When I first heard the phrase ‘survival job’ I thought about what a nice job of rebranding it was, a way to remove the social stigma of having to take a job lower in pay or status to pay the bills. I heard it again from a friend recently; he had taken a job with a retailer while he looked for the job he really wanted.

My sense was that he was embarrassed about it, and I think probably most us would be. Less money, more hours, fewer benefits, doing less than we’re capable of –it can definitely dent our pride just based on the impact it has on our family. But my guess is that as much as that part is hard to swallow, the harder part for most of us is having to tell others we’ve taken a step back.

Paying your own way, doing what you can to take care of family, working on doing better – that is doing what you can. That’s better than not having a job, or not taking a job because it would be beneath you in some way. In the end I guess I don’t like the term survival job as much as I did before. It may be a survival job, but the important part is that it is a job.

It’s easy to say that from the comfort of a good job. Good to think about it and learn the lesson now, before we need it. Good think about how we can be there for friends if they have to go through this kind of change.

Any advice or lessons learned from taking a job like, or knowing someone that did? Join the discussion and let’s talk about this topic some more.