Accepting a low-paid position to not be out of work?

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I've got a good lead on a Web developer position. Personally, I'd rather be in software engineering, but experience is experience.

The big downside is that it looks like the pay will be very low; a little more than a third of what an average software engineering job would pay, or, about 40% below average for an entry level web developer position (web developers make a lot less than software engineers). It'd even be significantly less than the internship that I had two years ago.

Now, if I take the job to simply not be out of a job, it may look bad on my resume if I jump ship quickly. This is what I'm really worried about.

Hi it sounds to me like you're confusing web designer with developer. My job title is Software Engineer but I develop a web based applicaton. If that's the only thing around at the moment then I'd take it, it all adds to your CV. Especially with the job climate around at the moment.

If you do not have experience in the job market then your expectations might need to be reviewed.

I'd say take the job to get something on your resume. Jumping ship for a better paying job is pretty common and would make more sense to a prospective employer than some philosophical BS. The longest I have stayed with a company is 3.5 years.

Large software projects that require certain levels of software engineering are probably in a hiring freeze or are using temporary employees until they feel more comfortable hiring someone full time on the company's dime. And, in some places, entry level means two years of experience.

My first job was as a software tester making less money than I was delivering pizza.

It depends on what you want. So you have to answer your question yourself. I'm sorry, I get this guru syndrome often.

But if the job is something you like, take it. If not, forget about it. Figure out what you want and pursue it and excel in it.

You guys are right. I'm looking at my other options, and aside from this (possible; no interview or offer yet, just knowing someone in the company who's friends with the boss), my options are practically nothing.

Even a very underpaid job is better than continuing to gain experience at being unemployed, or, god forbid, the service industry.


I've read the job description, and it sounds like they're a company without any kind of real IT department. The official job title is 'web developer', but it sounds like I'd be responsible for everything related to IT in the company. The boss is the one who handles things right now, and he doesn't have the time or technical knowledge to keep up with it, especially when he has so many other things to deal with.

A wide range of job duties is definitely something that would help me in the skills area. Also, when I compare the job I had in 07 to the one in 08, the 08 job paid over twice as much, but I had very limited duties, and didn't learn anything (aside how to hate life and everything else, but that's a different story). The 07 job, while underpaid, was a fantastic experience otherwise. I learned a whole lot at the company, and the company treated its employees vastly better.

Having any job builds work ethic. Tenure might be an issue, but the plethora of situations you put yourself through might be an asset on a resume as opposed to a liability.

So much depends on how reasonable an individual your boss ends up being. It sounds like there's some work to do which is good. If your boss is medium interested in the details (my problem is often overexplaining), the fact that he currently doesn't know a whole bunch, that's okay. Be a coach, give the information in bite-sized pieces unless it becomes obvious from his reaction that he wants less, or more (occasionally).

What I learned playing poker live games in Las Vegas, it's not that you're straining to pick up subtleties. You're just letting the obvious be obvious. It's very Zen in that fashion. You're just not burying your head so deeply in your own cards that you miss the patently obvious.

If a job lasts less than three months, you really don't need to put it on your resume at all. Longer, I think it's okay, kind of up to you. You don't need to reveal everything. Don't recommend that you lie, but you can keep some things private.

During periods of underemployment, have you thought about taking classes, maybe toward a master's? If you're going even part-time, you can always put on your resume 'Student.'

Actually, it might help you. From all the BS I'm going through trying to find something, the more (and varied) job skills you have, the better.

HR departments like someone that can be thrown in almost anywhere. Hope you get a job with it...