Musing - July 11, 2011

My boss pulls me into her office. I can feel the sweat dripping off my chest inside my shirt. My heart pounds as I sit down. Just then, she snatches my timesheet and rips it in half, bites into her pencil then goes to town on me. Yep, just the conclusion to another hourly workday.

Given the choice, would you take a guaranteed salary or an all-you-can-eat hourly wage?

The answer, of course, will depend on your personal situation. For me, hourly wages lead to questions about how I spent my time. My head pounds just thinking about how I’m wasting clients’ dollars each time I go to the bathroom, reach for another handful of sunflower seeds, or – God forbid – yawn.

If you’re a temporary employee like me who could be let go at any time, a guaranteed salary would be very nice upon which to rely. If you’re a workaholic company man, the hourly wage would be a deserved raise.

However, consider the ramifications of each. A salary makes a man complacent, satisfied. A raise has a tough time adhering to the next promotion. Extra work tends to be spoon-fed to the salaried because it costs the company nothing more.

The hourly wage, though, goes away at every holiday. Each vacation costs a week’s pay. Time equals money, literally. When your time is bought, every second of it is expected to be of value. If you’re not completing billable work, you’re wasting company resources.

It’s an interesting dilemma from which to choose. Right now, it’s nice to be able to garner overtime pay and have extra hours actually pay off. I’m not looking forward to a year from now upon graduation and landing a job where I can be manhandled into toiling the nights away at my desk for no marginal compensation. But the pressure of the expectation of productivity can sap an hourly man’s soul.

I know that even a salaried man must account for his time. I’ve been there, too. 60-hour work-weeks were barely a blip on the radar. But you put them in and your boss praises you. You work 60 hours on wages and your boss rips you for those 20 time-and-a-half hours. Are you kidding me?! I have literally been given “permission” to work overtime. I have to tell you, that was a weird exchange.

Life is a trade-off and it’s easier to climb the ladder when your boss is not worried about giving you extra work. Here’s the next question: Do you want to spent your accounted-for time and stress units climbing the ladder or building your wallet?

The answer to that consideration makes a big difference of not only which job you choose but how you structure your career.

Two married men from two similar upbringings. One chooses grad school to get a solid, salaried, demanding, but outlined career and weeks. The latter chooses an entrepreneurial venture full of daily and financial volatility, but passion and endless possibilities.

The former is an easy man with which to hang while the former clasps to his business constantly. Both are lovable in their own rights, with devoted wives and children. Yet neither could ever grasp the other’s life. I mean, it’s as if one is West Coast, the other East. One from America, the other Japan. I stop short of pitting opposing gods, but the comparison is not that far off.

And I think about how easy it is to choose one path or the other and the consequences of each. It comes down to stability versus passion. Comfort or engagement. Building a system, or building a legacy.

Neither choice in itself concludes with sheer enlightenment (giving due consideration might); however, the choice makes the man. I cannot recommend letting life choose for you.

How do you want to get paid? When do you want to get paid?

Next time your boss pulls you into her office while you are sleeping, will it be a daily nightmare? Or will it be an erotic dream?

Probably ought to write a version for the ladies…