What to Pay attention to when Switching Jobs

1. Financial incentives
Aside the actual wage, the salary package also contains the premiums and bonuses offered by the employer with the occasion of holidays, or based on the performance of the employee. If premiums and bonuses are not pre-established (their amount), you should get a clear explanation of the appraisal system, what is considered high performance and what is expected of you to do in order to be rewarded with a performance bonus.

2. Non-financial incentives
The non-financial incentives are most often overlooked because they are not useful to paying the bills or to other life style necessities. Nevertheless, the non-financial incentives are the ones that make the job a great place to go to, they make you able to deliver at high quality standards and they as such contribute directly to your money making ability. It is in vain for a company to offer a high salary package, if it cannot create a pleasant working environment and if the employees are stressed and under-appreciated.

Here are some non-financial incentives you should investigate, and then compare to those existent at your current workplace:

The organisational culture – it is focused on the employee, on the customer or on the financial result? Are the employees perceived as a valuable asset or as a means of reaching and ends?

The flexibility of the working schedule – a rigid working schedule will not allow you to attend to other aspects of your life, such as picking your child from school, picking your spouse from the airport and so on.

The occurrence and frequency of extra office activities – these are extremely useful in building a stronger team; a relaxed team, operating in the sense of trust and friendship.

The medical coverage – which medical plan is better? Which one includes your spouse and children as well? Which offers more analyses and operations?

The number of paid free days – companies often offer their employees more paid free days as a means of rewarding their loyalty; when switching employers however, it is possible for you to lose this advantage and return to fewer holydays per year

3. The project on which you will be working
It is also extremely important to identify if the project on which you would be working at the new job is more challenging and more rewarding than the project on which you are currently working. Will it offer you more opportunities for professional formation or is it in fact a setback?

4. The stability of the employer
This criterion is gaining more and more importance in these times of economic hardship. While before the crisis emerged we did not fear for our employers' bankruptcy, we now see limited employment opportunities in case such a situation materialises. To ensure the stability of your job, try to find answers to questions such as: which employer benefits from a wider business expertise? How have the financial results changed since the crisis emerged? Is their business activity sufficiently diversified to cover for potential loses?