Many job-seekers or people looking for work approach the job-hunting with the financial reward as first priority or most important piece of the whole process, but money should not be your first priority.

Your first task should be an inventory of what you are able to do; skills and personality. Is not good idea to apply for a job or position without knowing what skills are required. If you are applying for a position that you don’t have the experience to do, you may not get an interview, or if the employer decides to hire anyway and provide the opportunity to learn on the job, the compensation may not be the same as someone who has experience.

Some job seekers seem to focus too much on their educational background. Guess what? While you have worked hard to obtain your education, it is probably not exactly a good idea to assume that a degree by itself will guarantee you a job. Some employers may consider someone without the educational background, but employers will probably place more weight on your years of working experience rather than formal education.

Some employers or hiring authorities will not pay a prospective employee what he/she thinks they are worth. Often employers or businesses will use the current pay structure or what similar businesses are paying to base their wages or salary compensation. In addition to that, some managers would have a certain amount of money for specific position regardless of how qualified you are. A typical example is a position where you are asked to supervise others yet your salary does not reflect the responsibilities that you have taken on by supervising others. “Simply your salary should not be the same as those that you supervise”. Although some job seekers would take the position in order to develop their supervisor skills even if compensation is less.

Many job-seekers do not perform well during interviews either by phone or in person. So you may want learn how to interview and present your self in a positive manner. Some job-seekers may go to an interview thinking way ahead about the financial side of the job but forgetting how to convince a manager that they are the right person for the job. In many cases those job-seekers who were more interested in getting their “foot at the door” rather than money actually got hired and received a good compensation.

Do you know what are you getting into? Learning more about the scope of the job, business culture and general management will help you make a decision of how the business is run and if it will be a good fit for you. So if possible during the interview try to talk to current employees and find out how things work.

Some locations have higher cost living and thus when you look at the financial picture in some cases after you do the math you will figure that X salary translates into less money when you consider the cost housing and living expenses.

Before you think about your next move make sure you figure out your financial implications. Otherwise, you soon will realize that the job you have taken was not what you though it would be.