How to evaluate job offers
So you have gotten a job offer after days to months of searching and interviewing. Now should you take it? Read on for some tips on what you should consider beyond just the salary.
The Job and the Company — The first and most important thing is to understand what you will be doing in the position offered. Is this job something you would be happy doing eight to nine hours a day? Would you be creating a product or service that people find useful? Are there opportunities for advancement and recognition in this job? Of course, the best place to learn about the job is through asking questions at the interview or asking HR. It’s important to get as much information as possible because a lot of job descriptions these days are pretty vague. Additionally you should find out about the company from external sources such as surveys and friends. You should find out the working conditions and hours and the general company ethics. I really can’t stress enough how important it is to have a job you enjoy with a company that takes care of its employees because otherwise life is pretty miserable.
Your Future Coworkers – If you read my article on interviewing in the Valley, then you’ll know how important it is to me to find useful people that I can get along with at work. Interviews work both ways, so when I am the job candidate I am also assessing how skilled and amiable the interviewer is. The most important person that has to get along with me is my direct supervisor so I try to ask questions about his/her management style and gauge his/her personality. If my direct manager isn’t even interviewing me, then something is definitely broken at the company and I wouldn’t consider it.
The Benefit Package — A lot of people I know seem to put salary as the top priority in evaluating a job, but it’s really just part of a greater benefits package. Other major things to consider are paid time off, health insurance, retirement contributions, bonuses, and equity compensation. Each one of these benefit items could be worth a considerable amount financially. In some jobs, bonuses are the bulk of the compensation so you can’t really decide that a certain job pays worse just based on the salary. Retirement contributions is also a big benefit. A lot of people my age think that retirement is really far away and it’s not a big deal, but we are the generation that can’t depend on social security and pensions, so anything a employer would give us now could be a lifesaver in the future. Vacation days is another great thing. The difference between having 10 days and 15 days of vacation per year is huge. That extra week of vacation may just save your sanity. Equity compensation can include stock grants, incentive stock options, or employee stock purchase programs. If the company is doing well, then the equity is a worthwhile bonus. Health insurance is very important, but a lot of employers these days don’t pay for 100% of the premiums. So when I look at a compensation package I would find out how much health insurance the company pays for. There are also other miscellaneous benefits a company could offer such as free food, club memberships, and discounts. Those are also great, but they’re more minor additions to a benefits package.
The Location of the Job and Commuting– Most of the time I don’t apply for jobs that are more than 20 miles away from where I live. The physical accessibility of the job is very important because you need to consider that it takes time and money to commute. If your company offers telecommuting then that’s possibly the greatest location because you can work at home and not commute at all. I personally don’t mind going to the office because I like to interact with my coworkers, but if I have to drive more than an hour each way to work everyday I think I would go insane. And yet I know some people in the Bay Area that drive two to five hours per day to work because housing is so expensive in areas close to work. Driving that much is really not worth it because an 8 hour day turns into a 10 to 13 hour day and there will be no other life but work. I would prefer to take public transit to work if I could, so if the job is along well established public transportation then that’s a plus in my book.
In conclusion, there are many aspects of a job to consider before accepting an offer. The best thing to do is to get as much information as possible, either through the interview, people you trust, or online resources. If there are terms that you don’t like about the benefits package there is always room for negotiation. I have found that it’s never as clearcut as “this offer is better because it pays more”. Trust your instincts, and if you feel like you wouldn’t fit into a particular job or company, then don’t take it because if you do the lives of everyone involved may become a little worse.