And how did you justify your decision? Was it based on your family or financial situation? Was it your own choice? How did you deal with the consequences? What values did you impart to your children regarding your answers to these questions?
Passion I suppose, not sure it was really a choice when you get right down to it. I chose a public sector job over a consulting job (engineering.) I was in the process of interviewing for a position in each and was also 3 months pregnant. My DH works as a consulting engineer and we talked about our short and long term goals for our careers and our future children. I knew the sorts of hours I’d work as a consultant versus a job where I’d work 40 hours a week period.
So we have one high salary and one lower (but not low) salary. It is what it is. We haven’t suffered.
Im not worried about what our kids choose for careers. They’ll be alright. They’ll graduate without debt. One already works in an engineering consulting job in college. The other will do what he wants- and it may or may not involve using his eventual engineering degree. They know what is important - happiness, not how much $$$$ they earn.
Neither. I picked a job that was flexible so that I could spend a lot of time with my children while they were still at home.
Passion. I’ve been blessed to have had the opportunity to have a number of very interesting, creative and fun career opportunities… (few of which were well-paying, but gosh, they were REALLY fun).
I have worked in the nonprofit world for over 20 years now. The work I do now is enormously rewarding, but not in a monetary way. That’s OK-- we live simply, and have all we need. I am grateful for the values that my kid has acquired, as she says, through osmosis. I’m hopeful that she too will find a way to use her education in a way that serves others. If she can find work that feeds her soul and covers her basic expenses, that’s great… I just want her to be happy. She knows that happy doesn’t come from $$$.
Realistically, most people need to work for money to support themselves (and families if applicable).
Some people happen to have passions that coincide with jobs that pay well enough for them to support themselves.
Some people have low spending habits and no debt and can afford to choose a low paying “passion” job that many others with higher spending habits and/or debt would not be able to take.
Obviously, the more debt you accumulate, the more your work and life choices will be constrained by money. Even those going into high paying jobs can find this to be an issue. For example, US medical school graduates are usually so burdened by debt that they “need” to choose a high paying specialty in order to pay off their debt in a reasonable time, so that there is a shortage of those in lower paying specialties like the primary care ones (even though the lower paying specialties pay many times more than most other jobs).
Passion! I took my Northwestern undergrad degree and moved to the Blue Ridge Mountains to get my very first teaching job (for $8,400 a year!) and felt privileged to be able to follow my dream. I am still feeling privileged to be teaching, now making well into 6 figures in the Chicago North Shore suburbs, raising an adopted daughter as a single mom, sending her to a great college. I love getting up in the morning and going to my “job” nine months a year. Almost 40 years and three more until retirement. And I think I will miss it then.
Do what you love; you only have one life and you might as well enjoy it. I wish my daughter joy more than power, income, or prestige.
Passion, definitely.
And when the passion ran out with career #1, I let passion drive me to career #2.
I was actually sitting at a desk, procrastinating doing stuff for fun when I was supposed to be doing #1-type work, and thinking to myself, “if only I could get paid for this fun stuff…” – when the aha! moment came (“wait a minute, I can get paid!”)… and from then on there was no going back.
I’ve done both. When I got tired of the grind at the job-for-money I quit and worked for 3 years at a job-for-passion. Then financial realities, and the need to save up for kids college tuition forced me to go back to work for money.
Passion definitely. I was the only non-engineer in a family of engineers so clearly I didn’t choose a major that gave me a cushy starting salary.
These survey questions make me a little itchy. But I’m answering because it did affect my advice to D1.
By about 6 months in, I hated most of my early work (even though it had some cachet and one job let me afford living in a nice part of SF.) I quit those, with various excuses. But that SF job led to a few others and eventually, via dumb luck, landed me in a sister field where I knew, in the very first week, that I could last decades. I did.
It wasn’t so much about love of the “job” but the constant learning, analysis, and complexity/precision. This revelation came at a start-up. In that environment, I found you have to work hard, the new company depends on it. But at the same time, you’re helping create the company, move it forward, and have a lot of leeway to create new processes, have a voice.
I advised D1 to look to the tech world, small companies that depended on her energy, though she was a humanities kid. She found her match, too.
