Dream job or Dream lifestyle

[Kid Charlemagne]

Are we talking "game field" = pen & paper RPG, or "game field" = computer gaming? If the former, take the lifestyle choice, hands-down. If the latter, you may have the opportunity for making up the money later.

 

[DonTadow]

I'd be i ncharge of a marketing department for a small company that specializes in RPGs and other forms of games.

 

[sniffles]

I'd have to agree with Piratecat and Ranger Wickett. I have a good friend who's worked in the RPG industry for years as a freelance. Admittedly that's not quite the same as what you're looking at, but my friend has never been able to rely on his income from that work, even though he's usually always got a contract with some game company to do some type of work. In order to make ends meet he works days as tech support. He still had to declare bankruptcy a couple of years ago.

Stability and benefits are awfully important things. One out of five people will suffer some kind of disabling injury or illness that keeps them off work for more than a week at some point in their lives. If your 'dream lifestyle' employer has good health benefits and a good sick leave policy or disability insurance, that's worth more than you may think.

 

[Turanil]

I'd be in charge of a marketing department for a small company that specializes in RPGs and other forms of games.

I have worked in the marketing / advertising for years. Believe me, that it be for a RPG company won't turn the job into a dream job, it's still marketing / advertising. I would really go with the dream lifestyle if I were you.

 

[Mycanid]

Dream lifestyle. Hands down. There shouldn't be an argument here. Dream jobs can often go sour. There are no expectations with the "boring" job.

Especially if you eventually get married and have kids financial and medical security now will save a lot of gray hairs and worry in the future. (Sometimes these things happen out of left field you know. Unless you are a fungus....)

 

[Umbran]

If it doesn't pay the bills, it is not a "dream job". If it means you can't afford to go anywhere, do anything, or otherwise enjoy life, it isn't a "dream job". It isn't a "dream job" if you have to keep eating cheap Ramen

Meanwhile, an inoffensive job that pays the bills, and then more for a buffer for emergencies, saving for retirement, and gives you expendable income for recreation can be pretty darned nice.

 

[DonTadow]

Wow, I didn't expect it to be so lopsided, I didnt even mention that the dream lifestyle job matches my retirement savings 2:1 (didn't think about it until sniffles comments) nor that I'd probably be out of pocket of $3k (have to pay off my lease here and moving expensises) if I accepted the dream job.

I wish that hte dream job paid a few thousand more (mid 20k range) so that it could at least have been a more challenging system logically. Now that I've read so many comments, I can hardly understand why I have been hestitating so much to accept the dream lifestyle job.

I guess I"m so worried that I"m throwing away "an opportunity". A few years ago I ran into the exact same thing. A small board game company in WAshington (the company that makes the cranium game) had an entry marketing sales job, at the time I was out of work but it required me to move there. I turned it down because I swore I was going ot marry the girl I was with yadda yadda yadda. Two months after I turned the job down, I found out she was cheating on me, far after I passed up on the opportunity. So since then I've always had some regret, and thus this made THIS decision a little harder for me, but wow, obviously it shouldnt have been that hard.

 

[takyris]

I'm in with the others. If the well-paying job isn't a job you MIND, that's the one I'd suggest. Having money doesn't necessarily make all your problems go away, but NOT having money creates all kinds of new ones. NOT having money combined with moving to an area where I'm assuming you don't know many people? That's all kinds of stressful.

I can see the attraction of a job that ties into something I love doing, but I'd keep that as just one of the factors in my decision. I might take a well-paying dream job in another state, or a not-well paying dream job nearby, but a not-well paying dream job in another state sounds like a lot of work compared to your other offer.

Either way, though, it's really nice to have the opportunities. Good luck!

 

[Nellisir]

Dream lifestyle, absolutely. I understand the appeal of the job, but it's the sort of thing that will still be there in 10 years. In the meantime, you can make 60K a year, live on 15K, and bank the rest. Then, if the dream job isn't there in 10 years, you'll have 450K to start your own darned company and hire the designer of your choice to make coffee for a few years.

 

[tonym]

Since your gaming-company paycheck would be so small, it makes me wonder if you'll have a small marketing budget, too. That could be frustrating.

I bet they're planning to put a sandwich board on you with ads painted on the front and back and have you stand outside their building, waving at cars.

Tony M