Can a pay cut ever pay off?

Don't ever talk about your salary, they say. But this is true confessions time.

I once, willingly, took a pay cut to get a new job.

Every bit of conventional wisdom (and every one of my Trusted Board of Advisers) warned against it. You don't change jobs for less money (and, in this case, a lesser title as well), they all said.

Problem was, I was in the job I wanted, but not at the right company. The only way to get there was to move down, then up. So I went the route -- moving from big fish/little pond to littler fish, medium-sized lake.

A CNN Money article suggests a number of reasons that might make a pay cut the right choice. Among them -- changing careers, revitalizing your career, moving from a dead-end job to one with potential, or fulfilling a dream or a passion. And in some industries, such as technology, it's not as uncommon as you might think.

My TBAs still said no. I said yes. I'm glad I did, and would do it again. Here's why:

I was fortunate -- I landed in the right place at the right time, and never had to look back with regret. A little over a year later, I was ahead of the game.

Yet this was breaking one of the cardinal rules of salary success. (Another rule: you should make more than your age, ideally $10K more -- that type of thing). It could have ended differently.

Was I crazy? Have you ever been crazy like this, taking salary cuts to get ahead?

And what are some of the other "unofficial rules" of salaries that you've heard?


photo by Capt. Mouffette