New England B.S. Thread

From where would I be moving?

 

i assume the cost of living is also less? so not a true 50% pay cut?
what are the long term opportunities?
have you done a pro/cons?
how often will you be able to wheel?
i've taken a pay cut before for a better work/life balance, but there wasn't much opportunity to advance when i did that. ended up going back

 

my non logical advice:
move around while you're still young enough to hahaha

 

I'd have the same follow ups as RRG but also would want to know, at a 50% pay cut, can you still survive and make ends meet? If you're making $300k, taking a 50% pay cut and moving to Maine sounds like a no-brainer! If you're making a more modest salary, losing the money and putting your body to work could be risky.

 

hahaha good call. if you're making $30k/year that could be a bad pay cut haha

 

If somebody's only making $30k a year as a Mechanical Engineer in Massachusetts, they did a HORRIBLE job of negotiating their salary when they got hired...

 

i have no idea what engineers make

 

Central MA

Unsure. Slightly. Undetermined (summer I would assume it's easier to get away than winter). I may hurt that balance; I'd be going from salary to hourly and working weekends/holidays. I haven't had an interview yet to find out a lot of the nitty gritty details on how that stuff would be handled. Was supposed to have one Saturday AM but they guy lost his phone and I didn't hear from him till today.

Partial reasoning & the fact that I'd be working with my hands at a ski resort vs behind a desk doing design work.

I'm making a modest income now so the 50% will be a hit especially until the truck gets paid off but, my SO could help even things out as much as I don't want to need to rely on her.

FTFY

 

$50k is about the minimum

*at least in MA

 

this may be why i've never been hitched, but i wouldn't put myself in a position where i needed to rely on someone else's income. and honestly, if i were to go to working weekends and holidays i'd need a pay increase, not decrease

 

Then Yes. In a heartbeat.

Most areas of Maine have considerably cheaper housing prices than most of MA, but other things (cars, food, etc) are roughly the same (cars are probably actually more expensive, since there's lower volume getting sold and less competition close-by).

Edit- Plus we tend to have longer, colder winters and there's less availability of Natural Gas, so you can expect to spend more on heat unless you're burning wood.

 

Depends on the type of engineer and the position. Some are much more lucrative than others. Generally, $50k is a good starting point in MA, maybe a little less out in the more rural areas or if you're working for a small town (but then, you should have the government benefits to help offset). An engineer, with a PE license, should be making considerably more. You can also do very well working as a consultant as an engineer.

 

What part of Maine would you be moving to, @micwillia ?

 

It would be a huge change for me since I'd go from being easily comfortable to very tight. The winter weekends aren't as big of an issue for me since I'd want to be at the mountain anyways but if summer weekends are lost then it could be a game changer. This move would likely not be a career advancer but would probably be far more enjoyable.

it's a huge selling feature of being in ME. Yeah I looked briefly at houses/rent and it's amazing the difference....found a place that has ~10 acres, 2 oversized garages, & 2.7ksqft for $200k.....that would easily be $750k+ in MA

That's where I lose a little bit in the game; I have no PE or EIT and don't really want to try for one. I'd be continuing on a path of positions that wouldn't need one so I don't have the same pay ceiling as a lot of other MEs out there

 

Resort is in Bethel but I'd probably look midway between Portland and Bethel. Maybe around the Paris/Oxford area

 

Hm. That's fairly close to me...

Massachusetts is awesome. You should stay down there.

 

short term fun is all good, but your career can't wait. if you're not growing you're dying

 

Shrug. Not necessarily. He's said that the new job would be more rewarding. Taking a pay cut to move from a job you don't like to a job you do isn't necessarily a bad plan, long-term. People tend to underestimate the value of enjoying what you do vs making more $$.

 

I may be another Masshole but, I'd fit in better in ME

But at the same time Money can't buy happiness if the career I'm in isn't really for me. I already took a shortcut to even be an engineer since I didn't want to be behind a desk doing calculations forever; I'm a hands on type of person. My degree is for MET which is suppose to be the middle man between an engineer and machinist but, I know most of what engineers need to know so I could get a ME position.

Lol

 

i think there's value in enjoying what you do, but you also don't want to miss out on laying a foundation for a career while everyone around you is. then you wake up and you're 45 and still don't know what you want to do when you grow up.

not saying that's what's going to happen to you mike, just to keep it in mind