Changing jobs
Compare the whole offer
A worksheet to see every offer as the job you'd actually be living, not just the salary
Lay out each offer, and your current job, side by side across pay, benefits, time off, commute and growth, and mark what matters most to you.
- About 40 minutes
- Just you
- Whenever you have an offer
- Worksheet
Why this can work
The base salary tends to take over an offer decision because it's the number said out loud and the easiest to compare. Laying every part of each job side by side shrinks the differences you'd barely notice and enlarges the ones you'd feel every week. It also shows you the gaps, which are exactly what to ask about before you decide.
Read moreHow to compare job offers
You’ll come away with every option on one page and a sentence for each on what you'd be saying yes to.
- Give each option its own column.
One per offer, plus one for your current job, even if you're sure you're leaving. It's the baseline, and it sometimes earns a second look.
Tip: One offer and your current job is still a comparison worth making.
- Fill in the money rows as yearly numbers.
Base, bonus as the target and how reliably it has paid, sign-on, retirement match, other cash. Keep equity in its own row and out of the cash total.
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Tip: Write unknown rather than guessing. Every unknown is a question to ask.
- Fill in the rest of the job.
What benefits cost you, time off and whether people take it, schedule and flexibility, commute or remote days, title and scope, who you'd report to, what you'd learn, and where it could lead.
- Mark the three rows that matter most to you.
Do this before you look across the columns, so the biggest number doesn't choose for you.
- Read across and write one sentence per option.
What you'd be saying yes to if you took it. Then list what you'd ask each company to change.
Good times to repeat it: whenever you have an offer to weighwhen an offer changes after negotiationwhen you're choosing between staying and going
Making it work for you
Every workplace is different. Here’s what to think about before you start, and what might get in the way.
Things to think about
A target bonus isn't a paid bonus, and private company equity is a possibility, not a paycheck. Keeping them in their own rows stops a hopeful number from winning the comparison.
What might make this harder
Tell the earlier company honestly that you're finishing another process and ask how much time you have. Most will give some, and asking is better than guessing.
Questions people ask
How do I compare two job offers?
Put each offer, and your current job, in its own column with the same rows: pay, bonus, equity, benefits, time off, commute, the work, the manager, growth. Mark what matters most to you before you compare.
What should I consider in a job offer besides salary?
Bonus and how reliably it pays, equity, what benefits cost you, time off, flexibility, commute, who you'd work for, and what you'd learn. Those often matter as much as base pay over a few years.
How do I compare equity between two offers?
Keep it separate from cash, write down what kind it is and how it vests, and treat private company equity as uncertain. You usually need the total share count to know what a grant represents.
Should I compare an offer to my current job?
Yes. Your current job is the real alternative, and putting it in the grid shows what you'd actually gain and give up by moving.
Why this works, and where it comes from
People tend to overweight whatever they're focused on, and in an offer that's the headline salary. It's the one number everyone says out loud, so it quietly becomes the whole decision. The rest of the job stays abstract until you're living it, and by then you've chosen.
Different parts of pay also carry very different certainty. Base is close to guaranteed. A bonus depends on the year, and on the company. Equity in a private company may be worth a great deal or nothing at all. Adding them into one total hides exactly the thing you most need to see, which is how much of the offer you can count on.
The rows that aren't money compound quietly. An hour a day of commuting adds up to hundreds of hours a year. A manager who invests in you can shape your next job as much as this one. What you'll learn is part of the pay, even though it never appears on the letter.
This is a familiar practice, the total compensation comparison. Truest's version changes the order: decide what matters to you before you look across, so you're comparing against your own priorities rather than the biggest number. It isn't needed every time. If one offer is obviously right, you don't need a spreadsheet to prove it.
Other simple things to consider
What to do next
More in Changing jobs
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An exercise written by Truest, based on our experience. Last updated September 25, 2026. We sell a career membership; where that’s relevant above, we say so.