Job considerations: Going beyond pay
When it comes to career development, not everyone is in on it.
Most are looking for a job, not a career.
To put it more simply, some are looking at pay checks.
Not that there is anything wrong with it.
With money, one can put food on the table, not just for oneself, but for one's entire family.
This is also the reason some argue that bread and butter is more important than passion, for it ensures continued survival. Hence, it is a more practical approach.
This mindset is so deeply ingrained in some job candidates that it has created a huge demand in career development literature, as evidenced by the emphasis on pay negotiations in numerous career coaching books.
In fact, it is expected of job candidates who attend a job interview - especially during the last session - to raise the pay issue if the job interviewers have not raised it first.
If not, all if not most job interviewers might wonder if these job candidates are really interested in the job.
After all, no job candidates work for free, right?
Yet, with this fixation on the salary, we sometimes forget our true worth.
Are we worth our given or negotiated salary? What is our actual net worth?
While permanent employment offers job stability with a monthly paycheck and peace of mind, it also prevents us from asking ourselves more valid questions, as follows:
In a 2022 survey on lawyers locally - a noble, highly respected and well-paid profession for years - there is a drop in the number of lawyers who would advise their children to go into law, from 77 percent in 2021 to 48 percent in 2022.
Among those who said no, some cite long and stressful hours as the primary reason, as well as unreasonable clients.
As can be observed, pay is not the sole factor that one considers when deciding on a career, even if the job positions are prestigious and highly paid ones.
As playwright, novelist and thinker Mehmet Murat Ildan said:
"A real wealth of a good gardener is not his salary but the marvelous flowers he is raising in his garden."
Bring creative individuals, we are all "gardener" adept in botany, having the potential to use our innovative ingenuity to add value to our work every day. However, a fixation on salary impedes our ability to do that over time.
Thus, we really need to assess the feasibility of a job that offers high pay and not much else.
What other considerations should we look at, besides pay?
Below are some important areas for job candidates' consideration when they are looking for a job:
Personality and Management Style of Immediate Supervisors
In my years in corporate work, I have observed that employees' physical and mental well-being hinge greatly on their relations with their immediate supervisors.
This is because supervisors play an influential and determining role in almost all aspects of their career outlook in their organisation.
Thus, if an employees' supervisors are encouraging, motivating and supportive, their future would often be bright in their organisations.
Conversely, if their supervisors are critical, doubtful and condemning of their capabilities, or are micromanaging them, then it's best that they move on soonest.
It's unproductive to work under such an immediate supervisor, as the employees' career development and promotion prospects would often be non-existent, since it's almost impossible to reverse such negative mental impression. Moreover, their mental and physical health will be adversely affected.
The lower the self-esteem the direct reports, the greater the damage. And the easier they will be controlled by their immediate supervisors.
I have known of an employee who left the organization after suffering from insomnia and bad mental health after working under a supervisor exhibiting such negative traits.
Finding supervisors who recognizes, rewards and celebrates job candidates' talents and strengths, and who root for them soonest, is of the utmost importance.
Such gems are hard to find but it's well worth the effort.
As author, motivation speaker and business consultant Marcus Buckingham said:
"The talented employee may join a company because of its charismatic leaders, its generous benefits, and its world-class training programs, but how long that employee stays and how productive he is while he is there is determined by his relationship with his immediate supervisor."
This explains the reason why some say that it's the managers who make or break an organisation.
Organizational success depends on its people.
And good managers and supervisors increase employee retention.
Job candidates should thus always look for great supervisors to work with.
Contractual & Permanent Work Contract
Contractual employment is on the rise these days, which worries some job candidates, as they consider permanent employment to be more secure and stable.
Let's put it this way.
Even if one manages to secure a permanent work position, the hiring organisation also has the right to terminate their employment anytime, depending on economic conditions or internal management reshuffling.
These decisions are not within any employees' control.
Some of us may have seen organization retrenching senior management staff, despite years of employment with their organizations.
Is permanent employment that reassuring then?
Seen in this light, job candidates should relook at the different work contracts and remain adaptable to what works best for them.
Contractual employment may not be as stable as permanent ones, but it provides job candidates with employment and access to open full-time positions within the organisation.
With one foot through the door, they might be able to secure permanent positions with their hiring organizations by exploring open job positions with human resource department while working in contractual positions.
In this way, job candidates can explore different career possibilities by being open to the different types of employment contracts.
Of course, permanent employment is still regarded by many as the best work arrangements, as contractual work - with no guarantee of job renewal - is often relatively unstable.
However, as an alternative, seeing contractual employment as a means to an end, rather than dismissing contractual work completely, may be a better approach.
Work environment
This often cannot be discovered during the job interview process as it's hard even for the job interviewers to articulate them for various reasons.
One reason is that even within a single organisation, especially a large one, the work environment might differ by departments due to different management style of the department heads.
To highlight a particular management style of a department also does not seem professional.
Job candidates should thus take steps to research on their preferred organisations prior to the job interviews through the organizations' official websites and organization review websites such as Glassdoor and Jobstreet to better understand the corporate culture.
