How to Compare Job Offers Beyond Salary

Put each offer on one line with the same ingredients, in dollars per year:

• Base salary. The guaranteed part.
• Bonus. Use what you would honestly expect to receive, not the maximum target. Ask what share of eligible employees got the full amount last year.
• Equity. Only the amount that vests in a year, at a value you actually trust (more on that below).
• Retirement match. A 4% match on a $100,000 salary is $4,000 a year, but only if you contribute enough to collect it.
• Health premiums. What comes out of your pay, subtracted as a cost.
• Other cash: signing bonus (spread over the time you expect to stay), relocation money, stipends for phone, internet or a home office.

Add the positives and subtract your premiums. That gives you a like-for-like figure. Our job offer comparison calculator does this for up to three offers at once, and also produces an hourly value, which brings us to the second step.

A salary is a payment for a year of your time, but offers differ in how much time they actually take. Divide total compensation by hours, not by "a year".

Paid hours are roughly (260 weekdays minus holidays and paid time off) multiplied by hours per day. Then consider unpaid hours: the commute. A one-hour round trip on 245 working days is 245 hours, about six work weeks. If another offer is hybrid and cuts on-site days to two a week, that commute shrinks to a fraction.

Example: a $100,000 base with a $10,000 bonus, a 4% match, $200 a month in premiums, 15 days off and a 60 minute commute comes to $111,600 in total compensation. That is about $56.94 per paid hour, or $50.61 once the commute hours are included. A job paying $5,000 more but adding 30 minutes of commute each way may lose that advantage on a per-hour basis.

The hourly figure does not replace judgement. It is a way to see that "more money" and "better pay for my time" can point in different directions.

Equity is the part of an offer most likely to be misread.

• RSUs (restricted stock units) at a public company are the simplest: each unit becomes a share when it vests, and you can generally sell it, so its value is close to the market price times the number vesting. The price can move between grant and vesting, and the grant value on the offer letter is a snapshot.
• Stock options give you the right to buy shares at a fixed strike price. They are only worth the difference between the future share price and the strike, and you must pay to exercise them, sometimes with tax due.
• Private company equity may not be sellable for years, or ever. Many people value it at a heavy discount or at zero when comparing, and treat any payoff as a bonus.

Also look at the vesting schedule. A common structure is a four-year vest with a one-year cliff, which means nothing vests if you leave before the first anniversary. Back-loaded schedules put more value in later years, so your first-year equity may be much less than the average.

Three benefit areas are worth running the numbers on:

1. Health insurance. Compare premiums and deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums and whether your doctors are in network. A plan that costs $450 a month rather than $150 is $3,600 more a year before any care. An employer contribution to a health savings account is real money too.
2. Time off. Ten versus twenty-five days is roughly three weeks of paid time. Check whether it accrues gradually, whether unused days are paid out, and how many public holidays are separate.
3. Retirement. Look at the match formula and the vesting schedule for the employer contribution. A match that vests over several years is worth less if you may not stay that long.

Smaller items add up: parental leave, tuition help, a commuter benefit, professional development budgets, and whether the employer covers dependents' insurance. Give each a rough dollar value if you will use it, and zero if you will not.

The same salary buys different lives in different places. Two checks help:

• Taxes. A job in a state with no wage income tax keeps more of the same gross pay than one with a high rate, though other costs may differ. Run each salary through the take-home pay estimator to compare net pay rather than gross.
• Cost of living. Housing is usually the largest difference. If an offer requires a move, the relocation cost comparison estimates the salary you would need in the new city to keep the same standard of living.

Remote and hybrid arrangements also change spending: transport, parking, lunches and work clothes fall, while home internet and utilities may rise. Ask whether remote pay is adjusted by location, since some employers cut pay if you move to a cheaper area.

After the maths, weigh what the spreadsheet cannot show:

• Growth. Will you learn skills and take on scope that raise your pay in two or three years? A lower offer with a steeper path can beat a higher one that stalls.
• Manager and team. Ask to speak to someone who would be your peer, and ask how long people typically stay.
• Stability. A company's finances and recent layoffs are public clues. For a startup, ask how many months of runway they have.
• Fit with your life. Hours, flexibility, travel and how the job feels on a bad week.

A useful trick is to pick the offer you would choose if they paid the same, then check whether the money difference is large enough to change your answer.

• What is the bonus range, and how often has it been paid in full?
• Is there a signing bonus, and must I repay it if I leave within a year?
• What is the vesting schedule and any cliff on equity and the retirement match?
• Which health plans are offered, and what do the premiums and deductibles look like for my situation?
• What is the expected schedule, and what are the remote or hybrid rules in writing?
• How often are raises and promotions reviewed?

Get the answers in the written offer where you can. These comparisons are estimates for general information and not financial advice, and your own priorities should decide the final call.