Assessing a Job Offer
The letter in your hand is on the letterhead for Really Big Company. You interviewed with them last week and talked on the phone with several potential co-workers the next day. You take a deep breath and close your eyes for a second. Your hands are trembling, but you open the envelope and unfold the enclosed piece of paper.
Dear Ms. Applicant;
Really Big Company is excited to offer you …
You don’t finish reading because you know all you want to know. You got the job!
After all the “thanks, we’ll keep your resume on file” letters, receiving a job offer – any job offer – is a cause for celebration. Before you pick up the phone and accept, however, you need to sit down and do a serious analysis of the offer.
Is this a company that can offer me what I want?
Will I be learning new things all of the time or doing highly specialized, routinized work?
Do I like the atmosphere I experienced when I went in for interviews?
Do I like the people I will be working with?
Do I like this job enough to relocate?
Can I live on this salary?
A job offer is just that, an offer. You can accept it or reject it. Making the decision needs to be based on both objective analysis and “gut feeling.”
