What to Look for in a Job Offer: A Data-Driven Checklist

Most people evaluate a job offer by comparing it to their current salary — which is exactly the wrong benchmark. Your current salary reflects what your previous employer was willing to pay, not what the market actually pays for your role, experience level, and location. According to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data, the gap between the 25th and 75th percentile wage for the same occupation can exceed 40% in high-demand fields like software engineering and finance. That gap is money left on the table if you accept the first number without checking it.

Here is a structured breakdown of what to look for in a job offer, ordered by financial impact.

1. Base salary relative to market percentiles

Base salary is the figure that compounds over time. Bonuses get cut in downturns; equity can expire worthless; base salary affects your pension contributions, mortgage applications, and every future offer you receive.

The first question is not "is this more than I earn now?" but "where does this land in the distribution for my role?"

Use percentile framing:

• p25 (25th percentile): Bottom quarter of earners in the role. Acceptable only if other components are exceptional or the role offers unusual growth.
• p50 (median): Mid-market. A reasonable baseline for a standard offer.
• p75 (75th percentile): Strong offer. Typical for competitive employers or roles with skill shortages.
• p90 (90th percentile): Top-of-market. Usually reserved for senior hires at well-funded companies.

Official sources publish these breakdowns by occupation, region, and in some cases industry. According to ONS ASHE 2024, the median gross annual salary for full-time software developers in London sits around £72,000, with the 75th percentile closer to £90,000. An offer of £68,000 for a mid-level developer in London is therefore below median — not automatically a dealbreaker, but worth quantifying before you respond.

The same logic applies in other markets. BLS data for the US, Destatis data for Germany, and INSEE figures for France all publish median and percentile breakdowns by occupation code. CompVerdict — instant job offer checker pulls from these sources directly and returns a verdict in under 30 seconds, so you do not have to cross-reference government datasets manually.

2. Bonus structure: target versus realistic payout

A recruiter quoting "up to 20% bonus" is quoting the ceiling, not the floor. Before treating a bonus as real compensation, get answers to four specific questions:

1. What percentage of employees hit the target bonus? A well-run company should be able to tell you.
2. Is the bonus discretionary or formulaic? Discretionary bonuses can be reduced or eliminated at management's will, even in strong years.
3. What is the cliff or vesting schedule? Many bonuses require 12 months of employment before any payout. If you leave or are let go before that date, you get nothing.
4. What was the actual average payout over the last three years? This is a matter of record for the company's HR or finance team and is a reasonable question to ask.

A 15% target bonus that pays out at 60–70% of target in a typical year is worth roughly 9–10.5% of base — meaningfully different from the headline number. Model the realistic figure, not the maximum.

For roles with significant variable pay, the how to evaluate a job offer guide covers how to weight each component when comparing across two or more offers.

3. Equity: reading the numbers that actually matter

Equity is the component most candidates misread. A grant of "50,000 options" is meaningless without four additional figures:

• Strike price (options) or grant price (RSUs at grant): what you pay to exercise or what the share was worth when granted.
• Current company valuation: determines whether there is any spread between strike and fair market value.
• Vesting schedule: typically four years with a one-year cliff in tech, meaning you receive nothing if you leave in month eleven.
• Preference stack (for private companies): if the company has raised at a high valuation with significant liquidation preferences, common shareholders — which includes employees — may receive little or nothing in a down-exit scenario.

For public company RSUs, the math is simpler: shares vest on a schedule and the value is the share price at vest, minus tax. The key variable is the vesting schedule and whether there is a cliff.

A £50,000 annual RSU grant vesting quarterly over four years is worth approximately £12,500 per year before tax — a concrete number you can include in your total compensation calculation.

4. Benefits and non-cash components with real monetary value

Not all benefits have equal value, and some have no value to specific individuals. Evaluate each against its actual cost to you.

