Choosing a job
How do you decide if a job is worth taking?
After years of bushwhacking and making mistakes, I’ve settled on a simple approach.
Meaning, money, and lifestyle. You want at least two. Ideally all three.
How you define these is personal, but here’s what they roughly mean.
Meaning is the work itself. Do you care about it? Does it matter to you? Would you be proud to get good at it?
Money is whether the job pays enough to fund the life you want. To support your family, build security, invest, travel, or buy back future freedom.
Lifestyle is what the job does to your every day. It includes where you work, how much control you have over your time, the pace of the work, the people around you, and the culture of the firm.
Some people enjoy remote work. Others like being in an office. Some people want maximum pay. Others are willing to trade money for autonomy. Some want to work on big important problems. Others just want work they enjoy with people they like.
And that’s fine, you shouldn’t copy someone else’s definitions. You need your own.
And know that these will evolve as your life does. The right job at 23 might be wrong at 33. Fresh out of university, you might care most about changing the world, or at least trying to, and getting paid properly after years of spaghetti on toast. You might not mind the commute or the late nights.
If you’re starting a family, lifestyle and money might mean security, sleep, bath time, and something left for the people you love. The same commute can feel very different when people are waiting for you at home. What matters most to you will change.
But however you define them, don’t settle for less than two if you can.
It’s common for people to get drawn in by the best bit, usually money. But jobs are bundles, you don’t get the good part on its own.
A job with a pay rise looks great on paper, but if the work is boring and comes with a brutal daily commute, I’ll bet it’s not enough.
Three for three is the aim, but two out of three goes a long way.
If the work matters and the lifestyle is good, less money might be okay. If the money is strong and the lifestyle works, you can probably live with duller work. If the work matters and the money is good, a few office days could be worth it.
But one out of three is probably a mistake. It usually means you’re paying too much for what you’re getting.
This applies to your current role too. A job can start as a good trade and slowly become a bad one. The work can lose meaning, the money can fall behind the market, or the lifestyle can degrade. The culture can change. The pace can change. The people can change. Before long, your week looks nothing like the one you signed up for.
If it no longer gives you at least two of the three, it may be time to leave.
But whenever you’re choosing your next role, don’t lose sight of the bundle. Meaning, money, and lifestyle.