How to Choose Between Two Job Offers

Picture this, you’re fresh out of college and interviewing with two major fashion brands, which also happen to be your dream jobs. You get a job offer for one (yay!) and then, to your delight, you receive a second offer from the other company. Both opportunities are equally exciting and you have limited time to make this life-changing decision that will forge the foundation for your career.

Talk about pressure.

It’s been years since that happened to me and let me tell you, I still wish I was prepared with how to go about deciding which job to take.

Is deciding between two job offers something you’re facing? Well, lucky you! Not only because you have two offers (congratulations!) but because this blog post dives into how to navigate that decision. I’m going to share what I did vs. what I think I should have done in retrospect when it came to evaluating two company positions.

My Story

First things first, what were the jobs? One was a social media/PR role for a well-known fashion designer, let’s call it Company X. The other was a studio manager position at a stylish European clothing brand. Let's call that Company Y. So there I was, a college graduate facing two incredible opportunities, with two very different compensation packages.

So, how did I go about choosing an offer? Having not been prepared on how to break down and evaluate a total compensation package, I focused heavily on the base salary to make my decision.

At the time, I was living in New Jersey and my goal was to move to New York City. With that in mind, I knew that I had to make a decent starting salary to afford a move to Manhattan, the high price in rent and hey, my lovely student loan payments (IYKYK).

Was that the right way to go about that decision? Not necessarily. Here is what I wish I knew and how you can avoid making the same oversights.

1. Consider the total compensation. I took the job with a higher salary at Company X. It was $35,000 a year, which sounded better than the $26,000 base Company Y was offering. However, Company Y had an overtime policy in place, and any hours worked above and beyond my typical work week were compensated as overtime on top of my salary. Naturally, my young self thought, “why would I be working overtime?” However, when you’re getting started in a new career, overtime is common practice. What else? While Company X only paid 15% of my health insurance, Company Y offered 100% coverage. What did this mean? Even though Company X had a higher base, I was paying close to $500 a month towards my health insurance. You bet I was fuming when I started adding these pennies back up! This little thing turned into a rather costly big thing when it came to my moving to the Big Apple.
   
   Another lovely benefit we shy away from talking about– paid time off. While each employer offers its own competitive package, whether that be three weeks vacation and unlimited sick, or X this and Y that, the big thing to ask yourself is, “will I get to use it?”. Unlimited vacation sounds great on paper, but what is the company culture around actually taking that vacation time? Asking about culture and paid time off should be a standard interview question. Your time away from the office is also part of your compensation in the long-run and what I didn’t know when I chose Company X, was that it was very frowned upon to take any personal time, and this included holidays like Christmas.
   
   The best advice I could have given my younger self would have been to understand the fine details of your offer letter to get a full picture of total compensation.
   
   
2. Know what you’re optimizing for. To be fair, you need to think about your career goals first. Some people consider a higher salary a better opportunity for career growth and advancement, while others see it as more of a desire so that they can afford a specific lifestyle. As I touched on earlier, one of my personal goals was to relocate to the city, so I needed a salary where I could afford to take that step. When you’re choosing the right role, create a list of the qualities that are important to you and the factors that you’re willing to compromise on. It truly depends on your personal goals and values, so everyone’s list will look different. Make sure you know yours.
   
   
3. Don’t underestimate the intangibles. When we are choosing the right role, it’s easy to be focused on the tangible amounts we see in the offer. However, there can be a lot of value in the intangibles. These include, do you like the people you’ll be working with? Is the office close to home or do they offer remote work? Is the company brand going to add credibility to your resume? Does the role offer an opportunity for you to grow in areas you’d like? All of these are components of total compensation that hold a lot of value.
   
   
4. Ask clarifying questions. I wish I understood the breakdown of what my compensation meant. And by that, I mean how did one compare against the other when evaluating not only salary, but also benefits and company perks. Granted I can’t remember every detail about these two jobs, but from what I can remember, if you asked me what the better option was, I just didn’t know it at the time. There were aspects of the opportunities that I was not completely informed about, and I wish I had asked better questions to get more information. Don’t be afraid to ask HR the questions such as: Does the company offer commuter benefits or Summer Fridays? How much are they contributing to your healthcare? Are there stock options? Is there 401k? Do they pay the whole premium? Do they cover a percentage? How about a HSA? Do you know what a HSA is? The little things, my friend.
   
   
5. Think big picture and long-term. Reflect on where this job could lead you in one, three and even five years. Factors to consider could include likelihood for promotions, salary increases, continued education, and how this role could be a stepping stone to future opportunities. You should assess how you believe the company will support your next steps with them, or in the future elsewhere. Look at the LinkedIn profiles of current and former employees - do people tend to stay in roles for a long time? Promote upward? Leave after 1 year? The reason I bring this up? You know the answer to this! My role at Company X encouraged little to no movement when it came to moving up in the company, and tended to keep people in their designated “hired” zones, limiting future growth opportunities.

Whether you’re a fresh grad or you’re transitioning to your next big job and are unsure what to be looking for, we got you covered. You can always book time with one of our career coaches to help you navigate the decision.

Good luck, and may the odds of finding a position with all your needs and demands, be ever in your favor.