However, it is important to consider the online comments by with a pinch of salt, since we do not know the reason why the ex-employees left the organisation.
Nevertheless, an organisation with a low average review rating says a lot about the work environment.
A toxic and/or overly political work environment hinders one from realizing one's full potential in the workplace and impairs one's physical and mental well-being.
No amount of monetary remuneration will justify one to stay in such a place.
Some examples of toxic work environment include:
Corporate culture
This is possibly one of the most elusive elements in an organisation and hence, hard to articulate.
Job candidates often has to work in an organisation for some time to understand it.
What's often hard to define are the unwritten rules and expectations of organisations that aren't explicitly stated.
What makes it even more challenging is that some organisations may not walk the talk.
For example, an organisation might say that they value transparency but in actuality, communication is still highly controlled and political.
Job candidates should thus try their best to research this before joining the organisations so as to see if their personal values are aligned well with the organisations'.
If their personal values are seriously misaligned with that of their hiring organisations', they might not fit in well.
Corporate culture is usually defined and determined by the philosophy and decision of senior management.
By observing how top-down decisions are made and how employees are treated, job candidates can often glean some insights into the organizations' corporate culture.
This is an important factor to consider during job applications that job candidates often overlook.
As author and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek said:
"Corporate culture matters. How management chooses to treat its people impacts everything - for better or for worse."
Human relations
Most work stress often does not arise from increased workload.
No matter how heavy the workload is, employees can often manage it with good time management, delegation or workload discussions with their supervisors.
One of the most stressful elements in the corporate workplace, and possibly the most stressful, is that of human relations.
For example, should the employees' supervisors be unreasonable and undeterred in assigning the full workload to the employee after several discussion sessions, wouldn't this be much more stressful?
The employee now has to deal with not only an existing increased workload with no opportunity to reduce it, but an overbearing supervisor who expects him or her to "carry her own weight" as well.
Thus, the personality and temperament of our supervisors, alongside our relationships with them, play a very important role in the stress levels and happiness of employees.
In addition, self-centric colleagues also take a toll on employees' job satisfaction.
If most are focused on self-aggrandisement, then it would be challenging to work together in an environment where everyone has their own agenda.
Job candidates should pay heed to this concern when selecting organisations to work in as well.
Career advancement
This is a very important consideration for job candidates who prioritize career advancement.
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Not every job position has a career progression path. Permanent job positions often have one but it's not so for contractual jobs. Career progression for temporary and part-time jobs are almost non-existent.
Thus, it's best if job candidates address bring this up during the job interview with questions such as "May I know the career advancement opportunities for this job role?".
There are several reasons why some job positions have limited career advancement, as follows:
Work-life balance
This has been one of the foremost concerns of the millennials, but I believe this speaks true of most of us too - regardless of age or generation.
However, in such stressful times, this seems to be something elusive and unattainable.
Nevertheless, for job candidates, they can always address this by asking about the working hours during job interviews.
There's a reason why retail hours or night shifts are concerns among job seekers here, so job candidates should factor this into their job consideration if they would rather keep their weekends or weekday evenings work-free.
There is always the possibility of putting in extra time to complete necessary work, which is often considered a mark of professionalism. Do note that these extra hours may not be considered as overtime work and hence, may be unpaid.
On the whole, putting in overtime to do exemplary work instead of simply getting things done is recognized by most organisations as diligence.
If job candidates are uncomfortable with this, it's best they check the frequency of working overtime with the job interviewers.
Work-life balance is hard to define for everyone and each of us need to strike a balance for ourselves.
It is nevertheless an important part of any job consideration.
As businessman, entrepreneur and technology leader Stephen Gilettt said:
"Invest in your work-life balance. Time with friends and family is as important as times at work. Getting that out of balance is a path toward unhappiness."
Job challenges
A question that job candidates seldom ask job interviewers during job interviews is: "What challenges would I face in this job role?"
This is an important question and it's best for job candidates to address them soonest so that they can assess if they have the necessary skills and strengths to do what it takes in the job.
Should job candidates deem the position unsuitable after receiving the job interviewers' reply, then it's best to withdraw their job applications during the job interviews.
Most job candidates understand the reality of being turned down for the job by the organisations but it often didn't occur to them that they, too, can withdraw their job applications.
Both the job candidates and job interviewers are looking for the best match for the job position, so it's only reasonable that job candidates withdraw their job application if they find their applied job role unsuitable.
Doing so saves everyone's time.
This is especially so for the Human Resource department, where onboarding new staff and seeing them resign within a short period of time is a huge cost on its staff's time and effort.
Level of work fulfillment
To really thrive in one's work, one needs to find fulfillment in doing it.
If job candidates strain themselves to do something simply for the monthly paycheck, it's a matter of time before they quit.
Hence, from the outset, job candidates should strive to find out as much detail about their work responsibilities during the job interviews as possible.
A good question would be: "Are you able to run through with me what an employee in this applied job role would do during one typical working day?"
The job interviewer's reply would often provide the job interviewer with an inkling of what the job encompasses, after which they can decide if they wish to continue to apply for the job.
