Would you take a salary + commision job?

[draftermatt]

Yesterday I got a call about a job I applied for.

It's an Assistant Project Manager for a sound proofing company.

They are supposed to be calling me to set up an interview, but they told me it's a salary position + commission.

Part of me is thinking I won't take it regardless because I don't want to be stuck working 60+ hour weeks for no extra pay, and I have never liked the ideas of commission. But then again, if it means a lot more money...

I have other things I have to figure out too, but I wanted to get other people's opinions about this.

Thanks.

[crazylegs]

Depends on what the basic is, and what difference to your current salary, if there isn't much then the extra you get as commision would be quite nice.

If it's a huge difference I would urge caution as there are slow times (and fast times) for sales and if you've got used to a certain living standard then having to take a pay cut each time there is a slow time could be quite hard to do.

[Stormraven]

I wouldn't - I hate commission with a passion. For me, it doesn't matter what the base is.

[MannersMakethMan]

The way I'd look at this is to treat it as though it's just the salary being paid. If you can manage on that and would be willing to take the job for that, it's probably worth doing, and any commission is a nice bonus at the end of the month. It shouldn't really be the tipping point in favour of a job - think more about the job satisfaction and fringe benefits you'd get, and see if you till want the job.

Reyling too much on commission could lead to you feeling under unnecessary stress to make more sales. You don't really want to be relying on it to pay the bills if you can help it.

[draftermatt]

In the phone interview they asked how much I currently make, and they didn't seem to shy away from me after I told them

Honestly, unless there's a big money difference or there's a company car/gas card involved I may not take it. It's a 32 mile commute 1 way (I'm currently at 12.5 one way, 25 round trip!). While the job is in Baltimore City so I could take the subway and then a bus to work, the job requires going to job sites, so that wouldn't work...

It's a lot to think about, but right now I'm just waiting to see if they really do call me back for a sit down interview.

[draftermatt]

Thanks everyone for the advice. The interview is Tuesday afternoon (now I just have to decide if I want to bring my suit and change before I leave, or wear the suit all day).

As I sort of mentioned above, I'll only even think about the job if the base salary is around what I make now or more. If the thought from them is "well with comissions you can make that" then I won't take it.