The Weight of Money

Welcome to the conclusion of my mini comparing job offers series. In the previous post, Comparing Job Offers: Part One, I compared the financial value of benefits offered by two different jobs. Now, having some numbers to work with, it is time to also consider the other job qualities that can make or break a job offer.

While the salary offered stands out for each job, we must recognize that money is not everything. There are several other qualities that must be considered when looking at the big picture of a new position. These qualities vary based on your personal preferences and everyone should compile a list of criteria to judge the positions by. Some qualities to consider are:

• Workplace culture: What is the office atmosphere and the general attitude of coworkers? Is it an office where the finish line is on everyone’s mind and you must constantly wonder if your coworkers are working for or against you? Is it an environment where everyone is friendly and interested in working together on projects?

• Office Location:Where is the office located? Will you be out in the middle of no where with nothing to fill the required 1 hour lunch break or are there endless temptations just next door waiting to lighten your wallet?
• Prestige: How will you feel telling your friends and peers about the company? Is it a company or organization that lends additional respect to the work you are doing? Also, how will it look on the resume when looking for a future position?
• Work day: What are the hours? Is full-time a 35-hour work week or a 60-hour work week? Do you have to be a slave to the clock? Is there flextime available?
• Time Off: Just like time in the office, consider how much time you’ll be able to spend out of the office. You can place a dollar value on this and determine the importance of time off in terms of job satisfaction.
• Commute: How long will it take to get to work? What are your transportation options? Car? Train?
• Duties: What are your tasks? How do they compare to your experience, desired level of responsibility, and future growth? How do they compare between offers? Also, how challenging is the position?
• Stress: What is the stress level expected for this position. This can include a combination of commute, schedule, time off, and duties.
• Growth and Advanement: Is there room for growth? Is individual advancement expected and encouraged? Will this position stall your career growth potential?
• Personal Values: How does the position fit in with your personal values? Will you be doing work that you feel is worthwhile? Will you be working to improve the bottom line for you and/or yourself?

As a reminder, I am comparing the following hypothtical positions in this series:

Job Offer One: Office Manager position at a for-profit, blue-collar industry company. This is a small, home-based business that has been in business for many years. This is a new position for the company and was established to respond to the companies continued growth in business. There are only two or three office personnel and the remaining staff work out of the office at customer sites. There is little to no room for growth or personal advancement in this position. ($38,000/year)

Job Offer Two: Program Assistant position at a non-profit, education field organization. This is an organization that has been in operation for almost 100 years and is nationally recognized in the field of education. This is a new position paid for by a new grant funded initiative. There are almost 50 staff members working on a variety of projects, programs, and initiatives. There is extensive room for growth and personal advancement in this position. ($33,000/year)

Conclusion: This chart illustrates the degree of differences between the two job offers. For me, this is the comparison that truly makes a difference. Based on this comparison, I am far more interested in Job Offer Two, even with the longer commute and smaller salary. Thanks to taking the time to compare job qualities and the financial value of benefits, I am confident that my selection is a good one.

Resources:
Comparing two or more job offers looks mostly at the financial aspects but also lists the importance of considering job factors.
How to Weigh Pay vs. Prestige When Comparing Job Offers talks about the importance of prestige and how it can go farther than your paycheck sometimes.
Comparing all the factors when comparing to jobs has lists similar to the one above. It also describes rating the qualities on a numerical scale.

For those who have be actively searching for a new job for several months, like me, you may not believe this could ever be a problem. For those entering the job market with high hopes and expectations, you might be expecting companies to be falling all over themselves to get you. Either way, it is important to carefully analyze each job offer your receive (and/or negotiate).

Part One of The Weight of Money’s Comparing Job Offers series focuses on benefits.

While salary is one of the primary criteria for judging employment positions, it should not be the only criteria. There are many other factors about an offer that should be considered, including responsibilities, advancement, commute, office environments, and benefits.

In my search to compare two upcoming job offers, I found several articles detailing ways to compare the overall job qualities. However, I wanted to focuses on benefits packages and look a true values, in dollar amounts, of each option.

In this series, I will compare two different job offer packages. While this is a fictitious example, it is closely related to personal choices that I will be making in the next week. Therefore, I will also be evaluating these offers based on my preferences. Each job seeker should carefully use their own criteria to judge offers.

Job Offer One: Office Manager position at a for-profit, blue-collar industry company. This is a small, home-based business that has been in business for many years. This is a new position for the company and was established to respond to the companies continued growth in business. There are only two or three office personnel and the remaining staff work out of the office at customer sites. There is little to no room for growth or personal advancement in this position.

Job Offer Two: Program Assistant position at a non-profit, education field organization. This is an organization that has been in operation for almost 100 years and is nationally recognized in the field of education. This is a new position paid for by a new grant funded initiative. There are almost 50 staff members working on a variety of projects, programs, and initiatives. There is extensive room for growth and personal advancement in this position.

Generalizations made to simplify calculations: Medical and insurance premium were kept consistent for both organizations. Annual salary increases were excluded.

Time Off Adjustment: This adjustment will depend on your personal preferences. For me, time off is extremely important and therefore highly relevant in calculating the amount paid per week of actual work. One reason for this preference is that my personal time commitments necessitate at least 11 vacation days a year. Also, some people may choose to exclude sick leave from this calculation. While I feel that it is not advisable to use all available sick leave, I do not want to be penalized with unpaid time off if I, or my child, should get sick for an extended period of time or ill several times in one year.