However, at times, the job interviewers may not be the direct supervisors for the open job position and hence, are unable to answer the answer.
In such cases, the job candidate can ask job interviewers about the work responsibilities and check where the bulk of the job lies.
For example, there can be two similar customer service position but while one's primary responsibilities lie in frontline customer service, the other might lie in resolving customers' complaints via emails and phones in backend offices.
When the job candidates know where they would be spending the bulk of their time on, and what strengths and skills are required, they would be in a better position to decide for themselves if their applied jobs suit them.
Fringe benefits
This is another area of concern for some job candidates. Fringe benefits include vacation leave, medical leave, dental coverage, etc.
While the job candidates' primary concern may be monetary remuneration, fringe benefits often do have a role to play in the well-being of employees.
This is especially so for anyone working in the gig economy.
Ask any freelancers and most if not some would probably highlight the detrimental effects of having minimal or no fringe benefits at all.
Imagine someone working with very limited vacation leave. Work can get stressful over time.
Thus, job candidates should ask about fringe benefits, especially those who desire to achieve work-life balance.
Commuting distance
Travelling distance is often a concern for job candidates who do not drive, and they should consider this very carefully.
High public transport cost aside, commuting distance of say, taking 1.5 hours or more to travel to and from the workplace can get exhausting, especially if they have to bring documents home.
If employees get home late after work, they might not be able to have sufficient rest during the night. Over time, this will adversely affect their energy level and work quality over time.
While some job candidates might pass the time simply by reading on public transport, long-distance travelling will inadvertent get tiresome after some time.
Job candidates should thus research on the work location(s) before applying for any jobs. They should also check if there are shuttle bus services available and if so, where the pick-up points are.
If their hiring organisation has several working locations, they should try to find out the exact location of their workplace and should the job nature require a rotation of work locations, job candidates should check out all the locations and assess for themselves the feasibility of commuting to these work locations in the long run.
Travelling commitments
Some jobs required regular or frequent travelling.
This requirement is often explicitly stated in the job posts.
For such jobs, job candidates have to assess for themselves if they find regular travelling acceptable.
If the job candidates have personal or family commitments or are not attuned to travelling, then it might be best not to apply for such job positions.
Frequent travelling might provide the benefits of overseas work exposure but there is often the trade-off of being away from one's family at times.
This is something that job candidates should put some thought to before applying for such job roles.
It's best that job candidates consult their spouse, family members and children before deciding on work of such nature.
Opportunities for Higher Education, Training & Upgrading
For those job candidates with a strong thirst for learning or who are keen in updating themselves with the latest industry skills, this is one area that they should look into during job interviews.
Some organisations might:
Should such options be available, it might be a pull factor to draw those job candidates who are independent, lifelong learners into the organizations.
Internship: An option for fresh graduates entering the workplace
This is something that fresh graduates can consider.
If they are unable to secure contractual or permanent job positions, internship offered by companies is a valid option for them to gain work experience during this interim period, albeit often at a lower pay.
Doing so enables them to gain work experiences while gaining insights into their industry's developments, as well as possible contractual/permanent work positions within their hiring organisations.
This is especially useful in unstable times such as the COVID-19 pandemic period, where job applications are competitive, and jobs are scarce.
However, this is often meant as a short-term solution, since the ultimate objective of fresh graduates is to secure full-time employment, so as to gain a foothold in their effort to develop their preferred career.
As a side note, university graduates who are sourcing for internship while schooling should consider the internship duration as well as what can be learnt from the internship programs before committing to taking them on.
The priority should always be to ensure that their studies are not disrupted while interning, and should the employer offer to extend the internship period, ensure that they are able to cope with their studies.
Hybrid/Remote work options
This is a new concern in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The question "What is your work arrangements?" has now become a rather common query by job candidates, with the rise of remote working.
Job candidates are seeing the possibility of hybrid work options that, while initially seems discomforting with the onset of COVID-19, is now beginning to normalize.
While some job candidates may still prefer the traditional form of office work, the rest are beginning to see the upside of aligning work with family. For the latter, asking about work arrangements is a valid question and a genuine concern.
Conclusion
Depending on the job candidates' preferences, their concerns may not be prioritized in this order. Some of these concerns may also not apply to them.
However, I hope that the abovementioned factors may serve as a reference point for fresh graduates who are just entering the workforce, mid-career changers and experienced working professionals who are reconsidering and reordering their priorities to improve their quality of life.
While job candidates work towards their career goals, the abovementioned factors are often overlooked.
When this happens, it can hinder their happiness at work, even if they are working in what others often perceive as a great job.
I hope that this article is able to provide them with some insights and to increase their awareness in finding the right job for themselves.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Patrick Tay?is an educator, career coach and people developer who has more than 15 years of professional teaching and mentoring experiences in institutes of higher learning. Previously, he had worked in publishing, corporate communications, education sales and business development.
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1 年A very thorough and detailed analysis for anyone looking for a job, changing a job or career change. Thank you Patrick (MEd, B.M.C (Distinction), B.Comp)