How do you find the ideal job? What makes a perfect job for you? A great salary? Fabulous benefits? A flexible schedule? An innovative culture?
The first step to deciding which job to take is clarifying what you want in your next position. This will help you assess whether the job you’re being offered is taking you in the right direction. So let’s start with defining your “ideal” job. Use the “Your Ideal Job” worksheet to clarify what your dream job looks like.
Next, once you know what you want, you can compare your current job to job offers you receive.
Make sure you’re making an apples-to-apples comparison. For example, if both jobs offer health insurance, you need to dig deeper and compare the specifics of each health insurance plan.
For example:
| Your Current Job | Proposed Job | |||||||
| Premium Deducted Per Pay Period | $200 | $500 | ||||||
| Type of Plan | PPO | PPO | ||||||
| Deductible | $750 | $500 | ||||||
| Co-Payment (Office Visits) | $50 | $25 |
You want to determine not only the amount being deducted from your paycheck each pay period for your health insurance premium, but the total costs you’d be expected to pay annually. For example, if you are generally very healthy, a health insurance plan with a Health Savings Account (HSA) might make sense, even if the deductible is significantly higher.
| Your Current Job | Proposed Job | |||||||
| Premium Deducted Per Pay Period | $800 | $300 | ||||||
| Type of Plan | PPO | HSA | ||||||
| Deductible | $750 | $2500 | ||||||
| Co-Payment (Office Visits) | $50 | N/A* |
* With a Health Savings Account, you wouldn’t have a co-payment. However, you would be responsible for 100% of your health costs until you met your annual deductible.
In this example, in the proposed budget, you would have an extra $500 a month ($800 minus $300) that you could spend or save, and once you met your $2500 deductible, your HSA policy pays 100% of covered expenses after that.
So consider the total costs involved when comparing job offers — especially benefits — and make sure you’re making an accurate comparison.
Creating Your Perfect Job Guide Word Doc
Creating Your Perfect Job Guide PDF
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