Three envelopes on your desk. One decision. Twelve months to find out if you were right.
Graduation Day🔍 Read the fine print. It's there for a reason.
✉️ Tap each envelope to read the offer. Open all three before you decide.
Year One at ...
The first day of the rest of your life...
$0take-home so far
$0401(k) match
$0job-related costs
😐morale
The Auditor's Verdict
B+
How the math works — and the real rules
Take-home = salary − federal income tax (2026, single filer, $16,100 standard deduction, 10%/12%/22% brackets) − 7.65% Social Security & Medicare. Tennessee has no state income tax on wages. Real paychecks also take out your own 401(k) savings and health premiums.
401(k) match is retirement money, not paycheck money, and it only arrives if you put in your own money too (for example, 5% of your pay to get a 5% match). Some matches "vest" over a few years.
Salary vs hourly: divide a salary by 2,080 to get an hourly rate. Salaried jobs paying at least $684 a week can be "exempt" from overtime — extra hours earn nothing extra.
Health insurance is worth a lot: in 2024 the average employer paid about $7,600 a year toward one worker's coverage (KFF). Federal law caps the wait before coverage starts at 90 days.
Paid time off isn't required by U.S. law. You get what the offer says.
Non-competes: Tennessee courts enforce them if they're reasonable in length and area and protect a real business interest. A 2024 federal ban was blocked in court and never took effect.
Job costs here are gas (not car wear), parking, health premiums you pay, and doctor bills while uninsured. Other offers show the expected result across their odds.