I don't care about being Fired in my situation.. am I being irrational?

[blackomen]

I have a Masters degree in my field and currently make less than the US median salary (and well under half of the median salary in my field.) I've been working for the same start-up for over 2 years. Recently, they've laid off pretty much all of their staff and I'm now literally the only employee left.

I've not had any raises at all. However, management now expects me to pretty much be on call 24/7 and report to the office at a moment's notice in addition to working 10+ hours at the office every day (it was originally agreed to be 8 hours but now I'm taking on the workload of those departed.)

I've got quite a bit of cash saved up despite the measly pay and I can easily live off of it for well over 2 years. So now, I don't really care if they decide to fire me. In fact, I haven't had the chance to take a real vacation for over 2 years and I have the budget for one not to mention still being able to live for 1+ years on the remaining cash.

I don't plan on purposely getting fired of course but I will only continue to do the minimum (aka what I was originally hired to do) and if management doesn't like the idea, they can fire my @ $ $ and "free" me to take my long deserved vacation.

Am I insane for even thinking that?

 

[AAAgent]

Just wanted to get a bit of background on you before i put in my cents.

Are you more interested in working hard and making tons of money/climbing the ladder/starting your own business, etc?

or

Do you prefer to find a job that pays well and work your 9-5 and go home?

Sounds like number 2 to me.

 

[blackomen]

Neither of these, although I'm leaning towards starting a business. I'm thinking something along the lines of an Internet Marketing business.. I don't care if it takes several months or years of hard work to set up.. just want something that can provide decent cash once completely established for minimal work (say 30 or less hours a week that can be done anywhere with an Internet connection) while I free up my life to pursue other activities or hobbies.

But before I achieve this dream, I'm leaning towards #2 while working on this business.

 

[AAAgent]

damn i just wrote a long post that didn't send.

summary.

Most Master's degree's don't pay more unless its for a specialized field that requires it like economics for economists. Don't expect a huge pay increase unless from a top tier school and its still not guaranteed. U'd be lucky imo to get much more.

MBA's don't get you top dollar either unless you're graduating from a top 20 school. Expect 20-40% increase in salary if you've graduated from a school outside top 20. In the top 20, you can expect 100-200% increase in salary once you graduate. Big companies pay for the brand name and the history of success from their graduates.

working at a start-up isn't all that bad and you shouldn't expect top dollar from a startup that isn't backed by VC/PE funding. Even if it is, don't expect top dollar. What you should expect at a startup is exactly what you're saying.

Long hours, little pay, and to be a jack of all trades. It's not all bad though. You get a great title as most of the time that's all they have to offer instead of pay raises, they promote you. So now you open up more opportunities as you have more skills and experience.

I'd start applying for jobs asap and work hard so you have a good recommendation if you need one.

 

[d!ckmojo]

Sounds like the business you're working for isn't doing too well in the market.

The only attraction of working for a start up is to be on the inside when it goes to the moon, like employees who worked for Google 15 or 13 years ago.

But if the start up is going to go belly up, cut your losses and exit, dude.

Try and find a start up which is going to become the next big thing, and go and work for them.

TO find out how to do that, read this book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Star-Principle-Make-Rich/dp/0749929626