What's your job criteria?

I know you need a job offer first but let's be optimistic and assume you have multiple job offers to consider.  How will you decide which one to accept?  Even if you have only one offer, what criteria have you determined for evaluating a job offer? 

For most, they start with the job.  What will I be doing?  Next, what is the salary, the benefits (health, vacation, etc.), hours, location, opportunity for advancement, work/life balance, training, the commute, and the list goes on or does it?  Do you have a list?  If yes, is it written?  If not, you are likely to miss something important.  Is the list of factors weighted according to the degree of importance to you?  If not, you are likely to place too much emphasis on one factor and not enough on another. 

I researched and found a list of 35 possible factors that I thought was helpful.  It is published by the University Career Services Department of the McIntire School of Commerce of the University of Virginia.  I am sure there are others.  The Career Services Department of your University or College may have something similar.  In any event, there are plenty of free resources available and you should take advantage of them to develop your own criteria and method of evaluation.  The factors are not a mystery and the process of evaluating them is not proprietary.

According to the 2011 Jobs Rated Report created by Adicio, a job search portal and published on CareerCast.com, there are five critical factors inherent to every job.  They are the environment (physical and emotional), income, hiring outlook, stress, and physical demands.  Adicio rates 200 jobs from data published by the Labor Department and United States Census Bureau.  The jobs are rated according to the five factors, with the goal of determing professions that provide the best overall experience for workers, not just jobs that excel in one particular area.  In addition, the report provides:

Ø      A list of the best and worst jobs

Ø      A list of the fastest growing jobs

Ø      The most and least stressful jobs

Ø      The most demanding jobs

Ø      10 of the most satisfying careers

Ø      Most popular city for first-time job seekers or countries where college grads want to work

You will be interested to know that many of the jobs don't require higher education or specialized training.  I especially liked the list of satisfying careers.  The Jobs Rated Report has insight for every job seeker.  Lastly, is there a word that describes people who like to make lists?  Yes, organized.