I am a software developer with a Master's degree. I keep getting offers to interview with the Big Fish in tech that could pay me twice my current salary and open doors to other places due to the "branding", yet I keep declining them. In my current dead-end job as a developer, the tech is grossly out of date, the job is a soul-grind, but I survive with a <2 hrs a day workday. There is nothing to learn in my current job, nor any prospects to further advancement, just all that extra time.
Today I got another offer to interview and at first felt a little guilt and fear before turning it down, but then I realized where both the choices of either accepting or rejecting the position could lead and now I am at peace letting it go. Have you given up much better career prospects to keep chasing the fastlane dreams?
Yes. I get approached by big companies all the time with similar offers.
The salary is only part of the equation.
You need to also consider:
1. The time/freedom this opportunity gives you to pursue your real dreams.
2. How working this job (for however many hours a day) impacts your mental health (in service of #1)
3. The tradeoffs of moving to a big city (if you don't already live in one), since the big tech companies often require that sort of relocation.
4. The reality that the interview processes for these companies are brutal, and will drain you thoroughly even before you come close to getting an offer.
For me, the equation never balanced out where making an extra $100k+ was worth sacrificing the things on that list (particularly #1).
Taking a job with a big company, getting a big salary, would mean I couldn't try anything else. If I did that, I know I'd be on my deathbed kicking myself. We don't regret the things we tried and failed; we regret the things we never tried at all.