While having a pretty serious conversation with my father and mother a month or so ago (the topic was employment), my dad spoke the title of this entry: don’t leave anything on the table.

I’ve never been mistaken for the sharpest crayon in the box, so I looked at my dad with confusion in my eyes, wondering what he was getting at (and if, possibly, he was on a tangent again). What he meant is to make sure you are aware of what you are entitled to in a job and take advantage of it (not in a bad way).

(So no, he wasn’t talking about maxing out those sick days!)

I gave this more thought after I left my parents, and came up with the following job benefits that people might be missing out on:

Training
This is the biggest one. Most employers want you to do your job to the best of your ability and if when they hired you you didn’t have all the skills that you needed, but they saw in you the potential to learn those skills, then they hired you. Sure you can pick up the skills you need from doing the job but if you intend to get the most out of your employment, be proactive and look into courses and workshops available to help you do your job better. Sometimes you may even come across something that doesn’t seem immediately related to your job, but perhaps it’s something that you’ve always been interested in, such as a course on different personality types and learning to work with them. If you can link it somehow to your job, it might be worth pitching to your boss as a possible area where you’d like to receive training.

Some employers provide their employees with funds they can put towards a hobby, as a way of encouraging a well rounded life. RA mentioned that her previous employer had such a program, proof that I’m not making this up! If you work for a company that produces or uses a certain brand of gadgets, you may get a deep discount on one, or even get it for free.

My experience
I live in the capital of Canada and the downtown core is quite bilingual. I’m not sure if that is why I’ve always wanted to learn French to the point where I could be considered fluently bilingual. I took French courses in highschool and in university. My comprehension is great, my speaking is on the rusty side of “good” (I’m too shy to speak French if I know the person I’m talking to is a francophone who speaks English. If I know the person can’t speak English, or I get a feeling that their command of the English language is worse than my grasp of French, I will speak French to make it easier on us). When I was first hired at my place of employment, my job was was to write English reports (there was a writer for French reports). However, when I got the new job, along with it came the stipulation that I learn French. I was very happy, especially when I found out that the costs for this would be covered by the employer and I could even take the courses during working hours. Win-win, I say.

We’re also encouraged to look into the training we feel we need to do our job better and request it. We might not get all that we ask for but we generally receive some training at least once a year (often a group at a time), and I have two different topics of training coming up the next month.

Health benefits
Many employers are getting on the “healthy employees are happy employees (who don’t miss many days of work)” kick, so they are starting to offer subsidies to their employees for things like gym memberships, consultations with a dietitian, or taking an exercise class. Not all places of employment do this though, so you’ll have to look into it. It’s certainly worth asking!

My experience
I found out we have a yearly allowance for massages, where the majority of the cost is covered. I’ve injured my back a couple of times, and since starting this job I’ve definitely noticed tension in my back and shoulder from all the typing I do. Knowing that I don’t have to shell out the full amount for a massage when I need one is nice. I haven’t yet taken advantage of this but coworkers have and they’ve let me know what I’m missing out on!

Discounts
I alluded to this earlier, but some even employers that don’t have a product to give you a discount on may be able to swing discounts for you on other things because they provide business to other services. Freebies (or cheapies) you may get include hotel rooms, flights, car rentals, or train fare.

My experience
On the rare occasion that we’ve needed to rent a car for personal use, we’ve received a discount on our rental, which is nice.

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Ok, your turn: what are some perks of your job that you are using or have heard about? How about perks of other jobs that you’ve heard about?

Filed under: Job, Outrospective by jummy