New Job Factors: What is important to you?

[KSUowls]

Just curious to see how other people go about this.

When you're in the market to find new employment, what is the deciding factor for you to accept a job offer?

My own situation:
I'm a financial analyst for a very large medical company, where I've been since I graduated college 9 years ago. The benefits, especially PTO, are pretty solid, pay is a little under what I should be (and what outside hires get for my same position) but still pretty good, and the culture is really comfortable.

Unfortunately I've hit a cap on my upwards mobility without a major shakeup above me, and so I've pretty much decided that it's time to move on. I am actually expecting a job offer next week (all but guaranteed) from a place I interviewed earlier this week, but this is kind of new territory for me as I've never had to look for outside employment.

It's a relatively new company (been around for 8 years), but they have been doing good financially with a lot of growth (even in the pandemic). The finance department right now is small, but they are really trying to grow it, and the specific position that I would fill would be an inside track towards being a leader for the overall department within a couple of years. I don't have exact numbers yet, but the recruiter I have been working with indicated that it would be a substantial pay raise. On the down side though, my PTO benefits would be cut by 40% from where I'm currently at (12 days + 8 holidays), and I would go from about a 20-30 minute commute (pre-covid) to about a 30-50 minute commute (pre-covid). The PTO one especially hurts as my wife and I have been planning a 3 week honeymoon to Japan (a much delayed trip), which would completely wipe out a full years PTO.

Just kind of struggling with the Pros/Cons and wanted to see the decision process for other people.

[LetsGoBucs]

Quote: Originally Posted by KSUowls

Just curious to see how other people go about this. When you're in the market to find new employment, what is the deciding factor for you to accept a job offer? My own situation: I'm a financial analyst for a very large medical company, where I've been since I graduated college 9 years ago. The benefits, especially PTO, are pretty solid, pay is a little under what I should be (and what outside hires get for my same position) but still pretty good, and the culture is really comfortable. Unfortunately I've hit a cap on my upwards mobility without a major shakeup above me, and so I've pretty much decided that it's time to move on. I am actually expecting a job offer next week (all but guaranteed) from a place I interviewed earlier this week, but this is kind of new territory for me as I've never had to look for outside employment. It's a relatively new company (been around for 8 years), but they have been doing good financially with a lot of growth (even in the pandemic). The finance department right now is small, but they are really trying to grow it, and the specific position that I would fill would be an inside track towards being a leader for the overall department within a couple of years. I don't have exact numbers yet, but the recruiter I have been working with indicated that it would be a substantial pay raise. On the down side though, my PTO benefits would be cut by 40% from where I'm currently at (12 days + 8 holidays), and I would go from about a 20-30 minute commute (pre-covid) to about a 30-50 minute commute (pre-covid). The PTO one especially hurts as my wife and I have been planning a 3 week honeymoon to Japan (a much delayed trip), which would completely wipe out a full years PTO. Just kind of struggling with the Pros/Cons and wanted to see the decision process for other people.

For me, there are a few things that I look for, and you've touched on a few of them.

1. PTO/vacation time/sick/personal/etc. Time off is REALLY important to me. I recently relocated to CO and unfortunately I went from 6 weeks + unlimited personal/sick time to 4 weeks total. Luckily (or unluckily) with the lockdowns this year I've been able to save time to roll over.

2. Commute. I found in Massachusetts my commute was terrible so I found a new role much closer to home. I was miserable commuting, whether by car or train. My wife was commuting approx. 2-3 hours per day and it really took a toll on her. Now in Denver - even before working from home - her commute was 10 minutes each way. She basically got 2.5 hours a day back for her and I found a role that would also be about a 10 minute commute.

3. People. I have to want to work with the people. This is tough to figure out before starting somewhere, but even during the interview process did I feel comfortable with the people. Are they people that I could joke around with and laugh or is it ultra serious. I like connecting with the people I work with and if it is all serious all the time, I probably won't be happy.

4. Interest in the product/service/industry. I want to connect with what I'm working on and have interest in it. This unfortunately has been difficult for me to find as my interests haven't really lined up with my work.

5. Trust in the company. Do some research ahead of time. Are they a company that is trusted, good corporate citizens, etc.

As for upward mobility, I'm nearing the end of my career (hopefully - my wife and I are aiming to retire before 55 so we have less than 10 years left) so it isn't as important to me. With regards to salary, I'm also willing to give up a little there to have some of the things above.

Hope that is helpful! In reality, it all comes down to what you value personally and what is important to you. Things like a big pay increase typically makes you feel good for the short term, but if your core needs are missing that good feeling will disappear pretty quickly and you'll be unhappy.