Conclusions: Developing this chart really helped compare the different benefits packages with actual numbers. It confirmed my understanding that while non-profits often pay less than their for-profit counter parts, their benefits packages can often make up the difference in pay.

Next: In Comparing Job Offers: Part Two, I will evaluate the overall job characteristics of each position. While salary and the actual value of benefits helps paint the financial picture for each job offer, there are other important considerations that should be made before making a final decision.

Resources:
The only source I’ve found discussing calculating vacation time was The Value of a Vacation Week posted at Find a New Job.

Next: Part Two

I’ve been racking my brain to come up with some ways to make money working at home and finally I’m going to act on one of them. This is a zero investment opportunity that couldn’t be more ideal or come at a better time and all I had to do was put the idea out there. I will be flying out of state and spending a week learning traditional native arts & crafts. I will come home with the supplies I need to get started making items and already have a retail place secured to sell the items I make. I know there is indeed a market for these items because it is the high market demand that is making this all possible.

My mother runs her own custom sewing business that caters to traditional and ceremonial sewing for the local tribe in her area. For several years, she has also run an alterations business at the same time, but has finally had to turn customers away because custom sewing pays more and she just doesn’t have the time to do both. We’ve talked many times about how impossible it is for her to keep part-time help and how she can’t reach her shop dreams without additional assistance. For over a year we’ve talked about the idea of me making some items that she can sell, but over-the-phone descriptions of the items aren’t clear enough and there are limited online resources for seeing exactly what she wants me to make. So, I’m just going to go out there and learn what I need to learn.

My mother is so excited and eager to have help that she was willing to buy my plane ticket (which she can then write off as a business expense), willing to set me up with all the supplies I’ll need to get started, and was willing to let me show up without her precious grand baby (the daughter). I will be able to pay her back for the supplies when things sell.

She is going to be showing me some of the traditional beadwork and also set up a private lessons with a local expert bead artist that she’s been wanting to learn from but just hasn’t had the time. I’ll also be learning how to make some the ribbon shirts and other non-jewelry items. She wants to build the retail offering in her store and needs someone able to make high quality items to sell.

Hopefully, by teaching me these things, she’ll get some retail stock and I’ll be able to sell there and online if I choose. Also, I’ll be using the winter to get ready for the summer PowWow and dance season. This is a quiet time of year for ceremonial sales but since I won’t be footing any of the initial start-up costs, it is a win-win situation for me. We decided that a week would be enough time to learn everything I’ll need to know and practice making some of the shirts (I’m sure this is just her way of getting some free labor out of me while I’m there *grin*).

Now, in addition to hopefully providing some supplemental income, I’ll also get to hand down the traditions to the daughter as well. A major plus since so many of these arts are fading away because none of the kids want to continue them. Now, the tribe my mom lives near is not our tribe. There are tribal specific arts and styles that will make this work different than work traditional to our family’s tribe. However, seeing as how so much is fading away, I’m sure the daughter won’t ming learning another groups ways, especially not when it is the group she sees most when visiting in Oklahoma. Plus, many of the skills translate well but the patterns and styles are tribe specific and my mom has learned that each group tends to buy only within their tradition — hence why I have a beautiful shawl with Seminole patchwork in my closet that my mom let me borrow and never wanted back because she knew it wasn’t going to sell.

I’m so excited!

We’re buying a house in a small town that is beyond “suburbia” and I’m in the process of finding a job. I’ve not had a lot of success finding anything that looks interesting and possible. I really don’t want to drive very far for work and that is the biggest challenge because we’re moving away from major employment areas. The partner will have a moderate commute to his job and isn’t looking forward to it. However, we are looking forward to the benefits of the town we’re moving into and the additional peace of mind it will give me as a haven away from the bustle of east coast living.

So, I just found a listing that is exactly what I’ve been saying I want to do since entering college. I mean, it is a perfect fit for my aspirations and I qualify for it and am very confident that I could get it. However, it is far away and the commute would be pretty intensive. Suddenly the partner’s commute looks a lot more manageable when we talk about the possibility of me commuting to Washington, DC.

Now, I’m all for public transportation and would usually say that is the best method, but where we live is beyond the major in-routes to DC and there is nothing near the house that I could use. It leaves me with having to drive to Frederick or driving to Columbia, each about a 30 minute drive with little traffic, just to start the public transportation route. Now, to drive into DC would be almost 50 miles and, if during rush hour, would easily take 90 minutes or more and I might be under estimating it.

Now, maybe I can modify my hours and do very early hours — like starting at 6:00am or so. Since the work I’d be doing is very individualized, that might be possible. However, I’m not sure if that will be possible. I worry that, if forced to travel during rush hour, that I may never be home. However, again, this is exactly what I’ve been looking for and thought that I’d never actually get to do. Also, I fear that the compensation will be lower than what I want. If I wasn’t needing to commute, I probably wouldn’t care, but if it is going to really hit the budget to get there every day — it might add up.

Sigh, I’m not going to talk myself out of applying, but it is bringing up a lot of questions and concerns. If you found your dream job in term of principals (money has never been my motivating job factor) would you be willing to drive to get there and see you family a little less? I feel a little silly about the issue because I am sure that there are people who commute further for a job that isn’t their dream job. However, traffic in the greater Washington, DC area is excruciating and I absolutely hate having to drive anywhere.