Selling Out

All my life, I have preached about the importance of "being true" and "doing what you love." I always said, "money doesn't matter."

Now I find myself at a crossroads.

Last week I interviewed for a new position in my office, and there's a pretty good chance that I got it. (Assuming my fear that talking it up before it's official will make it not happen isn't true.) The new position--Web Content Manager--would fetch a larger salary than my measly writer-editor status. But more money comes with more responsibility and greater demands. I would definitely have to put off graduate school for at least another year, as my nice Monday - Friday, 8 - 4:30 schedule will turn into sporadic, long hours.

The new position also begs the question: Where is my career going? Just last month, I was certain that the path to take involved getting a master's degree in environmental science and becoming a science writer or doing PR for a research institute. Now, I find myself wondering if I should embrace the move into the technology sector, get certified in various computer programming languages and make lots and lots of money. Selling out.

Money isn't everything, but it's certainly nice to have. Grad school will set me back about $100,000 and a degree in environmental science will do little to bolster my pay. While the idea of working on a tranquil nature reserve or for an international conservation group makes me drool, economically it doesn't make sense. I can spend $100,000 on a graduate degree and probably never earn more than $65,000 a year, or I can spend a few thousand dollars on computer certs and be making something close to that immediately.

For every choice, something is gained and something is forgone. Am I willing to give up my dreams and sell my soul to the almighty dollar? I might be. And that is scary.

Help! I need career advice

I am in desperate need of career advice. HELP!!!!!

I have the opportunity to move into a new position within my office. I would serve as the liaison between my department and the IT department on the reorganization of our intranet and would work on new social media initiatives. It's a high profile position and would look great on my resume. Besides, I'm bored with what I've been doing and have been looking for a way to add blogging, podcasting, etc. to my repertoire.

Just one problem.

My would-be supervisor and I don't get along that well. Also, I am really independent (read: I do what I want!) at work now and may have to give some of that up.

What to do?