Compare construction job offers on five lines: the cash each is likely to pay, the backlog you would be working, the person you would report to, the authority that comes with the seat, and what it costs you if the choice is wrong. Two letters with the same base usually differ on at least three.
Two offer letters sit on the kitchen table, and on the line marked base salary they print the same number. Your spouse has asked which one is better, and you have said they are about the same, which you both know is not an answer. Job offers in construction are easy to compare on the line that matters least. The differences sit in the bonus paragraph, in who signed the letter, and in what the firm has under contract for next year. Start with five rows.
How do you compare two construction job offers with the same base?
Set base aside, since it is equal, and score what is left. Five lines carry the difference: likely cash, backlog, boss, authority and downside. Fill in each from evidence you can check, and leave a row blank where you only have an impression. Blank rows tell you what to ask.
- Likely cash. What each offer will probably pay in the first year, as opposed to what it could pay.
- Backlog. The work the firm has signed, and how much of it you would be running.
- Boss. The person you report to, how long they have been there, and whether they hired you or inherited the decision.
- Authority. What you can sign, whom you can hire, and which decisions go upstairs.
- Downside. What you lose, in money and in record, if you leave within eighteen months.
Most people fill in the first row from the offer letter and stop. The letter is the least reliable source for it.
What cash is each offer likely to pay?
Likely cash is base, plus the bonus the plan has actually paid people in that seat, plus any allowance paid as money. Target bonus is a ceiling in most years and should be discounted by the plan’s own history. Ask each firm what the bonus paid in each of the last three years.
A worked example, with invented figures, shows why. Both offers carry a base of $170,000.
Offer one has a discretionary bonus with a target of 30 percent, or $51,000, and a company truck. Offer two has a formula bonus with a target of about 15 percent, or $25,000, and a taxable vehicle allowance of $9,000. On paper, offer one is worth $221,000 and offer two is worth $204,000.
Then you ask the question. At the first firm, people in the seat tell you the bonus has paid about a third of target in recent years, which is $17,000. At the second, the formula has paid at or near target three years running. Likely first-year cash is $187,000 for offer one and $204,000 for offer two.
The $17,000 lead changed hands. To be fair to offer one, a company truck with fuel has real value that never appears as cash, and a flat allowance is generally taxed as pay. Our note on the vehicle allowance shows how to price that difference, and it narrows the gap without closing it.
To see where either base sits in your market, the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes state wage estimates for Texas and for every other state in the United States. Those figures are base pay for a broad occupation, so treat them as context.
| Line | Offer one | Offer two |
|---|---|---|
| Likely cash | $187,000 plus a company truck | $204,000 including allowance |
| Backlog | 14 months signed, more than half in one program | 9 months signed across several owners |
| Boss | Operations vice president, in the seat one year | Founder’s successor, with the firm fifteen years |
| Authority | Runs the job, buyout approved above | Signs subcontracts to a set limit, hires own team |
| Downside | Relocation, with a sign-on repayment clause | Same city, no repayment terms |
Cash is one row out of five, and the other four decide whether you ever collect it.
Which backlog, boss and seat come with each of the job offers?
Ask each firm three things: which signed project you would start on, who you would report to and for how long they have held that seat, and what you could approve without asking. The answers describe the job, and the title in the letter describes the business card.
Backlog. Months of signed work matter, and so does where they sit. Associated Builders and Contractors publishes a monthly backlog indicator that gives a national reference point, and the Census Bureau’s construction spending series shows which sectors are growing. Then look at concentration. An offer in Austin tied to a single data center program carries a different risk from an offer in Tampa spread across healthcare, schools and municipal work, even at identical pay. The first may pay more while it lasts, and the second is more likely to still need you in three years. Our guide to vetting an employer lists the questions to ask about backlog and bonding.
Boss. You are joining a person as much as a firm. Find out who made the decision to hire you and whether that person will be your manager. A boss who has held the seat for a year may still be proving themselves, and you will be part of the proof. Call someone who used to report to each.
Authority. Two project executive seats can differ by an entire level. In one, you approve subcontracts to a limit, choose your superintendents and speak for the firm with the owner. In the other, you forward recommendations. Ask for examples: the last time someone in the seat hired, fired or signed something, and how long approval took.
If equity is part of either letter, it needs its own diligence. The note on an equity offer covers the instrument, the valuation and the guarantees that can come attached.
What does it cost you if you choose wrong?
A wrong choice costs more than the pay difference. Leaving within eighteen months puts a short tenure on your record, may trigger repayment of a sign-on or relocation payment, and can forfeit the bonus you were building. Price that downside for each offer before you compare the upside.
Take this row seriously, because you cannot renegotiate it later. A $17,000 difference in a good year matters less than a job that ends in fourteen months when the single program stalls, in a city you moved your family to, with a repayment clause in the letter.
So for each offer, write down the bad year. If the firm’s largest project slipped two quarters, would the seat survive? If your boss left, who would you answer to? If you had to leave, what would you owe, and what would you say in the next interview?
The better offer is often the one whose bad year you could live with. The good years tend to look alike.
Before you sign either letter, talk it through with someone who has no stake in which you pick. A search firm working a seat generally knows why it is open. Selah Talent Partners works on confidential executive search for mandates that cannot be publicly posted, for contractors across the United States. Start at the candidates page. It costs a candidate nothing.
Choose the offer you could still explain to yourself in three years, on the day the bonus comes in at half.
Sources and further reading
- State wage estimates, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Texas occupational wages
- Backlog indicator, Associated Builders and Contractors
- Construction spending, US Census Bureau, value of construction put in place