With today being my last day, I was also paid for unused vacation and the 3 days this pay period I worked. As a result I basically received another paycheck and bounced immediately to the credit union to put some big money down on my car loan. I am now 85% complete with this goal! I decided it was better to knock off a piece of my goal instead of going spending crazy with the additional money.
Full disclosure: I did keep the extra $38 off the top for my extended weekend though.

Unfortunately I don’t mean “The Office“, if my job were that entertaining I wouldn’t be leaving. Instead, I mean the first job that I took out of college, is ending today. Its an odd feeling, especially when I don’t really know how this process goes and neither do any of my peers (this is their first ‘real’ job as well).

So far I have done everything that has been asked of me, (which isn’t very much). I submitted my final time-sheet last Monday and the check is going to be mailed to my house (eventually). I have cross-trained other employees on the project over the specific pieces I am most comfortable with. I came into this week expecting the Company to hold some sort of exit-interview. Apparently they don’t even do that anymore, or maybe just not at my pay level (Lowly Programmer).

Part of my last remaining duties is to send out a goodbye email to all of my co-workers. In a search for how to best go about this, I came across this malicious attempt to do the same. Its makes me wonder how many employees over time have though about sending the same final message.

I also had the wonderful experience of cleaning out my cubicle. Even in a 6×8 space its amazing how much stuff can accumulate over just two years. During the cleaning I managed to find extra Halloween decorations, a half box of spaghetti, lots of OTC drugs, and a shrunken head from Ecuador.

My team members took me out for a nice lunch at a Mexican restaurant of my choosing and even paid for my meal. We caught up on the past couple years and they gave me a bit of grief over leaving them, which is to be expected and even appreciated. The Company may not be affected by my decision to leave, but at least its comforting to know that the people I’ve worked closest with are, and they still remain supportive of my decision.

Currently I am transitioning my career from one company to another, but my job tasks will remain about the same. This experience allowed me to compare the two companies on a side-by-side basis in order to figure out my full compensation. When comparing two job offers (or two positions in my case) here are some of the main points I take into consideration.

Salary

This is going to be your basic metric of comparison and usually the first question everyone asks, “How much does it pay?”.  This will usually come in a concrete number but be sure and account for all of the withdrawals that will occur each paycheck. Between taxes, possible retirement benefits, and insurance premiums; you may be looking at about 25% of each check never making it to the bank account.

Retirement Benefits

Many companies have different approaches to how they provide retirement benefits. Some of the more common offerings are the following:

• 401K Plan with a percentage match paid by the company
• Profit Sharing plan also with a match
• Pension funds and Retirement accounts

Along with specific company offerings is the automatic Social Security withdrawal from every paycheck. Lets just hope the money will still be there when it comes our turn to retrieve it.

Comparing these can get a bit tricky because they are often tied to variable amounts such as how well the company is doing, as well as the overall market if the funds are being invested. Take the time to run the math (based on the current estimates at the time) and see which works best for you.

Example:

Company A offers a 401K with a 50% per dollar match up to 5% of your total salary.
Company B offers a profit sharing plan with a 2x match per dollar up to 3% of your total salary.

The wording and percentages can be tricky but it breaks down to:

Company A: You Invest $1, they invest $0.50 
total: $1.50
Company B: You Invest $1, they invest $2  
total: $3.00

Now add the percentages to a salary of $30,000/year.

Company A: You invest $1500.00, they match with $750. total: $2250.00
Company B You invest  $900.00, they match with $1800. total: $2700.00

Seems clear in this example, but then you also have to factor in which funds each of those options are invested in and the returns for the given year. In a bad market, having a managed fund that relies on growth can easily have a negative return, eating into the money you (and company) have invested. Also, chances are that Company B, with its 2x match will be offering you a lower salary as a trade-off. Don’t worry, there’s plenty more to base your decision on!

Bonuses

Some companies opt to give their employees more value now in life, instead of binding an employees money to a retirement plan. This is accomplished by giving monetary bonuses back to the employees. The amount of the bonus can be determined by a flat rate across the board or simply by measuring an employees worth and tiering the bonus amounts. Chances are that if you work hard for a company who has the incentive of a bonus, your efforts will be recognized and rewarded. This can also be very motivating for job performance.

Vacation

A friend of mine was asked who his heroes were, and his first answer was “the man who invented paid time-off”. I couldn’t agree more! There’s nothing better than waking up on a typical “work day” at about 10:00 am and realizing that someone was just paying you to sleep in.

There are a few important things to factor in when comparing time off:

• How many paid holidays are observed?
• How many personal vacation days do you get per year?
• Is your sick leave tied into your personal leave?
  (Combined Time Off)
• What is the schedule for earning more vacation?

That last bullet can be very important. If you spend 15 years at a company before you get 5 weeks of paid vacation, when you could have earned that same 5 weeks in just 5 years at another company; you should have read the fine print.

Health Benefits

This comparison should be pretty straight forward. Generally you can expect the company to pay a certain percentage and have multiple plans to cover you and your family at a certain deductible. One thing to keep in mind is what type of coverage you will have. Does one job offer medical, dental, AND vision?

Miscellaneous

There are certainly some things that are more important than just the money at a company. Try to get a feel for the vibe during your interview or a visit and see how well you think the “corporate culture” will mesh with your personality and lifestyle.

• Do you enjoy wearing suits? Flip-flops?
• Do you think “cubicle” is just a synonym for an ice tray?
• Would you like the job to pay for additional training or give you time to learn new skills?
• Does Overtime Pay, sound like a fat paycheck or a pain in the neck?
• How long can you be happy, working in this environment?

From my own experience, I think that a lot of these little values can replace some of the more traditional monetary values when evaluating a company. Be sure to get what you need to survive, but don’t give up happiness for a paycheck. Reminds me of this Dilbert strip I had up in my cubicle for a year: