What's The Most Important Factor For You When Considering a Graduate Job?

When you’re considering a job offer, there’s more to think about than just how much you're going to be paid.

The other parts of a compensation package are almost as important. Your salary will cover your monthly bills, but you need to consider the perks and the non-tangible things that make a job good.

We conducted a poll on LinkedIn to explore the most important factors when considering a new job, here’s how it went…

Career Growth Opportunities - 38%

Top of the shop we have career growth opportunities. Everyone wants to be able to progress, grow and develop within their career. You are more likely to stay at a company if they are invested in your development, enabling you to grow within. Growth opportunities are usually to gain qualifications, take part in different courses and learn something new to advance your skill set. This will allow you to boost your confidence within that sector and gain more knowledge about our area of work. The more knowledge you have the more you can progress, meaning you can gain financial growth and climb the career ladder. As you achieve certain milestones a feeling of job satisfaction will knock in and you understand you are future-proofing your life career.

Salary and Benefits - 34%

2nd was salary and benefits. If you are going into your first role straight out of University the thought of a salary is very exciting! The IT and Technology industry is growing massively and so should your perks and benefits if you want to attract the best people. In this industry, companies compete against the big giants - Google, Facebook, Spotify and Monzo. To stand out as an employer of choice, companies need to offer a broad range of benefits like H&S services that will help their business attract a wider talent pool. According to the Reward Management Survey by CIPD, the most popular employee benefits currently offered by employers are:

• Flexible working (offered by 85% of employers)
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) (76%)
• Free eye tests/eyecare vouchers (63%)
• A workplace pension with a minimum of 6% employer contribution (62%)
• Death in service support/life assurance (61%)

Company Culture & Values - 13%

3rd is company culture. Company culture is a shared set of workplace beliefs, values, attitudes, standards, purposes and behaviours. This reflects both the written and unwritten rules that people in an organisation follow. Your organisation's culture is the sum of all that you and your colleagues think, say, and do as you work together. Straight from University, you want to be in a culture where you can feel part of the team and make a difference. Sometimes the reality of workplace dynamics, especially if they receive little acknowledgement for their ideas and contributions.

Work-life Balance - 14%

The least voted is work-life balance. Possibly due to the fact, that students are working hard but still live the student life of nightclubs and bars. Or perhaps they have had their fix and are ready to get stuck into the land of full-time work. However, work-life balance is a very important part of your career but can mean different things to all of us. This could be:

• meeting your deadlines at work while still having time for friends and hobbies
• having enough time to sleep properly and eat well
• Not worrying about work when you’re at home

You need to pause and check you aren't running off your feet. If so then you need to make sure you don’t submerge yourself too deeply into work.

Please check out our live vacancies on Klickstarters or email over an up-to-date copy of your CV and we can find a role that suits you!