More than salary: how to choose the right job offer

Two job offers land in your inbox. One pays £3,000 more a year. Easy decision?

Not necessarily.

Salary matters, but the number at the top of an offer rarely tells you how much better your working life will actually be. A longer commute, unpaid overtime, fewer holidays or an expensive pension arrangement can quickly eat into what initially looked like a substantial pay rise.

Before accepting a new role, it is worth comparing the whole package rather than simply choosing the biggest number.

Start with the salary, but put it in context

The first question is whether the salary itself is competitive for the role.

Job titles can be misleading. Two positions with the same title may have very different responsibilities, experience requirements and pay depending on the industry and location.

Looking at typical earnings for your position can give you a useful reference point before deciding whether an offer is genuinely attractive. You can compare salaries by position on Jober.uk, based on salaries advertised in job offers published on the site.

It is also worth checking exactly what the advertised figure includes. A headline salary may be guaranteed basic pay, but it could also include estimated bonuses, commission or allowances.

How many hours are you actually selling?

A £40,000 salary for a 37.5-hour week and a £43,000 salary for a role where 45-hour weeks are normal are not as far apart as they first appear.

Before accepting an offer, find out:

your contracted weekly hours,
whether overtime is paid or expected as part of the salary,
whether evenings or weekends are required,
how often people in the team actually work beyond their contracted hours.

Looking at pay per hour rather than annual salary can sometimes completely change which offer appears more attractive.

Do not underestimate the commute

A job can pay more and still leave you worse off once getting there is taken into account.

Fuel, train tickets, parking and other travel costs are the obvious expenses. Time matters too.

An extra 45 minutes each way adds seven and a half hours to a five-day working week. Across a year, that is a substantial amount of time spent travelling rather than working, resting or doing something else.

A slightly lower salary with a short commute or hybrid working can therefore have considerably more value than it appears to have on paper.

Holiday entitlement can be worth more than another small pay rise

In the UK, most workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday each year, but employers can offer more.

That makes annual leave worth comparing carefully.

Five additional paid days off may be more valuable to you than a modest salary difference, particularly if one role also offers flexible working or the option to buy extra leave.

Check whether bank holidays are included in the stated allowance too. Two employers advertising “28 days' holiday” may not actually be offering the same thing.

Look at the pension before ignoring the pension

Pensions are easy to overlook because the benefit does not arrive in your bank account this month.

Yet employer contributions can make a meaningful difference to the overall value of a job.

If one employer contributes only the statutory minimum while another offers a substantially higher contribution, the difference can add up to thousands of pounds over time.

The same applies to benefits such as private medical cover, life insurance, professional qualifications and paid training.

A bonus is only valuable if you can realistically earn it

“Up to £5,000 annual bonus” looks impressive in an advert.

But how many employees actually receive £5,000?

Ask whether the bonus is guaranteed, discretionary or linked to individual or company performance. If possible, find out what was typically paid in previous years.

When comparing offers, it is safer to compare guaranteed salary with guaranteed salary first. Treat variable bonuses as an additional benefit rather than money you already have.

Think about what the job could be worth in two years

The highest-paying offer today is not necessarily the one that will put you in the strongest position later.

A role offering training, recognised qualifications, greater responsibility or experience with valuable technology may create better opportunities for your next move.

It is worth asking what you will be able to put on your CV after one or two years in the job.

Sometimes accepting slightly less money now can make sense if the role gives you skills that significantly increase your earning potential later.

Compare the whole package, not one number

Before making your decision, put the two offers side by side and compare salary, working hours, travel, holiday, pension, bonuses, flexibility, benefits and development opportunities.

Then consider something harder to put into a spreadsheet: which job fits the life you actually want to have?

A higher salary is certainly a good reason to consider moving. It just should not be the only one.