If you are currently unemployed and you have recently been offered a job that is at a lesser salary then your last job, you have a choice to make. Do you take the lesser paying job or do you stay on unemployment and keep taking the benefits?

First of all, nobody should want to stay on unemployment. Unemployment is a wonderful benefit to get you through a rough patch, but it should never be used as a crutch to be relied upon as a long-term solution. Therefore, your decision should be thought over with great care and here are some of the things you will want to consider when making your choice:

– Type of Job Offer: What type of job were you offered? If you were offered a job that may start with lower pay, but that you can quickly work your up in, then you may want to take it. If however you have been offered a job with no room for growth then you may want to hold out for just a bit longer.

– Timing of the Job Offer: As you probably already know, you only have a certain amount of time that you can be on unemployment. This means that your benefits will eventually run out. If the job offer you have received comes when you have little time left in benefits, then you should take it as you never know when the next job offer will come along. However, if the job offer comes when your benefits just started, then you have the luxury of being a little pickier with what you take job wise. Just be sure you don’t wait too long.

– What is Available: This is a common mistake that many on unemployment make. They think that they can hold out for a job exactly like the one that they previously had, but in reality there is not much available in that sector anymore. This can be due to a phase out of a position in the entire sector as new advancements may have made a certain position all but obsolete. If this is the case with your previous job, then holding out for something that will not likely materialize is a sure way to exhaust your unemployment benefits and then be stuck with a big goose egg.

Of course in the end you have to ask yourself how you feel about the whole situation. Many people think that going on unemployment is an embarrassment and will therefore take the first job that comes along. However, you may realize that unemployment is in fact a benefit that every hard working American is entitled to when the going gets tough.

How you feel on the situation is of course going to differ from anyone else, but just remember that these benefits are there for a reason and if you are not abusing them you should feel no guilt. Don’t steamroll yourself into a low paying job that will go nowhere simply because of your pride.

Author Bio: Learn more job search strategies at JobGoRound.com.

Category: Jobs
Keywords: unemployment, job, career, laid off