Louise's blog: Stop Chasing the Money

As I hit my 35th birthday this September I also hit that moment in my life where I realised the point of my career was not about ‘the money’. 

As I reflect on my career choices, I realise that so many of them were driven solely by remuneration. If I’m brutally honest with myself a lot of my drive to progress was about how much money I could earn as opposed to ‘what else am I getting out of this role, where will this lead me in the long term?’. 

If I could have told 26 year old me to ‘hold out for another few years’ in the job I was in where the career exposure was going to propel me I would probably be in a much higher position than I am right now. Instead 26 year old me got on my high horse and thought I’m not being paid enough for what I do. I couldn’t see the long game at that point, that if I could just stick it out, I would have had so much more experience and knowledge to make a better informed career move. 

Now that I’ve realised that its not all about the money I have a lot more clarity to think about my career development, what I’m gaining, where that can take me in the long term and what does job satisfaction mean to me. 

Recently I worked with a number of trainees who I’ve seen taken jobs which in the moment and on the face of it look like a good idea but I see myself in them and want to tell them that they are going to get stuck in that role and limit their progression or they will get bored and then loose the experience they could gain. Of course I don’t say this as like me they need to learn this for themselves and perhaps as I know it is for some they may always wish to chase the money.

Louise is a Senior Consultant, married and lives in Essex with her two wonderfully chaotic boys aged 1 and 3.

Tags:
• Careers