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6 Ways to help you determine whether to say “yes” to the job offer

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When job searching, there are many things to concentrate on from writing the perfect cover letter to nailing the job interview. Many job searchers focus too much just on getting the job offer. Equally, if not more important, is to determine if the job is a good fit for you.

Here are 6 ways to help you determine whether to say “yes” to the job offer.

  1. Job Description. Study the job description and highlight the key words and responsibilities. Will the role offer you the opportunity to leverage your natural skills and talents? Does it also provide ample opportunity to learn new skills? Will you have the opportunity to sit in on meetings with senior mangers or others whom you can observe and learn from?

  2. Work environment. If you are super organized, like structure and clear assignments, you may do better in larger, well-established companies. Also consider companies that offer formal training programs. Start-ups and smaller companies tend to be fast-paced and less structured. They offer great opportunities to dig in to a variety of tasks and projects. If you thrive on a bit of chaos, lots of change and learn best by doing, start-ups and smaller, high growth companies could be a great fit. Matching the work environment to your preferred work and learning style can help position you for more success.

  3. Co-workers. Hopefully, you had the opportunity to meet several people during your interviews. Were they friendly, relaxed and interested in speaking with you? Or did they seem stressed out and in a hurry to end your conversation? When interviewing, I always recommend to my clients to pick one culture question to ask everyone they meet. Ask how long have they worked at the company or what they like best about their job and/or the company. Their responses will tell a lot about the company and its culture.

  4. Your boss. Who you work for often matters even more than where you work.  Working for someone you respect, can learn from and will invest time developing you will dramatically impact your happiness and help your career. People tend to quit bosses not companies so take some time to learn about your boss. What’s their communication style? Were they easy to speak with? Did they put you at ease or make you nervous? How was their eye contact? I once had two job offers with the same company. One potential boss barely looked me in the eye. I accepted the other job.

  5. The CEO. The tone and culture of a company flow from the top. Do some research on the CEO to learn about them and their career. Use Google to see if they’ve been in the news lately, hopefully for positive reasons. Travis Kalanick, the previous CEO of Uber, became the poster child of 2017 for bad CEO’s. Kalanik was joined in 2018 by a host of others ranging from Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Laurent Potdevin of Lululemon to Tesla’s Elon Musk. Check out Glassdoor for unvarnished reviews of the company and the CEO. Just know that more people tend to write negative reviews than positive ones so be sure to factor that in.

  6. Location. Where you live and work can have a huge impact on your lifestyle and your wallet. A client recently was offered a position in Austin, Texas, a city known for its hipster vibe, great food and music scene, not to mention hot job market. To have the same standard of living in New York City, her other top location choice, she needed to more than double her Austin offer. Use sites like NerdWallet and their cost of living calculator to help you compare offers.

Hopefully, these tips will help you select a job that will be a good fit. Once you’ve decided to accept the offer, then check out my Money 101 tips for maximizing it.

About Lisa

Chief Career Catalyst @C2C, former Fortune 500 businesswoman, dog lover, avid skier, mediocre tennis player, golfer, new SUPer, aspiring surfer, cyclist, yoga & exercise enthusiast, happy wife & home chef. I am a regular contributor to the Bangor Daily News, and have appeared on WCSH6 where I offer career advice for college students, recent graduates and young professionals.
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