Took a temp job over a permanent offer, the math surprised me after 6 weeks

Back in March I had two options on the table. One was a steady warehouse position at $18/hr with benefits, the other was a 6 week temp gig doing inventory audits for $24/hr but no guarantee after. I figured the extra cash was a trap but I took it anyway since I was between flooring installs. After 6 weeks I made about $800 more than I would have at the warehouse, but I also had zero health insurance and had to pay for my own gas to three different sites around Cleveland. Now the temp gig ended and I'm back to square one, while the warehouse job got filled by someone else. I guess my question is, how do you all actually weigh short term cash against stability? I keep second guessing if I made the right call or if I just got lucky with the math this time.

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1 Comment

davis.mia27d ago

The people saying you got lucky are missing the real math. You paid for your own gas and went without insurance, but you also got three different site experiences in six weeks. That's three warehouses you can now put on a resume and call back when they need temp help again. The permanent job was $18/hr but it was also a dead end, most warehouse spots cap raises at like 2% a year. You essentially bought a wider network with that $800, and that network is what gets you the next gig when flooring work dries up.