Money vs Experience when job hunting.

[Waylen Herdman]

I'm 22 and used to work at a seasonal company last summer spraying peoples yards for mosquitos and was getting paid $17/HR. I left the job after the season and got a job as a property manager for a Storage Facility. I love being a PM and see it as a career for me. I initially got started in PM befcause I plan on owning some rentals in the not-so-distant future (under a year, maybe year and a half). The only issue is that I'm getting paid $12/HR and thus, will take longer for me to acquire my first house-hack rental.

I've just received a text from my former employee that if I go back to this company, not only will I stay at the $17/HR BUT during the offseason (November-March) I will get paid $400 a week for no work if I stay on until next year. I did the math and that's an additional 8k and thats only if I don't work from Nov-March.

What do you think is smarter? I'm leaning towards my previous job but I absolutley see myself in the PM field, would you take the great money for a year or two then delve deeper into PM or just to stick it out with a PM job?

[Waylen Herdman]

@Grant Rothenburger

Both are W2 jobs surprisingly.

My concern is the $ for a downpayment for sure, I'll burn the bridge of obtaining a mortgage once I get there.

I realize taking 2 weeks off every 5 months severely hinders my growth within a company but at this point in my life I don't want to let go of the relationship (Ask me again in a few years :p). It does really suck knowing that I'm not in the position to leverage a pay raise. That's why I feel taking the higher paying job is more beneficial to me right now as I can use that immediate pay raise to acquire my first property substantially quicker. 

An extra $5 an hour over only 6 months (Which is how long I'd work there, maybe 7 if it stays warmer outside longer than normal)  is 5k which is miniscule in the grand scheme of things but is massive for me to acquire that first property.