These past few months, I had been receiving a lot of calls inviting me to fill-up vacant positions on both local and offshore companies. Their offers are quite tempting when it comes to compensations and benefits, that it made me think twice if I should move on with my current “work at home” job or go back to the usual office work. One Singaporean company even offered me around S$7000 (Singapore Dollars) to work and relocate there with my family. I was surprised about the offer, but I decided to just think about things more deeply so I turned it down. Some of my close friends were quite surprised about my decision, and felt a bit disappointed on me turning down such offer.
While giving some thoughts on all the job offers I received and the amount of money I should have earned, I realized that I am still the old me that believes that there are just some things more important than salary alone. I know a lot of people who would ask about the salary first when considering a job, before they even ask about what kind of work they would have, and the conditions they need to deal with. It’s just like a salary race nowadays for most people. I do understand that people want to earn more to provide themselves and their families both luxuries and needs. I can’t really blame them for thinking that way, since almost everyone just wanted to live in a big house, drive around with cool cars, or satisfy their cravings for the latest techie gadgets or fashion trends out there. I even know some people who would leave their current job, if they learned that a friend is earning more doing the same thing and with the same years of experience. I just laugh at these people. They don’t even try looking at themselves, and see if they are really worth every penny they ask for or yearn for. How pathetic is it for someone, to dream of a high pay, without first dreaming of being the best in his field. It’s plainly envy and greed mixed up in them, or maybe just the need to have a better life I suppose. But don’t they think they are just making fool of themselves, wanting to be a developer paid in 6-digits amount when they still don’t have that much knowledge to design a software architecture from the ground up. I know some companies would pay big for mid-talented programmers or great developer wannabees, and it may be unfair for those true hardcore programmers earning less. Then again, that’s life you, really have to stop comparing yourself with others and just be happy with what you have and just make good of yourself. The best programmers out there doesn’t really care about how much they are earning, but rather how much they are learning. And the well deserved management teams out there are those that had learned the trade pretty well throughout their years of existence in the IT industry and not just someone who learned how to manipulate corporate politics to their advantage. Unfair? Yest it is, but who cares. Let’s just stop complaining, and focus on being the best that we can be. Good things will follow, and the rewards would be great. Trust me on this. 
For me, I really do think that work is not all about salaries. It’s true that we work to earn a living, but I never ever really lived to work. I still remember my post about how to invest well or earn more, and sad to say, I was never really good at it. It’s not that I’m poor in financials, but I just don’t see money as something I need to take care of day and night, for it to grow like a money tree of some sort . It’s enough for me to have several time deposits to secure my family’s future and also a bit of extra for a coffee with Aphilo every morning as part of our bonding ritual. I am just the kind of person that don’t want to think about money that much. I have other more important things to think of than just that tiny piece of paper we put in our wallet. I rather think of how to integrate third-party JMS providers within JBoss, or learn the latest SEAM application, or optimize databases for production environments, than think of making enough money to buy that iPod touch displayed at the gadget stores. It’s just not how I work. It may be part of my motivation, but never my focus.
So what’s important for me with work? It’s simple, “HAPPINESS”. I simply want to be happy with what I am doing , and with the people around me at work. I don’t care much about the earnings, as long as I get what I deserve and what’s enough for me and my family’s needs. I also want to be happy going home in time for dinner, and spending quality time with my Aphilo and the kids. It’s just simple work and living that makes me happy, and that’s it.
Am I happy right now, you ask? The answer is YES! I am happy with my work as I get to learn new stuffs almost every week. During the past 9 months, that I had been working with my current employer, I learned more stuffs in programming and server administration than any of my previous employers. Each new project given to me provides me the challenges I need to push myself to the limits in a positive way and expand my knowledge on what I really love doing (which is of course, anything about computers). This is really what I want, as it bores me to do be stuck in a monotonous job. I am also happy with the people in my company. Not only am I able to work with IT experts who are already well respected in their chosen fields, but they are really kind and appreciative with my work. Moreover, who wouldn’t be happy working in a company where stress and burning out, doesn’t exist? Management always see through it that their employees are not being stressed or burned out with their respective projects, and they are really doing a good job on this with such excellent management and people skills (I’ll blog about this on a separate post). Most importantly, I am “working at home” so I have plenty of time for myself and my family, and only having to work 35 hours/week just makes things a lot better for me to spend quality time to the most important people in my life. For me that is simply priceless, and more important that salary alone.
So just give this some thought.. are you good enough to really earn that much? Are you happy with your current job, or just simply doesn’t find contentment as you focus more on earning millions in the shortest time possible, or feeling sorry for yourself as a lot of people earn more than you do, than being the best in your trade? Well, my opinion might not be suitable for most people, and some may totally disagree. I respect their way of thinking, and I believe we have the right to our own opinion. This is just how I think..
