Lemma: Culture > Compensation


 

Let's try to produce a framework for comparing job offers.

First we should identify what factors make a good offer and add them together.  Then let's disregard everything but the dominant factor, just like we do in Big-O analysis.  At risk of being cynical, let's go ahead and say what most people probably consider the dominant factor, money.

We can rationalize this somewhat because many of the disregarded factors correlate closely with money.  Where there's money there's talent, benefits, perks, even social status.  However there may also be politics, competition, even big egos.  Whatever discomfort you may have with the offer, we can collectively call this "culture mismatch."

To score an offer based on what we have so far we could say:

Offer Score = Comp/Culture Mismatch 

We should also make sure to consider the long term possibilities of each position.  A high pay job with little upward mobility will eventually become a mediocre pay job.  Our ability to do well may depend on many things: culture-fit, skills-fit, luck, etc.  Let's pluck out what we can quantify.  Generally we'll be measured against our peers by our contribution, cost, and cultural fit.

Growth Score = (Execution - Cost) * Culture Match
Growth Score = (Execution - Cost)/Culture Mismatch

The overall ranking should then be the combination of these two:

 Overall Score = Offer Score + Growth Score 

= Comp/Culture Mismatch + (Execution - Cost)/Culture Mismatch 

= Comp/Culture Mismatch + Execution/Culture Mismatch - Comp/Culture Mismatch

= Execution/Culture Mismatch 

= Execution * Culture Match

Presumably one's execution will be constant across at all positions.  Since the score's purpose is comparison, we can divide all scores by the same constant and rename the score.

Overall Score / Execution Constant = Culture Match

 Final Score = Culture Match

When you consider the effect of income tax and proportional increases in living costs in higher paying locations we can further disregard the importance of compensation.  This doesn't mean a candidate shouldn't care.  They should shoot for a competitive offer for their position in their market.  However, their cumulative, long term reward and mental health will likely be superior in a position where they feel a positive connection with their peers.


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