If the interest rates on the credit cards are above 2-3% I'd pay them off and then look to max out 401k. What are the rates on the student loans? If they aren't low, might want to kill them too.
A company match is a 100% rate of return. Paying off a credit card is 20%. The company match is usually a better deal.
Only over 1 year. Pretax, compounding, that credit card gets bad.
But I agree, get the match. Free money. However, if you have debt above 4% you're effectively borrowing money for everything you are currently spending. Everything. I'm sure some part of my portfolio yield is being paid by you!
So you gotta get that debt monkey off your back, and focus on reducing spending, increasing income, and building net worth, so other people pay you.