Show me the money!

The average employee of UK plc fell into his / her career, doesnít feel very fulfilled at work but puts up with it because the money is good. This is according to research published today by the UKís busiest jobs website, Gumtree.com, which polled 1,500 adults about their attitudes to their jobs.

The results show that we definitely work to live, rather than live to work, as weíd be willing to take only a very small, or even no pay cut, if the perfect opportunity came knocking on our doors. At the same time, Gumtree.com has found that more workers are willing to consider part-time and often well paid work, as a short term career escape, while they think about their long term options.

According to Gumtree.coms results:

1) A lot of us leave school or University and more or less stumble into a job. Over half of British workers (53%) are in their chosen career purely by chance. Just over a quarter (29%) say they specifically chose their career, while a fortunate few only 8% - are doing something theyve wanted to do since they were young

2) The time-honoured habit of complaining about work seems to be alive and well. Just under half of us (47%) say we are fulfilled in our careers, but on average we think that less than a third (30%) of our friends and family feel the same way about their jobs

3) Given the choice of money on one hand and job satisfaction on the other, British workers are more likely to choose the former. Workers who said they were ambivalent or unhappy about their career choices, were most likely to cite money (42%) and lifestyle (36%) reasons for staying with men being more likely to stay because of the cash and women because of it suits their lifestyle. Relatively few (13%) think that employers arent open to someone wanting to switch careers.

4) In fact, if the perfect career opportunity came along, the average pay cut people would be willing to take for their dream job is only 7.2%. Around half (48%) are not prepared to make any salary sacrifice, preferring to stick with a job thats very much second best

5) On average, four years, forty weeks and four days into your career is when you start having second thoughts about your decision. For someone who left University this year and started work on 1 September, that means s/he will start to get itchy feet on 6 June 2011!

6) More and more workers are considering part time work, which can be better paid than long-term contracts, as a temporary career escape. Over the past six months, Gumtree.com has seen an enormous 96.5 per cent increase in roles where the contract period is six months or less

Gumtree spoke to The Apprentice runner-up Ruth Badger about her career decisions: Iíve always worked twice or three times as hard as anyone else and always go above and beyond the call of duty. Iíd much rather take two part time jobs where I was completely satisfied with my career that paid me as much as one full time job I hated - although I am a firm believer in making short-term financial sacrifices for long term gain. Sometimes there is often an element of risk with part time work, but sometimes if you are not happy in your current role it can provide a stopgap whilst you find what it is you really want to do.

According to Gumtree.com spokesperson Sophy Silver, Its not really surprising that a lot of people value money above anything else when it comes to their careers weåre very much a åwork to live generation these days, with people looking to fund their lifestyles by working hard.

Four or five years into a career, is when a lot of people have got onto the property ladder with their first mortgage. Its also when you start earning reasonably well, get used to a certain way of living and usually dont have to spend your money on a family yet.

The fact is though that if you are unsure about your career choice, there is an alternative to just soldiering on. Over the past few years weve seen a huge increase in employers who post jobs for temporary contracts on everything from accountancy to IT.