I am now in my mid-forties. Here is what is important to me. There are several things that I would consider before excepting a position that aren't really benefits per se.
Environment: friendly, co-operative co-workers vs. office politics and back stabbing co-workers. It would take a lot of money to compensate for a poor environment. scheduling: Strict 8 - 5 handle your business on your time vs. a flex schedule with liberal policies for taking personal time for Dr. visits, field trips with the kids etc... I'll take a financial hit for flexibility. upward mobility: Stuck as a programmer for ever or chances to advance to management.. Actual Benefits: Financial Compensation is regional, but I would want to be at least average for my field region, experience etc... Raises should be based on COLA, with additional potential for merit increases. Education: I would hope for both job related training programs (conferences, classes etc...) and outside educational benefits for those who want to complete degrees, get a higher degree, or take additional tech classes. PTO / Sick leave etc.. I prefer more PTO in exchange for fewer paid holidays. Currently I received 4 weeks PTO from the first to the third year. From the third - tenth year I get 5 weeks a year. However, we only get 6 holidays (New Years, Memorial day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas) Two very important areas for me are Medical and retirement. There needs to be a comprehensive medical program, dental, eye etc.. with little change in the program from year to year. I don't want to have to find a new dentist or Doctor every other year because the plan changed again. Employee portion of the plan should be minimal and not subject to large annual increases. Retirement: Some sort of company funded or matching pension, (401k, 403b) or a state funded program such as calpers where by you are eligiable for x percentage of your income for every year of service. MAJOR CONSIDERATION: Medical coverage upon retirement. My folks are paying about $1,200 a month for medical coverage. I can only imagine what it will cost in 20 years when I want to retire. So I highly value a system that has some sort of post retirement medical benefit. So I would settle for less compensation now if I had guaranteed medical benefits after retirement. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Introducing the Fusion Authority Quarterly Update. 80 pages of hard-hitting, up-to-date ColdFusion information by your peers, delivered to your door four times a year. http://www.fusionauthority.com/quarterly Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:216662 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
