree but keep in mind most people who can afford to build on daniel island, isle of palms, kiawah, and seabrook are not concerned with home sales. they are custom homes built per spec and as second, third, and fourth homes. i am in charleston sc and the housing market here is a custom market not a spec market. when you think of people with money to build custom houses you are not thinking of the people we cater to. think about people who own power plants, bank ceo's, oil tycoons, sports agents, pga golfers, and people who have sold huge companies ex. Gene Welka, ever heard of Geno's pizza. these people have huge renewable incomes who could care less about a housing slumps and want to have vacation homes in some of the premier golfing communities/vacation/beaches on the east coast.

Quote :

"if you are making 8% as a salesman what the fuck are the higher ups in your company making?? does your company mark shit up 100% or something? you are either lying or talking about some RETARDED profit margins if you are relatively new/low in the company and make 8% of every home sale "

if you read the thread you would know i am far from low in the company. i hold the highest position in my distribution center. thus making me in the top 10% in entire company (600 total employees and 5 distribution branches in NC and SC plus the million square foot production plant in indiana). i am relatively new but since i moved to start a territory and it boomed it should be obvious new or not makes no difference, it is only a matter of how much volume goes out the door.

there are sales people/ sales management that due to commissions make more then our COO and CFO who are salary with no bonus opportunities. last christmas the 5 brothers who own our corporation took end of year bonuses of 1M each.

what percent do you think sales people make? we have independent reps who make 8-10% and employee reps who make a base, car, ins, plus 3-4% bonus. if you think sales reps make 3-4% alone then you are looking and very crappy industries or account managers who do not grow new sales. the only other sales reps who make the same as some of my guys that i know of are in medical equipment sales. obviously you must think we are selling cell phones to walk in customers or something.

12/20/2007 9:05:02 PM

I'd probably leave my job for $220k. Depends on the opportunity though.

12/20/2007 9:30:44 PM

^^ I work for a custom home builder and we make our supplier sell us the materials we need at 3% above their cost. So are you saying that my sales rep gets approx 8% (varies with the company obviously) of that 3% markup?

12/21/2007 12:15:44 AM

stone is baller. i know this.

12/21/2007 1:11:41 AM

1. Work environment
2. Type of work
3. Total compensation

An betterment in any of these would be sufficient.

12/21/2007 1:18:43 AM

I left my job for free mt. dew, a foosball table, and donuts.

12/21/2007 2:23:09 AM

Quote :

"^^ I work for a custom home builder and we make our supplier sell us the materials we need at 3% above their cost. So are you saying that my sales rep gets approx 8% (varies with the company obviously) of that 3% markup?"

this is the dumbest thing i have ever heard of. no one can sell material for 3% above their cost because they could not cover their over head. no one MAKES a vendor sell to them at a specific cost, the customer can tell them what they will pay and the vendor would have to agree. no matter the volume why would someone sell something and lose money? 3% mark up would still net a negative margin. i have to say this is total bs. no one is in business to lose money. most custom builders operate at 20% gpm. so you are telling me that you would let a home owner make you build their house for a 3% mark up? you wouldn't because you overhead on the project is probably around 9%. i will say it again, no one is in business to lose money.

it is possible the vendor sells to you with a 3% net margin. that would not matter because the rep is paid what ever, the 3% is bottom line profit.
for the people who are set on thinking every one makes 8% keep in mind i have salaried reps who make 3-4%. my straight commission guys make 8-10%.

12/21/2007 7:18:20 AM

^ Maybe it is a 3% net margin. I just know we have them show us what their cost is on something and we only pay a couple pennies more. I don't remember what we were checking on the other day, but what we were ordering was something like $2.97 and they showed us their cost was $2.89. I know we have an awesome deal cuz everytime we get STOCK, or 84, or Professional Builders Supply to quote us stuff, they are always a lot higher than what we pay through our supplier.

12/21/2007 1:22:54 PM

Dude

Why are you asking a college website for professional advice?

Why don't you consult your wife and other people you know that actually have careers?

12/21/2007 2:06:25 PM

Because he wanted to tell us he makes 180K a year?

12/21/2007 3:04:03 PM

zing

12/21/2007 7:38:01 PM

I am a salesman for pencil erasers, I get 64% of all sales. I make 12 billion dollars a month.

12/21/2007 11:52:08 PM