Don't Choose the Job with the Highest Salary -- Here's a List of Other Factors to Consider

If you've been in the workforce for more than 15 minutes you know that your salary is only one part of making you happy at a particular job. There are a lot of other financial factors associated with jobs that make working at one place more enjoyable than working somewhere else. Here's a list from Kiplinger's on what factors besides salary you should consider before taking a job:

1. Benefits
2. Location
3. Commute
4. Opportunities for advancement
5. Work environment
6. Job security
7. Level of responsibility
8. Where do you want to be in ten years?

I've been in the workforce for almost 20 years now and I can vouch that all of these are extremely important. They vary in importance from one person to another, but all of them certainly factor into how much you "like" your job.

I've said before that your career is your most valuable financial asset, offering you many financial benefits. However, if you don't enjoy yourself at work, you'll be miserable. For instance, consider the following scenarios. Which would you like best:

Job #1

• Salary: $100,000 a year
• Benefits: Worth $20,000 a year
• Location: Far from friends and family in a town you hate
• Commute: Two hours each way
• Opportunities for advancement: None
• Work environment: Hostile
• Job security: None -- you could be fired at any moment
• Level of responsibility -- None -- you have to get every decision cleared through your boss
• Where do you want to be in ten years -- This job won't help you get there

Job #2

• Salary: $80,000 a year
• Benefits: Worth $15,000 a year
• Location: Relatively close to friends and family in a town you think is "ok"
• Commute: One hour each way
• Opportunities for advancement: Decent
• Work environment: Fine
• Job security: Average
• Level of responsibility -- Average
• Where do you want to be in ten years -- This job may or may not help you get there

Job #3

• Salary: $60,000 a year
• Benefits: Worth $10,000 a year
• Location: In the same town as friends and family which is a town you love
• Commute: Ten minutes each way
• Opportunities for advancement: Excellent
• Work environment: Wonderful
• Job security: Superior
• Level of responsibility -- Great
• Where do you want to be in ten years -- It's likely this job will help you get there

Ok, these examples are a bit extreme, but you get the point.

Let me know your thoughts on this issue in the comments below. Have you ever accepted a lower salary in exchange for more positives in location, commute or some other factor?

Comments

[Patrick]

I definitely agree with the points in this post. Quality of life issues are more important to me than a high paycheck. If I wanted a sky high pay check, I could go be a contractor in the Middle East. (another extremem example, but valid).

These factors o consider are especially important for recent college grads who should chase opportunity more than dollars - especially when they have little to no experience. Sometimes the job that offers experience and opportunity for advancement is much better than the higher paying job that doesn't increase your skills. You can always use your experince to leverage a promotion or move into a better payinbg job at another company.

[Chris]

I would pick #3, definitely. $60k is plenty to live comfortably on.

[Scott Kustes]

I recently made a job change to a better job with the same salary. I was traveling weekly, Monday thru Thursday, for a job that I didn't enjoy and that wasn't what I saw in my future, although the opportunity for advancement was good. I took a new position that requires no travel, although I do commute 30-45 minutes each way, and that I enjoy much more. My salary is pretty much identical...I got a $1000 raise to cover my downtown parking fees, but gave up the upside of a possible 25% bonus with the first company. I love not traveling all the time (although I wouldn't mind maybe 25-50% travel), being home to hang out with friends, not having to ration my weekend time between friends and family, being able to workout on a schedule and eat my own food.

Scott Kustes

[Kyle]

I would break down work environment and give it more emphasis, having a bad boss and coworkers will make any job hell. I'd put environment ahead of everything else. That's your life for 8+ hours every day, if you can't enjoy it, it'll affect the rest of your life negatively.

[Pam]

I drive 150 miles round trip every day to a job that I enjoy. Why? Besides being slightly crazy ... the pay is really good. I'm being paid twice as much at a further location than what I would be paid for the same job in my hometown. So why don't I move? Because the cost of living is so much higher in the town where my job is that the benefit of having a higher paying job would be deleted because of living costs. So I drive. And I've been doing it for 5 years. I'm away from home nearly 12 hours a day for a normal 40-hour work week. But to me, the benefits outweigh the sacrifices.

~Pam

[Lord]

I consider pay only a measure of respect for the work I do. Inadequate pay means inadequate respect but other than that the work is more important. Benefits usually don't vary too much within an industry, although a few companies are definitely better. Location is important since moving would cost $100k+ if I sold my home, although I could probably rent it out. A commute of less than 40 min is essential. I have no desire to spend my life in a car. Advancement doesn't mean that much to me unless I was unhappy with what I was doing, but with many large companies it is up or out. The work itself is more important. Work environment is fairly important. If not respected, no money is enough. Job security is also very important since I don't want to move, don't wish to commute long distances, and don't wish to continually look for the next job. Responsibility comes with the salary. How many of us really know where we want to be in ten years? What likelihood we will still want it in ten years? The world changes a lot in ten years, and what you want may not even exist anymore.

[zen]

Well option 3 is clearly the "foot up" and looking good, but really - I'd take a job with good pay, a little distance, and a good outlook then rely on one job to give me everything I want ten years out (who said you'd be there in ten years? The guy who just quit the company?) and sometimes the long haul is beneficial - you make a lot of money realizing you don't want to stay - and gives you a better perspective on other options - like #3.

[gentle]

i agree with these factors.i'm still a students,but i really want to know more about job.i think that a job with high salary is attractive.however,if you don't like it,you 'll do it very worth.you can't show your boss and your corporation about your ability.if so,how do you feel?do you want to continue your job?ask your self these questions.