Good luck!

[pietasterp]

Changing jobs can be difficult, especially if you've been in one place for a long time. If you've only been with 1 company your entire working life, it can be even more difficult. Good points from LetsGoBucs above.

It sounds like you've done all the right analysis and thought through the move. Everyone's situation is unique and what you value most is something only you can answer (although you have to be honest with yourself, which can be difficult for all of us!). For whatever it's worth, I think you're doing the right thing and even if it doesn't work out exactly how you want it to, you're 1 step closer to finding the right situation for you. Your career at this stage of your life is like a shark: it has to constantly be moving forward, or else it's dying. (That's overly dramatic I know and 1-size-fits-all trite phrases suck, but it seemed sort of apropos here).

The only thing I can maybe add is that if you have a pre-planned vacation or trip, you can often negotiate that into your contract (e.g. I have a 3 week trip coming up that has already been booked, can I have that written into my offer letter and not have it count against my PTO?). I personally have seen that done on a number of occasions, and it has never been an issue.

The larger point, though, and this is maybe the most important (only?) piece of advice I have for job seekers/changers, is that you can ask for anything you want before you sign a contract. They may say 'no', but you don't lose anything by asking. Remember: the maximum amount of leverage you will ever have at any given company for as long as you are there is before you sign a contract. Literally the second you sign on the dotted line, your leverage goes to zero.

So figure out what the ideal offer letter would look like (think big!) and try to negotiate your offer letter to as close as you can get to your ideal before signing, understanding you will have to give some as well as take some. I would never trust that anything not written in your letter will be honored after-the-fact (e.g. don't take their word on good faith). The #1 mistake most people make is not negotiating their offer letter harder.

Good luck and best wishes with your new job (if you decide to take it!).

[Herky]

Over time my factors have changed. When I first started working I pretty much only looked at pay. Pay is still important but I also look at their PTO/Vacation/Sick Time plan, and insurance/401K. I got burned once taking really good playing job that had crap benefits and insurance. I paid through the nose for not very good insurance and after that it made the take home got as great. Their PTO was bad as well as you had to use it for holidays which really was stupid. There was no sick time just a PTO bank that you accrued and you had to take it for holidays. I was willing to work on the 4th of July for example but was told I had to take the day off and use PTO.

[LowerWolf]

I've openly talked about switching jobs on here before, but I'm still at the same place I've been for more than a decade.

As I approach 50, PTO has definitely become the priority for me. I had a place that really wanted me back in early fall. I withdrew primarily because I didn't want to try to relocate during a pandemic. But also, I had a week off in October, a week off at Thanksgiving and another two weeks off at Christmas. I wouldn't have had that at a new place.

Next year, we're going to unlimited PTO. There are rumors that we may be WFH permanently. And my boss is really good about giving us the time we need for personal stuff. That's all really valuable to me now.

I'm not rich by any means, but I make pretty good money for where I live. And I have everything, including my house, paid off. So while money is always nice, it's no longer the driving factor for me.

[pietasterp]

Perfect examples above of finding out what's most important for you and maximizing that. Things change depending on where you are with your life as well, of course.

[KSUowls]

All great posts.

It's kind of funny to me how important I'm viewing PTO. I'm habitually bad about taking PTO. This year was the first time I have taken a full week off in my career. My company offers PTO cash out which I always max out, and I'm still always hovering at my PTO cap. Even though I don't use it that often it's something that I like to know is there if I want it.

Working in finance the first week of every month is a beast, and like many companies I have been full time WFH since March. This potential job offer has been on my mind a lot ever since I got feedback from my interview last week. When I rolled out of bed at 7am and logged into work yesterday, instead of waking up at 6am, and commuting 20 minutes to work, I realized how much I never want to return to the office full time.

[NYJets]

Also in a situation where I'm weighing this stuff now.

I like my current teaching job, but I commute an hour each way, and its not an area where I'd ever consider moving to. I might be willing to move to cut that down to 45 minutes each way, but that doesn't seem worth it. It's also in a part of the state that doesn't pay very well, so any job I find closer would definitely be a nice little raise, made greater by the savings in gas.

On the flip side, we have good administrators, I like most of my co-workers, I'm comfortable there, and any time you go somewhere else and need to learn a new curriculum, and maybe grade as well, it drastically adds to the work load.

I feel like I don't really want to leave, and last year when I got pretty far in the interview process somewhere else but came up a little short, I actually mostly felt relieved. But I also feel by staying I'd be putting off the inevitable as I don't want to commute that far forever.