10 min read
You've got two PDFs on your kitchen table and both recruiters want an answer by Friday. That's normal. What isn't normal is deciding on base salary alone when bonus payout timing, a twelve-month vesting cliff, and a ninety-minute commute each way change what you actually keep and what your week feels like.
Before you pick, open the posting for the role you're leaning toward and check your resume for free against it. If your file still reads like your old title, you're not just choosing between paychecks. You're choosing which mismatch you'll explain to a new manager in week one.
A job offers scorecard won't make a bad role good. It will stop you from taking the higher base when the hourly drag and the cliff mean you'd have been better off on paper number two. This isn't a vibes spreadsheet. It's the same weighted categories recruiters use when they know you have another offer on the table.
If either company asked for a cover letter on file, generate a cover letter that matches the title you're about to accept before you send the yes email. Alignment across documents reduces last-minute HR friction when payroll sets up your profile.
Quick Wins
- List six categories, assign weights that sum to 100, and don't let salary hog 80% unless cash this year is the only goal.
- Convert commute to hourly drag: extra hours per week times your effective hourly rate from the offer.
- Score vesting cliff and bonus payout date before you score culture.
- Email both recruiters the same numbered clarifying questions before you lock scores.
Why comparing two offers on base salary alone fails
The symptom looks like clarity until month six. Offer A pays $8,000 more in base. You said yes. Then the annual bonus pays in March, not December. The RSU grant has a one-year cliff and you are already interviewing again. Offer B looked smaller on the call. It would have put more cash in your account in year one and cost you fewer Sunday nights on the train.
Recruiters don't compare offers on one line. They stack cash timing, equity risk, benefits premiums, commute, title level, and how hard it will be to leave if the role is wrong. A job offers scorecard forces you to do the same arithmetic before emotion picks the logo you like more.
Think of two composite offers. Company One: $142,000 base, 10% target bonus paid annually in Q2, 15% employer match after six months, forty-five-minute commute each way, RSUs with a one-year cliff. Company Two: $135,000 base, 12% bonus paid quarterly, 4% match from day one, fully remote, smaller equity grant with monthly vesting after a six-month cliff. Base says Company One. Cash in your pocket in the first twelve months might say Company Two once you model bonus timing and commute hours.
If you're still in the interview stage with one of these employers, see how to close an interview strongly . This page starts where the verbal yes lands in writing.
Build your job offers scorecard in six steps
I've watched candidates pick the higher base and regret it when the cliff and the commute ate the raise. The six steps below mirror how I'd stack two packets when both hiring managers think they're the obvious choice.
Step 1: Pull every number into one tab
Open both offer letters and every attachment. Copy base, bonus target, bonus payout frequency, sign-on, equity type, grant size if written, vest schedule, cliff length, 401(k) match and eligibility date, medical premium per pay period, PTO, and work site. If a number was verbal, leave the cell blank and email before you score.
Before: Two PDFs in Downloads, base salary memorized, bonus described as around ten percent on a call.
After: One spreadsheet row per offer with blank cells highlighted yellow until HR confirms in writing.
Step 2: Choose six categories and weights
Default weights for many US corporate offers: Year-one cash (30%), Equity and cliff risk (20%), Benefits and retirement (15%), Commute and schedule (15%), Role scope and title (10%), Exit optionality (10%). Adjust if you're visa-bound, caretaking, or planning a short tenure. Weights must sum to 100.
Year-one cash is not base alone. It is what hits your bank account in the next twelve months including sign-on minus repayment risk. Equity and cliff risk captures whether half your grant vanishes if you leave at month ten.
Step 3: Model bonus payout timing
A 10% bonus paid in March is not the same as 10% paid quarterly. If you might leave before the payout date, score the bonus lower even when targets look identical. Ask whether bonus is discretionary or guaranteed in year one and whether proration applies if you start mid-year.
Before: Offer A bonus 12%, Offer B bonus 10%. Offer A wins.
After: Offer A pays annually in month fourteen if you start in February. Offer B pays quarterly with proration. You score year-one cash with a calendar, not a percent.
Step 4: Score the vesting cliff and sign-on repayment
Read cliff length, vest frequency after the cliff, and any sign-on or relocation repayment if you exit early. A $20,000 sign-on with twelve-month repayment is a loan, not a gift. Score exit optionality lower when non-compete geography is broad or repayment is full balance on day 364.
For equity without a fixed grant, score three scenarios in the notes column and use the middle scenario in the cell. Mark the row red until the grant is in writing.
Step 5: Convert commute to hourly drag
Count door-to-door minutes per day times days per week. Divide by sixty for hours. Multiply by your effective hourly rate from the offer: base plus expected year-one bonus, divided by 2080. A ninety-minute round trip five days a week is fifteen hours. At $68 per effective hour, that's $1,020 per week of unpaid time, or roughly $53,000 per year at fifty working weeks.
Remote offers aren't free either. Score schedule fit if one role expects standing 7 a.m. standups or on-call rotation that collides with childcare. Commute and schedule is about hours you don't own, not miles.
