I talked to a young college student I know well the other day.  He was trying to decide where he should work for the summer.  His friends had all signed up with one company and wanted him to join them for the summer.  But this bright young man had another offer that was significantly higher.  The rub was the working environment wasn’t nearly as good and none of his friends would be working there.  Finally, his friends might be offended he chose to go elsewhere.

He asked my advice.

Here’s what I told him.  If we were talking about a career here, we would look at the salary way down the list.  There are many things more important than salary in a career move.  But we’re talking about a summer job — four months.  It will start, it will fly by, it will be over.  In that scenario I’d follow the money every time.  You can do anything for four months, and if it helps you get through college without a mountain of debt, so much the better.  Why take a lesser salary when you’re trying to get through college just to be with your buddies?  You can spend the whole school year with them.  Follow the money!

I compare that with another young woman just graduating college.  She had an offer in her field where the salary was astronomical (near $100K for a recent graduate.)  The problem with this one was it wasn’t exactly what she thought she’d be doing with her degree.  She wasn’t at all averse to doing the work — in some ways it almost sounded exciting — but it wasn’t what she thought she’d be doing.  What should she do?

Again, salary isn’t everything, especially in a career choice.  But we’re talking about a young lady with nearly $150K in student loans to pay off.  Her other employment opportunities were in the $50K range.  There’s no question on this one either — follow the money.  At 24 years old, you can work for a year or two, pay off your student loans and then decide what you’re going to do long term.  At the very least you’re getting real-world experience and being paid handsomely for it.  Not only that, when you go to look for the next position, you have a salary history well above your competitors, indicating you have something on the ball.  And who knows, maybe it will turn out to be the job of your dreams.  Follow the money.

The final example is a middle manager who has been offered a shot at a big promotion and a big salary increase.  The only problem is the offering company is unstable and has a less than stellar reputation for treating its employees well.  There are two ways of looking at this one: 1) I’m going to go and get some experience and move on (using the position as a stepping stone and living with the grief along the way,) or 2) I’ll wait for a better opportunity  –  this is no time to be gambling with a good job, where I’m well-treated and secure.  You have to make that call, but in this case, I’d place a low priority on the increase in salary.

Those are some real-world examples of when you should follow the money and when you should think twice.  Money does not buy happiness, but no money can certainly buy you a lot of unhappiness.  If you need the money desperately you have few options but to take it.  If you’ve been wise about how you manage your money, you can see salary for what it is — just another piece of the puzzle.

Good luck!