When you’re deciding which job offer to take, salary has the most eye-catching appeal. A set salary, or even a salary range, feels like the most obvious way to gauge enthusiasm in regards to working for a company. When we’re provided a nice, round, even number for what we could bring home annually during the interviewing or job offer process, it is almost always the make it or break it for any person deciding whether or not to take a job. But benefits play a key role. Test your knowledge on what most employers offer – in addition to your salary.
The power of Employee Benefits
Although what many (particularly first time interviewees or inexperienced interviewees) may fail to consider is all the nitty gritty benefits that lie further down the job offer letter. If a salary is akin to the striking price tag when shopping for a car, then the offered benefits are all the fine print within the car manual in the glove compartment. We know the car manual will serve a helpful purpose down the road after we purchase the car when we need to know what type of tires the car needs or when the oil should be changed, but we generally don’t think of these things upon initial purchase.
“Shopping around for a job” can present the same scenario. Our lack of interest in benefits isn’t because we don’t care about them, but it’s probably just because we don’t even know what we’re looking for, much less how to compare the benefits to another company’s. If we knew a little bit more about some of the most valuable benefits a company can offer, it may make us think twice about a potentially deceptive salary number when realizing that the benefits aren’t up to snuff.
All of this begs the question: Is a lower paying job with stellar benefits just as prized as a higher paying job with mediocre benefits?