Step 6: Score 1–10, multiply by weights, compare totals
Score each category 1–10 for each offer. Multiply by weight. Sum. The higher total is your analytical winner. If totals are within five points, read the lowest-scoring category on each side. That gap is your negotiation list.
Edge case: one offer is contract or consultant with no benefits. Move benefits weight into year-one cash and add a row for tax and insurance cost you pay out of pocket. Do not compare W-2 and 1099 on base alone.
Edge case: you're choosing between industries with different bonus culture. A lower base with higher variable pay might score well on upside and poorly on year-one cash. Split variable pay into guaranteed versus discretionary before you score.
Copy-paste scorecard header
Offer A / Offer B: job offers scorecard
Category | Weight | Score A | Weighted A | Score B | Weighted B
Year-one cash | 30 | | | |
Equity and cliff | 20 | | | |
Benefits and 401(k) | 15 | | | |
Commute and schedule | 15 | | | |
Role scope and title | 10 | | | |
Exit optionality | 10 | | | |
Total | 100 | | | |
Duplicate the tab for sensitivity runs. Change commute weight to 25 if you're burnt out. Change equity weight to 30 if most comp is RSUs. The winner should be stable across reasonable tweaks, not a coin flip.
Copy-paste recruiter clarifying email
Subject: Quick clarifications before I finalize my decision
Hi [Name],
Thank you again for the offer. I'm comparing details across two opportunities and want to score fairly. Could you confirm in writing:
1. Bonus: target percent, payout dates, and year-one guarantee or proration rules
2. Equity: grant size or range, vest schedule, cliff length, and any refresh policy
3. Benefits: employee medical premium per pay period and 401(k) match start date
4. Work site: expected in-office days and any relocation or sign-on repayment terms
Appreciate it. I'll reply with my decision by [date].
Send the same structure to both recruiters. Asymmetric information produces fake winners. Save replies in the scorecard folder next to the PDFs.
For negotiation phrasing when you don't have a competing letter to forward, see how to negotiate salary without competing offers . Your scorecard gap replaces a PDF attachment as the rationale.
Comparisons that waste an evening
Treating OTE like cash. Commission and variable pay belong in their own row with a conservative score unless the plan guarantees year-one payout in writing.
Ignoring payroll frequency and signing bonus tax. A $15,000 sign-on can land heavy in one check. Year-one cash modeling should follow paycheck dates, not annualized fantasy math.
Scoring culture from anonymous review sites. Culture matters after cash timing and cliffs are honest. Read team turnover from LinkedIn if you need a tie-break, not a stale three-star review from years ago.
Letting the recruiter's deadline skip attachments. Acknowledge fast. Ask for time. A scorecard built on half a packet is a false total.
Using the same weights your friend used. Their mortgage, commute, and risk tolerance are not yours. Change weights or ignore their template.
Match the role on paper before you accept
Run your file through the free ATS checker with the posting for the offer you're leaning toward. You're confirming the resume you submitted still supports the title and scope you'll inherit, not chasing a vanity score.
Then score your job match on that req. If bullet one doesn't reflect the work described in the offer letter, update the file before day one. New managers often pull your application PDF in week one.
Pick and negotiate from the gap
How to compare two US job offers with a scorecard method is not about spreadsheet aesthetics. It's about weighting the lines recruiters already argue about internally: when bonus pays, where the cliff sits, and what your commute costs per hour at the effective rate you negotiated.
Build the tab, score honestly, email for blanks, then negotiate the lowest category on your preferred offer. If the gap won't close, the analytical loser might still be the right choice when you factor manager fit. But you'll know you didn't pick the higher base by accident.
Save the final scorecard with the signed letter. You'll reopen it at month ten when the cliff and the bonus date actually matter.
Read more
Frequently asked questions
Only if cash this year is your main constraint. Many candidates overweight base because it is the first number on the letter. If you plan to stay two years or less, vesting cliff and sign-on repayment matter more than a $5,000 base gap. If you have a long commute, hourly drag can erase a raise. Set weights from your timeline, not from which number felt biggest on the call.
Score conservatively until you have a written grant template or a specific share count and strike price. Use three scenarios: zero liquidity event, modest appreciation, and strong upside. Weight the zero scenario higher if the company is pre-profit or the grant is a large share of total comp. Do not treat unwritten verbal equity as cash.
Yes. A scorecard shows which category drags one offer down, so your ask is specific. Instead of I need more money, you can say the commute adds twelve hours a week and ask for remote Fridays or a higher base. Recruiters respond better to one clear gap tied to a category than to a vague total comp request.
Tie-break on risk you cannot weight easily: manager quality, team turnover, and promotion path. Add a low-weight gut-check row and score honestly. If scores stay close, pick the offer that keeps more optionality if you leave in eighteen months. Cliffs, repayment clauses, and non-compete scope matter more when plans change.
One focused evening for data entry and scoring, plus one business day for recruiter clarifications on bonus rules and equity. Do not rush because a req might close. Acknowledge receipt fast, ask for written answers on gaps, then score. A scorecard built on guesses is worse than waiting forty-eight hours for Exhibit B.