Job Offers: Money vs. Opportunity

When you are weighing job offers it may feel like your choices are this straightforward. But money shouldn’t necessarily be the only deciding factor in your decision. Choosing the job opportunity with the higher salary, without taking other criteria into account could lead to disappointment. Instead, we encourage you take a more nuanced approach to these decisions and explore all of the factors that can impact your decision. It doesn’t have to come down to money versus opportunity when you think about everything in play, but before you get to this point ask yourself the following questions:

1. What are your motivations? Is it money, learning new technology, or working remote, and as you hone in on your motivations seek to understand why this is.
2. What are your actual skills? Do you even know? Further, do you even know where you fit?

As you consider your answers to these questions, let’s further unpack them…

Why are you looking for a new job?

Think about the three to four things in a new job that are most important to you. Can they be fixed in your current role? All job searches should start internally. Talk to your boss in your review or do so informally. Ask where the company is going and how you fit into that direction? If it is about money for you, make the case for why you should be paid more. But also be warned: if you already have another offer in hand make sure you’re ready to take it… because shopping another offer from a competitor is a dangerous game when you’re not ready to walk away from your current position. Sometimes however, you can’t get what you want from your current organization, and in that case…

We know that it would be much easier for you to make career decisions if it was all as straightforward as going for more money… or a dream job. But it’s more complex that than. Given this, we encourage you to begin this process by asking yourself two key questions:

1. What are Your Motivations?
2. What are Your Actual Skills?

And then after you have a sense of your answers, don’t ignore the following:

Is what I want outside of my current organization or can I find it internally?

Do I even know what’s out there and available to me?

Have I even put it all down on paper and compared my options, so I can make a thoughtful decision?

And, if you’re not sure how to answer these questions, or even where to start in trying to answer them, we’re here to help.

James Hornick