Career Planning: Is a Job Offer With a Huge Pay Cut Ever Worth Taking?

Working in the corporate world sometimes leads to events that are beyond our control. The global pandemic is just the latest sign of how unpredictable life can be. One minute you're in a secured role in a stable company, then the next minute, the company is restructuring. You're suddenly laid off or left to settle for a significantly lower salary. Even without a raging plague, sudden changes like this can happen to any company. Without proper career planning, your professional life will be at the mercy of the company for whom you are currently working. If you're an experienced professional, you may want to consider moving to another industry when laying out your career plans. However, it could mean taking a sizeable pay cut or even a demotion.

Read on to find out why (and when) it's ok. Plus, we have tips on how you can make the most of your move.

Taking a Pay Cut Isn't Always Bad

The job market in Singapore is still suffering from the effects of COVID-19. That said, being bullish on staying in the same industry could be difficult, especially if it's one of the hardest hit by the global pandemic. Not many opportunities may be open for you if you were retrenched. If you managed to keep your role, your company may have made an executive decision: to negotiate pay cuts to keep the industry afloat.

Assess the job climate as well as your personal context. Depending on your situation, taking a pay cut may seem like a better option than not having a job at all.

According to a JobStreet survey, one in four Singaporeans lost their jobs due to COVID-19, while two in five Singaporeans had their salaries affected during the circuit breaker period. The same survey revealed that these changes caused Singaporean employees to be significantly unhappier now than pre-COVID-19.

Now is the perfect time to evaluate your professional options. You might believe that making a mid-career change could be a step back in terms of career progression. It may mean receiving job offers with a significant pay cut especially considering your years of experience. However, these are strange times.

According to JobStreet's Decoding Global Talent report, financial compensation is only third in a Singaporean jobseeker's list of priorities. Their top goal is to foster good relationships with their superiors and colleagues. As they say, sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward.

There are definite advantages to moving to a different field. For instance, you could transfer to constantly growing industries or roles to have better leverage in the future. Sure, you could get paid less now, but when the demand grows, you will already have the experience needed to command a better pay rate.

3 Career Planning Tips for a Successful Mid-Career Shift

The challenging part with making a mid-career shift is its financial and career progression aspects. After all, you have already spent years climbing up from your entry-level position to earn a decent position and salary.

However, hirers may not take those years of experience into account if you're moving to a new industry. It may result in significantly lower job offers than what you earned after years of hard work.

This is a common scenario that Ruth Song, a Career Narrative Designer at My Working Title, has seen throughout her career. Ruth has spent years educating, empowering, and providing solutions to people at various stages of their lives and careers. In response to this all-too-familiar situation, she offers three career planning tips so that you can make a mid-career shift without having to settle for job offers that require you to take a huge pay cut:

1. Highlight your related transferable skills.

Working in a new industry shouldn't diminish the years you spent in others. While you are expected to work within your job description, the reality is that you develop and utilise skills that are beyond it.

These are called transferable skills, which are abilities that you can use in any role or field of work. It can help you gain an edge over less experienced candidates since these are honed by trained experience rather than study.

Here's how you can highlight these skills the best:

• Make a list.

You can't show off what you don't know. Because of this, the first step you need to take is to identify your transferable skills.

How did you showcase your organisational skills in your current role? Were there opportunities where your communication skills helped you become more efficient? Did your current job involve working with people?

You can also use this list of transferable skills to guide you as you write your list.

• Do your homework.

It always pays to come prepared. Treat moving to a new industry as if you're a fresh graduate looking for their first job.

Understand your preferred industry or role by checking out different job ads and comparing them. This way, you may be able to see how suited you and your skills are to the expectations of the roles.

• Match your experiences

Now that you have a list of your skills and what the industry or role needs, the next step is to make them fit each other. This way, you can highlight the skills relevant to the job for which you are applying.

To make your CV stand out, don't make one that you can send everywhere. Instead, underscore your skills that match the role or even the company that you aspire to join.

Even if you have tons of transferable skills, hiring you will only make sense if your potential employer can see that it will add value to their organisation.

Also read: Seeking employment during COVID-19? Tailor your skills for these in-demand jobs

2. Use your network

JobStreet has made it easier for you to find #JobsThatMatter by connecting you to thousands of employers looking for talent. However, you can also choose to utilise the network you've built over the years when making a mid-career shift.

Friends, family, or professional contacts who are in the field you are looking to move into can help connect you directly to their companies. They can provide supporting claims that you're a good fit for the team beyond what your CV can show.

Additionally, they can help give you more information about their field so you can prepare better. It may even be mutually beneficial, as some companies offer a bonus to employees who usher in successful applicants.

3. Realign Your Expectations

Vast changes come with making a move to shift to a different industry or role. There will be new work expectations, a different culture to adapt to, and possibly an unfamiliar way of working.

These, on top of an expected payout, are some factors you need to assess when you make your decision. Your success will be immensely affected by how well you accept and adapt to these changes.

Go back to your network to have a better understanding of how your career path would look. This way, you can align your expectations with the possible realities you will have on the job.

Career planning has become more necessary now, especially with all the changes in our ways of working. You could also evaluate where your career is now so that you can be sure that you're on the right path.

If you think that your skills fit a different industry better, don't be afraid to make the move! A huge pay cut will only be temporary, especially if you're passionate about where you're moving to.

It's never too late to find #JobsThatMatter to you. Don't let your fears of moving to a new industry keep you from finding the best version of yourself.

Update your JobStreet profile so that potential employers can see why you're the right candidate for them. You may also download this template for more career planning tips. Meanwhile, you can visit our Career Resources page to get more expert tips, industry insights, and career advice.