I have left jobs several times for other jobs elsewhere that paid better. Each time I did this, it was because I knew I wouldn’t be able to make any more than I currently made at the job I had, and most of the time I was looking elsewhere for a job because I had also decided that I didn’t care for the job itself. Because my main reasons for being interested in jobs has been for the pay, I have never experienced any real heartbreak over having to leave a job with the exception of one time. It was hard for me to leave the very first real job I had despite not getting paid much at all. It was difficult because I felt I excelled at the position, I loved that I was the only one who was in my position so I was the main authority or expert on it, and I also had great admiration, respect, and appreciation for my boss. The human element of the job was ultimately what made it difficult for me to leave. If I could make excellent money doing that job, I may actually still be there because it was easy and even fun at times, but there was a limit on the amount of money the position could pay and there was no growth potential in it.
I have also experienced what it is like to find out that I was making less than my peers and that is never a great feeling. I don’t know that I retaliated in anyway; more than anything else it made me feel like they just didn’t understand what I was really worth as someone working toward my master’s degree when my other coworkers had no formal education beyond high school. I do understand that not all employers care about how much education a person has and therefore will not compensate an employee for it, but social comparison is something I have always engaged in both with and without conscious awareness.
