Compensation vs Motivation

By: Teresita Ulmer-Gensaw

Last school year, my boyfriend graduated from Oregon State in spring of 2022. He had a two job offers for after graduation. He did an internship the summer before with one of the companies who offered him a full time job for after graduation. Looking into other options still, he had another company that was willing to hire him after graduation too. Both jobs were well in pay but offered different benefits. The job he did the internship would pay more due to his experience already within the company which was the main reason he decided to accept the job offer with the company he had an internship with.

He was motivated to pick the higher salary because it was his first job right out of college and other factors were not has important for him. He had many nerves with this process of finding a job after college. Going with one that has higher pay may seem very intriguing to someone under stress of school, work, and life in general. Compensation made him feel he had security and financially stability in the long-run with his chosen company. Also, rising living expenses, which has been driven by factors such as inflation, motivated him to secure a job that could cover his expenses. Expenses that have risen substantially include rent, groceries, and transportation.