Work Life Balance vs. Pay/Position
Oh, what an age old discussion. I am a recent college grad, and I accepted a position in a well known and recognized leadership program within National Instruments. I love my coworkers, my job, projects, hours (40-45 max), commute time, city (Austin rules), etc... I don't like that I make 68K/yr with no hope of excelling above 80-85K in the next 5-10 years. Benefits are amazing... on sight gym and full service physicians office reserved for staff, company owned health care, deck parties, 6% match, RSU@ 25% per Q, etc etc. they sell you on a low salary due to the "NI way." It's great, but is it worth such low pay? Anyone have similar experiences from the past and care to share the outcomes?
Salary is not just about a paycheck. The benefits and environment sound great. Remember, the higher the salary the greater the tax obligation. Anything that keeps the IRS out of your pocket is a great thing.
In addition to this, you need to consider the cost of having a higher paying job that eats up your weekend time. On-call type jobs suck
This is true. The environment is amazing. Although, I do come from a long line of talented CPAs. And man are they good at what they do!! ;)
I was underpaid for a long time but had decent benefits such as good work/life balance, travel around the world, plenty of vacation. It allowed me to build experience, get a much better gig later and now I make about twice as much. It all depends on what's important to you. If you are just out of college it may not be a bad idea to do this for a couple of years. But keep your eyes open for other opportunities.
Where were you happier? A lot of companies recruit people out of this program for much higher salaries. But a lot of people say they miss working at NI when they leave.
Happier now, but the other place went downhill after a while - bad managers mostly. Don't get me wrong, being underpaid and knowing it can grow resentment over time - but if you factor in all the other stuff plus the fact you get experience it may be worth it.
Seems like you're in the perfect opportunity to noodle on your own thing, test out ideas, and develop your own app/company/service etc. make the most of this time and build something of your own.
What is the RSU @25% per Q? You get 25% of your salary in RSU each quarter?
@OP- did you end up leaving NI?
I'm only at 100k right now as an Embedded Software Developer with 12 years of industry experience so 68k is decent right out of college. Employers definitely try to find the line between acceptable/not acceptable pay so probably best to challenge the salary at your next review but back it up with facts (eg. Similar positions with higher salary)
Thanks for the response. Unfortunately for lower level positions such as mine the salary is set by an outside consulting firm that balances quality of life vs. pay. They do it yearly. Not much room to negotiate. Biggest issue is I want to work for my self, but I am not going to accumulate cash fast enough to satisfy that goal at this rate...... and I like to spend money.
I think you're not alone in wanting to work for yourself. One thing you can do is find a job that you enjoy so that it feels more like working for yourself and less like work.