I mostly worked for money over passion because I didn’t have much choice in the matter. Raising a family and trying to buy a house in the SF Bay Area is expensive. But as a result, I had a lot of jobs I didn’t enjoy.
There is an old saying…
“Do what you love; love what you do.”
I really loved my job. If I hadn’t loved it so much, I would have found a different career path sometime in my adulthood.
We encouraged our kids to follow their passions…to do what they loved.
Passion.
In my day at least, not many Williams graduates were entering public education. I wanted to make a difference for children.
I have loved my job, always, while I have friends and relatives who do not love their jobs. One’s job is a big part of one’s life, consuming many hours. If one does not enjoy it, it seems to me that life would be miserable.
And, although I did not pick my job for money and some consider teaching a “low paid” field, the salary is adequate to our needs. I earn more than my husband does, but we still have a house and enough money to send our child to the college of his choice without financial aid. Why would anyone need more money than that?
Money. I figured there was no job I could be happy at doing 40+ hours a week, so I might just as well maximize my return. I’ve had job offers that I turned down because it wasn’t worth my while to get out of the bed. My passion would be considered as my hobby, not job. It has worked out very well for me. My job afforded my hobbies (travel, dining) and paid for my kids’ education, ECs and a nice childhood.
My daughters also have the same view as me. D1 works very hard and is compensated well for her time, and in turn she is able to live where she wants to and travel to many exotic places. D2 has a passion for public services, but she will pay her dues so she could pursue her passion at some point. Both of them know they have obligations to their next generation.
A little of both. I probably would have loved being a math teacher but my parents did not encourage that at all. My passion is teaching or doing arts and crafts. I’m an engineer. I work basically for NASA. I left a higher paying job to go there. I have passionately loved many of my years there and have been terribly unhappy some of my years there. I stuck it out. I love what I’m doing now. I love how everyday is a little different. I love working in new programs. There were times I would have preferred to stay home but the money was needed. I like that my job has been flexible when I needed it to be and I have the best co-workers.
I wanted my kids to do something they are passionate about. My daughter hasn’t figured out what that is yet (if going to clubs, sleeping and playing stress free indoor soccer could be a career she would be there). My son is passionate about being an equine vet. We made financial decisions that will let us help him so he can get out with little to no debt (we hope) and follow his dreams.
Money
It is fine to pursue your passion as long as you are self supporting. I just see too many parents subsidizing their children because their kids do not feel it’s fulfilling to sit in a cubicle.
I worked for passion: an academic career of teaching and research. It was very demanding but also rewarding in the sense that somebody paid me well to do what I liked to do. And somebody else (employer, granting agencies and foundations) paid for most of my travel, within the US and abroad. However, the biggest “payoff” was that I enjoyed what I was able to achieve; my publications are a mark of my achievement and professional recognition. And (in retirement) I’m still in contact with a number of my former students (thanks especially to Facebook).
When I was young I worked in interesting fields I liked which paid extremely well. Coming from a very poor background meant I valued money and it’s ability to give me security. As time passed, I continued to do interesting jobs taking on more risks. I started business #1 which was highly successful til 9/11. Then I switched it up. By the time we were ready to have kids I had gotten more education and started business #2. This part of my life took me into a field where I had a lot of passion and was very flexible.
I never let myself work for low paying jobs after college. ( Before college I did) I fundamentally don’t believe in it.I had only one job I disliked ( the people were unkind though the work paid well and was very interesting. In my younger days I worked a lot and travelled and lived in multiple countries. It was good but not as balanced as a complete family life.
My kids say that my work is my passion and that’s true. They say my spouse works hard and I work happy. In this business, it is really pure luck that it is high paying. I have balance.
Several years ago, my spouse was considering opening a business. I highly supported it though it meant uncertainty. Our kiddos have seen us both working as entrepreneurs. Doing big things and climbing big hills. I think this is something they will retain. They know it is not easy to raise a family or to work. We talk about our challenges and joys at dinner.
Not everyone has the luxury of making that choice. Someone unlucky enough to graduate into an economic downturn may have no choice but a low paying job or unemployment.
Indeed, the self-selection of posters on these forums probably skews the answers strongly toward “passion” (that happens to provide sufficient money), even though most people in the real world work because they need to earn money, and do their actual passion as an “extracurricular” if they have time.