Cost of Living Exercise

This activity is suitable for general Human Resources, Selection, or Compensation courses. It can be facilitated as an in-class or an online exercise. Students are presented with a short scenario where they have to choose from two jobs in two different cities, solely based on financial considerations. I typically use two scenarios, one where the offered salaries in the two cities are very similar, and one where one of the salaries is significantly higher than in the competing offer. However, as students find out, taxes and cost of living will significantly impact which job is financially more advantageous.