Hi Reader, ever thought about what matters to you in your job?

​Last week, we discussed that knowing what you want without having a basis for evaluation is almost impossible.

Therefore, I want to share with you factors that can help build such a basis today.

Broadly speaking, we will address two categories: hard and soft factors.

And here is why knowing what to look for will set you apart:

Why Knowing The Factors Matters

When searching for positions, one can easily get overwhelmed. Over 85 options and each having different aspects to evaluate.

Marketing sounds interesting work-wise, but R&D seems to fit you better personally, still, consulting would pay the best...

Even if you have an idea of what you would do in each position, how should you decide what to go for?

Before we can properly answer this question, we need structure.

This structure will allow you to know what to look for, as well as categorize and order your prioritization attempts.

As this will set you far ahead of many other applicants, let me explain the factors, including their subdivisions:

Hard Factors: Tangible & Measurable

Hard factors are usually clearly defined, often in numbers, and to the largest extent objective.
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Central Hard Factors

What we might call central hard factors are those normally written into your contract:

• Salary: The compensation you will receive.
• Contract duration: Whether it’s permanent, temporary, or project-based.
• Benefits and insurance coverage: What is included beyond your salary.

Covered Hard Factors

These are more difficult to grasp, but by digging deeper into the offer or during the application process, they will become clearer:

• Travel frequency: How often you’ll need to travel for work.
• Team size: Whether you’re part of a large group or a small, close-knit team.
• Working hours: Official hours versus the reality of overtime and flexibility.

External Hard Factors

Finally, there are factors that can be expressed in writing but focus more on the company and less on your specific contract:

• Institutional reputation: The name of the university, research institute, or company on your CV can matter for future opportunities.
• Career advancement: Opportunities for promotion and options to develop meaningful new skills.
• Funding security: Is there enough money to fund your position, and for academic roles, how stable is the grant or project funding supporting your position?

Soft Factors: Personal and Variable

Soft factors are harder to pin down because they are often subjective and depend heavily on both the specific company/department/team and your own personality.
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Internal Soft Factors

These that revolve around your personal preferences:

• Attention to detail: Do you enjoy carefully following 20 pages of guidelines, even if it means long back-and-forth approval processes?
• Structure vs. flexibility: Do you thrive on having strict rules such as corporate design guidelines and the security of check-up steps, or do you prefer to “just get things done”?
• Design orientation: When creating content, is it important for you to make it visually appealing, or can you prioritize speed and output?

For these, there is no right or wrong—they simply reflect what you like and, therefore, often where you will thrive.
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External Soft Factors

These reflect the overall environment and culture of the workplace. However, perception varies widely between people depending on their personalities, previous experiences, and goals:

• Team culture: How close-knit the group is, how open they are to new ideas, and how collaborative the environment feels.
• Competitiveness: Some fields, like investment banking, are stereotypically competitive—pressure, dominance, and achievements matter most.
• Openness: How new ideas are received, how easily courses shift, and what gets rewarded—numbers or effort.

How to Use These Factors

As mentioned, they should give you a sense of what matters in a position, allowing you to have different categories for evaluation:

Internal soft factors have to be actively explored!

We are generally not fully aware of what truly matters to us until we experience it. However, they can change, especially once we develop a new, strong desire for an achievement. Are you driven by such a desire?

My tip: Experience doesn’t need to be professional - it can come from volunteering, hobbies, or sports, etc. Know how you like to “play".

External soft factors must often be felt. They cannot guide your a priori decision for a broader field (e.g., marketing vs. sales) but should be actively investigated once you start interviewing.

Hard factors can be used to open the door for rational decision-making.

For example, if you know you value free time for your hobbies, working hours will matter.
Similarly, pay and contract duration might seem less important early in your career but become critical once you start thinking about a family.

> Just thinking about which such factors exist will help you to feel which matter for you and give you the structure that prevents overwhelm.

How We Feel Today
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