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Ask HN: Should I Take a Paycut?

9 points by jakeinspace ↗ HN
I left my job in Texas (software engineer in the aerospace sector) last fall, for a combination of personal and professional reasons, among which was allowing myself the time to start on a CS Master's program online. Now, 6 months later, I'm looking to return to work while continuing my degree part-time. I've received an enticing offer from a Montreal company, which is nearly ideal in all ways other than salary, that being be a significant cut compared to my previous salary (~$80k -> ~$55K USD).

I know the Montreal job market for software engineers isn't nearly as lucrative as it is in the US, and I'm okay with that; it's still enough money for me to live comfortably as a single person in Montreal. I'm just concerned whether I'm hurting my future earnings, were I to return the the US in the future. Is this really something I should be worried about?

13 comments

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capableweb
> I'm just concerned whether I'm hurting my future earnings, were I to return the the US in the future

I don't understand how your current earnings can affect your future earnings, especially in two different countries? You have no obligation to tell the new company (if/when you move to another one in the future) what you earned before, and you also have no obligation to tell them truth about what you used to earn.

viraptor
What do you mean by "part time" if you're doing 50% fo the week that would be $110k equivalent and an improvement for example.

> I'm just concerned whether I'm hurting my future earnings

Your previous salary does not matter in future negotiations. If you're told otherwise by the recruiter, push back with expected future salary.

jakeinspace
To be clear, I intend on returning to work full-time, while taking a single grad class in the evenings as a part-time student.
sloaken
IMHO if you are not employed and are looking for a job, you risk a 10 - 30% pay cut. Now some people have been able to quit a job before the next one is lined up and do better, but most do not. So the loss is not expected.

How is the difference in cost of living? Taxes? Benefits? It all adds to the value of the job. If your last working environment was toxic, then any change is a move up.

If your prior job was not toxic, have you looked at going back?

When you get your masters, then is a perfect time to move on if your salary has not risen enough. And because of your masters you would expect a significant raise, which companies give to the new person, but rarely reward the old employee.

jakeinspace
That point about moving on or expecting a raise upon finishing my degree is a great point. And yes, I realize that I took a salary risk leaving my job without an offer.

Cost of living makes the salary difference less significant than it would otherwise be, but tax differences pretty much cancel that out - rough estimate would be that in Texas I was taking home around $66k USD after taxes, vs around $46k USD with the new offer in Canada. Insurance and other benefits are comparable.

I lived in Montreal for 5 years (I went to college there), and it's a really fantastic city. Now that I've gotten the experience of living in a place I'm not so keen on, I'm more aware of how much that factor weighs in my decision.

shoo
If you can cultivate a number of job opportunities at once and get simultaneous competing offers from multiple employers, then you'll be in a stronger position to get offers with attractive compensation at the market rate.
zerr
Is software engineer such a low-paid profession in Montreal that it is only sufficient for a single person? Lawyers and doctors are in the same situation there?
jakeinspace
No, but (at least in this sub-industry) it is more unionized than in the US, with greater deference given to seniority. I've only been out of college for a few years, and am very much at the beginning of my career.

Not sure about lawyers, but Canadian doctors certainly have a lower salary cap (meaning for surgeons/specialists) than they'd have in the US.

aprdm
The salary quoted here is definitely a low salary in Montreal too for anyone with more than 2 years of experience.
coolpanda0
Agree. there are sites do salary compare. if it is Montreal, 55k is not a lot.. Also Quebec has higher tax and better benefit, French is more widely used than English.
codegeek
The answer depends on what's more important to you. Do want to live in Montreal or make more money living in the US ? You cannot have it both unfortunately. I wouldn't worry about future issues though if changing countries. You can always negotiate a higher salary while moving back to US if you are worth it.

So for short term, if you want to be in Montreal, go for it. In the future if/when you want to move back to US, just look for a job and ask them for a salary that you think is a good match then. Don't sweat it right now.

gcheong
Have you tried to negotiate the salary up at all? I don't think it will affect your future job salary but it might at least be worth trying to negotiate this job. You could counter offer something along the lines of "55K seems quite low for this position given my skills and experience but I would take X without hesitation.". But money isn't everything and if the job really hits all your other ideals maybe just go for it.
joshxyz
That is $25k paycut, are the other benefits worth that $25k?

How about your expenses, lifestyle, dating, and vices