Where do you fall on the question of job benefits?

I’ve heard of executives and managers who couldn’t be bothered with the question of job benefits. Every company offers some sort of medical, some sort of dental, some sort of vacation and some sort of sick time, and who cares? It’s all about the work, the challenge, the responsibility of the position, the profit potential, and the audiences being served.

Usually, I just absorb this sort of talk without offering the alternative viewpoint. I’d rather get the unfiltered opinion without exposing my own proclivities. Kind of like listening to people express their political opinions without sharing your own.

But today, I’m dropping the silent act and coming out squarely in favor of making job benefits a significant part of your job search decision making. After all, you want to find the compensation package that offers you the best deal for your time and efforts. Remember: You’re giving up part of your life in order to make some money. Any job you send your resume out for would ultimately pay more if they didn’t give you the job benefits they also offer, so don’t ignore it – consider it part of your compensation.

And on the softer side of things, you’ll never get back the time you spend working. So if you’re going to exchange a portion of your most valuable possession, don’t take the first offer that comes your way. Find the best deal you can find, and factor job benefits into that equation.

How does this translate when you’re writing your executive resume? Well, can you tie a specific benefit the company gave you into a value-generating statement? For example, maybe you took an industry seminar that your company paid for, which got you networked to a strategic partner for your company. Suddenly, millions of dollars in new business are attributable to the career education benefits provided by the company. Not too shabby.

It doesn’t have to show up in your resume, though. It just has to be something you consider carefully before making your job hunt decisions. As long as you know what’s important to you, you’ll have the tools to make the right job search decisions.

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