Edit in JSFiddle

$(function(){
    var position = $('.target').position();
    $('.target').append( ": left=" + position.left + ", top=" + position.top );
    
    var position_absolute = $('.target-absolute').position();
    $('.target-absolute').append( ": left=" + position_absolute.left + ", top=" + position_absolute.top );
});

<div class="parent"><h3 class="target">get position relative to the offset parent with jQuery</h3></div>

<div class="parent-relative"><h3 class="target-absolute">get absolute position of the element with jQuery</h3></div>

.parent {
    padding:20px;
    margin:8px;
}
.target {
    margin:15px;
    padding:3px;
}

.parent-relative {
    position:relative;
}
.target-absolute {
    margin:20px;
    padding:3px;
    position:absolute;
    left:10px;
    top:5px;
}