A major question each professional working in an organization often needs to ponder, what he needs in life. Is it the paycheck that counts or is it the job responsibilities? What should be the criteria while selecting and continuing a job? The answer, as is obvious varies from person to person.

A research carried out through a Delphii methodology identified that broadly at a very basic level of understanding, 4 criteria are important to most professionals while they choose a job. These criteria are definitely not exhaustive but are only indicative of what personal preferences of each professional may be like.

  1. Role offered (including future career opportunities): The role s important. You may not survive even two months in a job if you hate it.
  2. Pay package: The perception that you are getting a decent and fair pay compensating youfor your efforts properly is crucial. The package may not matter per se, but the fairness quotient matters.
  3. Reputation of the company: It has been seen that the company brand image has a direct implication on job satisfaction and employee retention. So the factor no doubt is crucial for most professionals.
  4. Job security: Who wants to wake up next day to be handed the pink slip? Job security, especially in turbulent economic conditions play a vital role.

The relative weightage of these criteria would vary from individual to individual, and infact research indicates there are much more complex criteria for job selection. However, a professional may treat these as the basic “Big 4” criteria while selecting a career.

By Chakraborty

Dr Chakrabarty is the Chief Innovation Officer of IntuiComp TeraScience. Earlier she was Assistant Professor of Delhi University, a QS ranked university in India. Before that she has held research positions in IIT Mumbai, IIT Chennai and IISc Bangalore. She holds 2 patents and over 20 research publications in her name which are highly cited. Her area of research is in smart technologies, integrated devices and communications. She also has a penchant for blogging and is an editor of Business Fundas.