What to Think about before Saying Yes to an Offer

You are so excited. Finally, after months of submitting resumes and going on countless interviews, you hear the words, “We want to offer you a position.” Those are beautiful words to hear. Your first inclination might be to say “yes” immediately. After all, the goal was to get a new job, and you have done that. What more is there to ponder? Well, a lot. Before you say “yes,” make sure that you are taking this job for all the right reasons. Too many people have accepted an offer because it meets one crucial criterion, such as increased compensation or shorter commute, without looking at the totality of the job. A happy work-life means that most of the aspects of the role that are important to you must be met. So here are the four crucial categories of work-life happiness that you should consider before accepting a job offer.

Do the Good Parts of the Job Outweigh the Negatives?

I recently had a conversation with a person about his career crossroads. He likes the technical aspects of his job very much and feels that he is terrific at this type of work. Yet, his role has administrative work and people development as an essential job responsibility as well. He doesn’t like those parts of the job that much. He needs to decide what his next career step might be and whether he might have to forgo a leadership career path. He is not attracted to the job responsibilities that come with a leadership role. It takes a lot of self-awareness to understand what work inspires you and what work makes you go “ugh.” You should understand this before even starting your job search, but at least do this before accepting an offer.

Also, make sure that you understand all aspects of the job responsibilities of this role. Have you asked specific questions to make sure you understand everything that you would be doing and how long you would be expected to do it per day, week, or month? In the above example, the person that I talked with said he could tolerate the less interesting parts of the job if they were no more than 30% of his week. If they crept up to 50% of his time, then he would need to reevaluate whether he was on the right career path for long term happiness. Better to think about this now than be unhappy six months into a position because you are doing work that does not interest you.

What Are the Long Term Fortunes for the Company?

Long term company prospects are one thing that job seekers often overlook. Still, it is so important to have a sense of before you accept an offer. Have you ever been with a company that is experiencing financial issues? I have, and it makes for a very stressful work situation. If money is tight, you might not have the resources you feel you need to do your job to its fullest. Workers may have to put in extra time because there is not enough money to bring on all the additional staff members needed to do the work. As a result, turnover increases. Bosses, under pressure to make sales numbers or meet operational deadlines, may wear their emotions on their sleeves or become short-tempered. Make sure to ask about the financial health of a company. If the company is publicly traded, resources are available to assess this through the public filings done quarterly and yearly. If you are not comfortable reading a profit and loss statement, read what analysts have to say that follow the company. That should give you useful information on the long term viability of this potential employer. If the company is private, finding information will prove more difficult but not impossible.

Find out about the industry. Is it growing or shrinking? What kind of market share does this employer have? What type of innovation is occurring in the industry, and where does this employer stand in terms of innovation. If you can’t find out as much as you would like on the internet, then make sure to ask the people that you interviewed with as well as your networking contacts. Get as much information as you can to ensure that this company will be around not only next year but five years from now.

The prospects for the long-term success of an employer have much to do with the leadership of the company. What do you know about the President or CEO? What is his/her vision for the company? Do they have a more transactional style and manages by a carrot-and-stick approach, or are they more transformational and moves the company forward by inspiring the staff. Both types of leadership styles can make a company successful, but what is modeled at the top trickles down to the mid and lower-level bosses. Is that style comfortable for you? Know this before you join a company.

Will My New Boss Help Me to Grow Professionally?

For most people, a new job is not the end of the road for their career. This job is a stepping stone for career progression. An instrumental person in this journey is your boss. Many great bosses take their role as a people developer very seriously. You likely want a boss that understands that you will want to gain additional skills. These new skills will either move you up in the organization or at least enable you to take on more challenging work. While you have to do most of that work, a good boss can help pave the way by providing opportunities to grow and providing coaching and feedback along the way. How much is this new boss invested in the success of his/her people? You can gauge this, to some degree, by how many people that have gotten promoted. You can also tell by how much time during the interview is spent talking about training and ongoing feedback. If you hear crickets about this, it might be because it is not a priority for this supervisor.

Do I Understand My Total Compensation Package?

Compensation is more than just the base salary. It can include other monetary compensation like commissions, bonuses, and overtime. It can consist of employer contributions to health and welfare programs like a 401 (k) match or time off benefits. Keep all of this in mind when considering a job offer. If a lot of your compensation will come from variable pay, are you comfortable that the targets are realistic and achievable? How often have compensation plans changed at this company? If there is a history of tweaks to a bonus or commission structure, what is offered could change significantly over time. What are the benefits, and what is the employee share of the premiums? Some employers cover more of the cost of medical premiums than others. Where does this employer fall?

Also critical in your decision is what benefits you might use. If you are on a spouse’s medical plan, then whether the employer offers good coverage and low premiums could be moot to your decision. On the other hand, if you are continuing your education, tuition reimbursement may be a huge benefit. There may be other benefits that are important to you that may be significant factors to work-life happiness. Perhaps a new employer will provide you the opportunity to work all or part of the time remotely. If you do have to go into an office, the commute may be significantly less, or you have more flexibility in terms of start and finish time. There might be opportunities to attend conferences and symposiums, something that you highly value. Take these things all into account when looking and the total compensation and tangible and intangible benefits of a particular employer.

So now that you have thought through the positives and negatives of the job, the company, your new boss, and the compensation/benefits, you can make a well-informed decision - either it will meet your needs, and you can say yes, or the right move is to pass. Thinking through all aspects of a new job, you will have the information to make the right decision for you.

Shelley Piedmont is a job search coach. She wants to help job seekers put their best foot forward by providing the tools for a successful job search. If you need career coaching, resume preparation, interview skills assessment, or LinkedIn profile assistance, she can help. Schedule a 15-minute no-obligation consultation.