Look at cost of living. I work in higher education on a small team, we typically train 3-6 interns per year in software engineering and programming with an emph

Look at cost of living. I work in higher education on a small team, we typically train 3-6 interns per year in software engineering and programming with an emphasis on cloud and security. We see a lot of fresh grads enticed to large companies for 6 figure jobs, but they have troubles realizing the cost of living difference from even a heavy college town. Total up your expected monthly bills (student loans, car payments, credit card debt) and compare the cost of housing where they want you to work. Check the commute times from 5-20 miles away -- is it a second job (10+ hours/week) to commute to work? Is this an acceptable QOL? I moved out of the city to work at a university, I took a 20% pay cut, but gained an average 10 hours/week of free time and could afford a home 2400 sq ft home instead of sharing an 1200 sq foot apartment. So where do you want to live? What commute time will you accept? I'd figure those out before even applying places. After that, look at how the businesses treat their employees... And how their policies might impact QOL. Most businesses in northern Virginia only give 1.5-2 weeks paid vacation to entry level employees last I heard.