High-value benefits to quantify:

• Pension / retirement contributions: In the UK, employer contributions above the auto-enrolment minimum of 3% are direct compensation. An employer contributing 8% instead of 3% on a £60,000 salary adds £3,000 annually. In the US, a 401(k) match of 4% on a $100,000 salary is worth $4,000 per year.
• Health insurance: In countries without universal coverage (primarily the US), employer-paid health insurance for a family can have a market value of $15,000–$25,000 annually according to Kaiser Family Foundation employer health benefit survey data.
• Remote work policy: Commuting costs and time are real. A five-day in-office policy in a major city can cost £2,000–£5,000 per year in transport, meals, and time, depending on distance.
• Parental leave: Statutory minimums vary significantly by country. Employer-enhanced leave has direct monetary and career-continuity value.

Lower-value or zero-value benefits to discount:

• Gym memberships, free snacks, and office perks have minimal financial impact and should not offset meaningful shortfalls in base salary.
• Stock purchase plans (ESPPs) are valuable only if you can participate, and the discount is typically 5–15% of market price on a fixed contribution cap.

For a full picture of job offer red flags to watch for, including benefits that look generous on paper but have restrictive conditions, check the linked guide.

5. Contract terms that affect the value of what you're signing

The financial components of an offer live inside a legal document. Several contract terms can materially change what the offer is actually worth.

Notice period: A long notice period (three to six months in many UK roles) limits your ability to move quickly if a better opportunity arises. It also makes you expensive to let go, which can work in your favour, but slows your optionality.

Non-compete clauses: Enforceability varies by jurisdiction. In the UK, courts apply a reasonableness test; in California, they are largely unenforceable. In Germany, a post-contractual non-compete is only binding if the employer pays at least 50% of your previous compensation during the restricted period. Know your jurisdiction before signing.

Clawback provisions: Some offers include signing bonus clawbacks requiring repayment if you leave within 12–24 months. Model whether the signing bonus offsets this restriction.

Probation period terms: During probation, many employers can terminate with minimal notice. Check whether benefits (especially pension and health cover) apply from day one or after probation.

If negotiating any of these terms feels uncertain, the how to negotiate your offer guide covers which clauses are typically negotiable and what language to use.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if my base salary offer is above or below market?

Compare the offer to published percentile data for your specific occupation, location, and experience level. Official sources include ONS ASHE (UK), BLS OEWS (US), Destatis (Germany), INSEE (France), and equivalent national statistics agencies. CompVerdict aggregates these sources and returns a percentile-based verdict for your offer in under 30 seconds.

Should I include equity when comparing total compensation?

Yes, but discount it by probability. Public company RSUs have a straightforward market value at vest. Private company equity requires discounting for illiquidity, dilution risk, and preference stack exposure. A conservative approach is to weight private equity at 30–50% of its paper value when comparing against a cash-heavy offer at a stable company.

Is a signing bonus part of the offer I should negotiate?

Signing bonuses are often used to offset unvested equity or bonuses you are leaving behind at your current employer. If you have unvested compensation, quantify it and ask for a signing bonus that covers it. Signing bonuses are frequently more negotiable than base salary because they do not affect the company's recurring payroll cost. Check whether a clawback applies before banking on the figure.

What if the offer is below market but I still want the job?

A below-market offer is not automatically a reason to decline — but it is a reason to negotiate. Use the market data to anchor your counter: "Based on ONS ASHE data and comparable roles in this market, the median for this position is X. I'd like to discuss moving the base to Y." Companies expect negotiation. Research shows that a significant proportion of hiring managers have room to improve an initial offer when presented with a specific, data-backed counter.

Knowing what to look for in a job offer — base salary relative to market percentiles, realistic bonus value, equity mechanics, quantifiable benefits, and contract terms — is the difference between accepting the offer that was convenient to make and the offer that reflects your market value. Before you respond to any offer, run it through CompVerdict — instant job offer checker. It benchmarks your full package against official government salary data across 12+ countries and 30+ cities, and returns a verdict for free, with no sign-up required. If the verdict comes back below market, you have the data you need to negotiate.