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What to Consider
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Your first step is to ask for the job offer in writing and ask the company when they need your final decision by.
Most employers are prepared to give you time to consider the offer - they also don't want you to make the wrong choice! About 3- 4 days is generally considered an acceptable request.
If the employer asks why you require this time you can explain that you want be sure that you are making the best possible decision for both yourself and the company.
You can follow this up with a polite written acknowledgment of the job offer. Go to the sample letter of acknowledgment of a job offer to help you with this. An e-mail is also acceptable.
Then evaluate the offer and judge whether this is the right job for you. There are many things to consider when deciding on accepting a job offer. Start with a basic list of your requirements or needs. These are the absolute minimum you can accept - your own "bottom line".
Basic Needs
- Compensation - work out the minimum level of income you need to meet your financial obligations. This bottom line is the lowest compensation amount you can accept.
- Benefits - what are the essential benefits your require? For example is health insurance a necessity and do your dependents need coverage.
- Other - what hours are you able to work? Are you able to get to where the employer is located?
If the offer meets this "bottom line" you can move to the next step of the evaluation process.
Evaluation of the total job offer package, the job and the company
Compensation - now look at factors such as the increase amount over your last salary, bonus, profit sharing, stock options, overtime pay, salary review policy
Health/dental insurance - you have determined that it meets your minimum benefit requirements. Take it further to include the type of health/dental insurance, your financial contribution and the benefits you get
Life insurance - what sort of coverage is offered and who pays the premium? Can dependent coverage be purchased?
Vacation time - how many days vacation are given, what is the policy in terms of use of these vacation days? Can you convert unused days into cash? What rules cover when you can take your vacation?
Personal days and Sick days - what is the policy on personal and sick days?
Maternity and Family leave - what is the company policy regarding these benefits?
Retirement - what sort of retirement plan does the company have? What is the contribution structure and what are the conditions attached to receiving benefits?
Location - this is an important factor to consider when deciding on accepting a job offer. How long is the commute? What are the public transportation options between your home and the company? Look at costs of transport - both your own gas expenses or pubic transport expenses. Look at time spent doing the commute.
Hours of work - do you want a 9-5 job? What about overtime, meeting deadlines etc? Will you have to work weekends? Is there any provision for flextime?
Travel - how much travel is involved and what is the reimbursement policy?
The job - no matter how good the package is you will become frustrated if you dislike the day-to-day work. Consider exactly what the job involves, what your responsibilities will be and what their expectations of you are. Will the job utilize your skills and knowledge, is the job sufficiently challenging? What do you like about the job, what do you dislike? Is this the sort of job you set out to get when you first began your job search?
Career development - what professional development opportunities does the job offer? Is there provision for training, tuition reimbursement? What is the frequency of performance reviews, promotional opportunities? Will this job take you down the road to your career goals?
The manager/boss - are you going to be able to work under this person? Can you relate to the manager?
The workplace - Before accepting a job offer consider the workplace. Will you be happy in such an environment? Ask yourself if is it too noisy, do you have a satisfactory work or office space, is it friendly, too formal or too informal etc? Are your co-workers people you will be happy working with?
The company - you need to feel comfortable about working at the company before accepting a job offer from them. What are the company values? Are they compatible with your values and beliefs? Do you respect the type of work the company does?
Job security - this is something that should be considered before accepting a job offer - you need to know that the position is a long-term one. Look at the number of years the company has been in business. Look at its profitability, is it growing, what is happening with its competitors. Check news articles for company updates. Go to the information given on company background research to help you with this. Consider the job itself- is it a new position? How successful is the department etc?
Do you have all the information you need to evaluate the job offer? Before accepting a job offer be prepared to ask all the questions that are necessary for you to make an informed decision. Call Human Resources to get information that you may be missing or the interviewer themselves.
Going through standard employment contracts and agreements will give you good insight into the sort of criteria you should use to evaluate the job offer. An excellent range of free employment contracts can be found at www.free-legal-document.com. You can also use these to evaluate the employment contract your new employer provides.
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Take these proactive steps to make sure you carry out your job offer evaluation as thoroughly as possible. Making the right decision is critical. Once you’ve made your decision, let the employer know as soon as possible. |
Click on the table above for tips on writing both acceptance letters and rejection letters, including sample acceptance and rejection letters.
Read through the article Is This the Right Job for You? to get valuable advice on how to find out if this is the right move to make.
Use the Salary Negotiation Guide to successfully negotiate your job offer.
Return from Accepting a Job Offer to Best Job Interview
