Beyond salary: what to weigh before you accept a job offer

On 20 December 2016, I had two job interviews on the same day. One was with the multinational where I’d been interning without pay for three months. I’ll call it Company M. The other was with a company I’ll call Company B.

A week later, Company B made me an offer with a salary that looked great. Company M said nothing. Multinationals take their time.

I was torn. I was a licensed pharmacist, and everyone around me thought I should have a good job by now. My family had opinions too. My mentor, then Country Manager at Company M, helped me think it through but left the decision to me.

I turned the offer down.

I didn’t know anything about commercial pharmacy yet, and I wanted to learn before I earned. Company M had more to teach me, so I took the risk without any promise of a job there. On 3 April 2017, after another round of interviews and three more months of interning, Company M hired me. A few weeks later I was on my first international flight, to an onboarding programme.

Your priorities might be different from mine. The point is that salary is only one of the things worth weighing.

What to weigh in your first few years

I’ve watched a lot of young people decide on an offer by salary alone. Pay matters. You should be fairly paid for your time and skills. But look at the whole offer.

Benefits

A modest salary can come with strong benefits: health or life insurance, meal and transport allowances, school fees for your children, flexible hours, training. Put a money value on each one so you can see the full package. If your employer covers your day-to-day costs, more of your salary can go to savings or investment.

Culture

If a company’s values clash with yours, your motivation suffers. Plenty of companies hang their values on the wall and don’t live them, so look past the website and the posters. Talk to people who work there. There’s nothing better than growing somewhere your contributions are valued, people treat each other with respect, and you have peace of mind.

Learning and exposure

If you don’t have much practical experience, this one’s for you. I had a pharmacy licence and zero commercial experience; school never taught it. The unpaid internship, which ended up lasting six months, gave me the skills to start my career.

Interns should be paid, and I support that. But in Ghana, many organisations have no budget for interns, and you have to work with the situation you’re in. If an unpaid internship is the only way to build real skills, it can be worth it. Some full-time jobs with lower pay come with certifications worth thousands of dollars, or free access to LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, or Udemy. Don’t dismiss those offers.

Network

Social currency matters as much as money when you’re climbing. A respected employer lends you its reputation. It opens doors and puts you in rooms you couldn’t get into on your own. A lower-paying job at the right company can pay you back in contacts for years. If you’re entrepreneurial, those contacts can also help you start something of your own.

Getting started

It’s usually easier to move from a job to a job than from unemployment to a job. Some recruiters prefer people who are already working, fair or not. If an offer isn’t great, check whether it at least covers your transport, food, and rent. If it does, consider taking it. It keeps your skills fresh and can be a stepping stone to the job you want.

What to weigh later in your career

Once you’re established, different questions come up. Not all of them will apply to you.

Changing careers

Switching careers takes courage. Your transferable skills help, but you may take a pay cut, especially if you don’t know the new industry well yet. Pick a company where you’ll learn fast and meet the right people. The bigger reward often comes at your next employer, once you’ve built the skills. Sometimes it comes sooner, if the move goes well.

Moving up strategically

If your company has no room for you to grow, you might take a lower title somewhere with a track record of promoting people. Or you might take a bigger title at a company you don’t love, then move back or on to a better one with more responsibility. I know someone who was a manager at a local company, took a junior role at a multinational for about three years, and then joined another multinational as a manager. Any move like this carries risk, so make it on purpose.

Family and life

If you’re raising a family, or simply put family first, you’ll start choosing jobs for the balance of time, income, and peace of mind they give you.

Look at the whole picture

Next time you’re deciding on an offer, don’t stop at the salary. Write down what each of these factors is worth to you, and decide with the full picture in front of you.

Live, learn, earn, and leave a legacy. Let your value lead.