

Ask HN: How do you quantify happiness when looking for a job? - jader201

I want to open by saying that, of course, it&#x27;s not possible to quantify happiness. And when looking for a job, happiness a) means different things to different people, and b) is worth more to some than others vs. other factors of a job.<p>So I ask this question not expecting some magical formula. I&#x27;m just trying to gather from the HN community how different people weigh happiness as a factor amongst several other factors when comparing two or more job opportunities.<p>For example, I may be looking at two similar but different job opportunities. And of course, a third option is to just stay where I am (or a fourth, continue looking for other opportunities).<p>When comparing all of my options, I&#x27;ve quantified as much as possible the easy stuff: base pay, PTO, 401k match, stock options&#x2F;bonuses, medical premiums, etc. And after doing this, I have a clear picture of how the options compare strictly looking at comp &amp; benefits.<p>But let&#x27;s say after getting to this overall compensation value, job A offers $25k less than job B, but job A seems to have a better overall culture and the work sounds more enjoyable vs. job B.<p>How would <i>you</i> (not how should <i>I</i>) decide whether the happiness you may get from job A offset the $25k you would lose? And if you decide $25k is too much of a cut, how would you decide the amount of loss that you would be willing to live with for the benefit of a certain level[1] of more happiness?<p>[1] And just to clarify, I&#x27;m not talking about extreme misery vs. extreme bliss. Maybe job B would still make you happy, just not quite as much as job A.
======
ASquare
I'd say watch this TED talk first on Motivation (if you haven't already):
[http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation](http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation)
Its 18 minutes but a very important 18 minutes to spend.

Once you watch this, get a better sense of what any company is like with
respect to the concepts Dan mentions in the talk (ie Autonomy/Mastery/Purpose)

Ultimately, if their philosophy aligns with what Dan says, you're odds of
being intrinsically motivated are much higher which by definition means you
will be happier.

I can't think of a better framework to get a sense of how happy you might be
in any job.

Hope that helps

