Compare hourly pay with a salary offer

The job

One listing says $25 an hour, another says $4,200 a month, a third offers $52,000 a year. Which pays more depends entirely on the hours assumed — put them in the same unit first.

Convert with the hours you will actually work

$25/hour at 40 hours and 52 weeks is $52,000 a year — but at 35 hours it is $45,500. Enter the real weekly hours and paid weeks; leave out unpaid shutdown weeks or the figure inflates.

The daily figure assumes an 8-hour day, so for a 10-hour shift job the daily line reads low while the annual line still holds.

What a conversion cannot tell you

Overtime rates, tax, social insurance, bonuses, and commute costs move the real answer a lot. Use the converted numbers to rank offers, then check the contract terms for the rest.