13 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Accepting a Job Offer
You deserve the job, but does the job deserve you?
Photo: Ekaterina Bolovtsova for Pexels
The New York Times published a piece titled "13 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Getting Married." And since a job is a marriage of sorts, we started thinking about 13 questions you should really ask yourself before accepting a job. We aren't talking first jobs, but career makers. The kind you stick with for the long-haul, through thick, through thin, through sickness and in health; marriage material kind of jobs. It's a mistake to accept a position with the intention of leaving.
In the same way that hiring mistakes can be very costly, the same can be said for accepting the wrong offer. If the position is not the right fit, you are going to end up on job boards and sending out résumés all over again. While landing a job is tough, accepting the wrong position can be detrimental to your career. We're thinking long distance, not sprints.
1. Started from the bottom, now you’re where?
Is there room for growth? If for instance, you're starting as an assistant, is the company prone to promote from within? Before accepting, make sure there is a "here" to get to.
A good way to figure this out is to check out the following:
2. What’s the turnover rate for employees?
With a little research, it's easy to find how long the oldest employee has been at the company. If the turnover rate is incredibly high, or the oldest employee has only been working there a year, consider why this might be the case.
Are there employees who started in your current offered position? Where are they now?
3. Do you want your boss’s job?
This is a tricky question to answer.
Because sure, the idea of being the boss might seem illustriously tempting to you, but taking your boss’s job should not be the end goal. Excel at your position and work to be promoted, sure, but your takeover strategy shouldn't revolve around taking over someone else’s position.
4. Are you willing to work weekends? Nights? Early AMs?
What kind of hours are you willing to clock? For most of us, the 40-hour workweek myth is just that. So think about how you're going to feel when you get an email from your boss on a Sunday.
Do you need a position that has a clear clock-in and clock-out, or are you comfortable with stress-related rapid-fire texts from your boss on the weekend? (They happen. They're real.) Your heart needs to be in it, in order to win it.
5. Could your boss double as a mentor?
Is your potential boss someone you admire and respect? At least from the outside. Unlike a relationship or marriage, it's impossible to predict how well you will work with someone—especially during crunch time or in high-stress, high-pressure situations, before you work with them.
So do the research. What kind of reputation does your boss have? How do the current employees seem to feel about their jobs? When you went in for your interview, what did the office environment feel like? Was it sunshine and butterflies and rainbows or were there grumpy cat rainclouds above everyone’s desk?
Working well with someone who is "bossing" you is a major factor to consider.
6. Will you be challenged?
Forget a cushy job. At this point in your career, you should desire a position that grows your skills and expands your offerings as an employee—just in case you wind up having to divorce this position.
If you know you'll be able to set goals to outperform yourself, you will not only make yourself invaluable to the company, but you'll also be making an investment in your future that will pay in dividends.
7. Will you resent your salary in six months?
It's very rare to be head-over-heels in love with your salary from the start, but around 40% of women report being unsatisfied with their current pay. It's one thing to accept a salary or wage that is below asking, it's another to accept a wage that is well beneath you.
You'll end up angry, frustrated, and ultimately, less productive.
8. Are there benefits?
Health care costs add up, and they are something you should factor into your decision. Don't get blind-sighted by the salary without considering other costs you may incur on your own.
Most companies that offer benefits do so after 90 days. Be sure to ask what the company policy is, and if they don't have benefits, check out our post on how to negotiate benefits.
9. Is it corporate, startup, or freelance? And is the environment right for you?
You know you best. So when it comes to choosing the right office culture, think hard. The corporate job might pay more, but are you going to become frustrated and disillusioned when every idea you have has to be vetted by ten people up the ladder? Are you willing to commit to the kind of hours a startup requires?
If you're accepting a freelance job make sure to set parameters before committing. Don't accept a job where the expectations are so high, you're primed for failure.
10. What’s your commute?
The average U.S. worker commutes approximately 26 minutes to work each day. Could you imagine commuting more than that?
Here's the rub. Most employees are spending much more on commuting than they realize. From gas to maintenance, it's an important factor to consider in the long-run.
A nasty commute can contribute to a nasty attitude. If you're spending over an hour in the car in the AM, you're not going to arrive at the office bright, cheery, and ready to put in work.
11. What are the potential problems?
As with any relationship, there will be issues. Outline what you think they will be—from long hours to travel complications to communication issues, and be honest with yourself if they are problems you can accept.
Once you accept them, don't moan and groan when they crop up.
12. Have you checked out Glassdoor?
With a database of millions of company reviews, CEO-approval ratings, and salary reports, you can do a bit of online shopping before you buy into the company.
13. Is this your dream J-O-B?
By all means, what are you waiting for? Sign that offer letter and get ready for a lifetime of career happiness. (But also remember, that it's when the dream becomes a reality, the real work starts.)
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This story was originally published on April 4, 2016, and has since been updated.
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You Should Really Consider This Before Giving a Friend a Referral
Friends forever?
photo credit: Turkan Najar
Referrals are a huge part of our society. We see them everywhere from Yelp to Facebook to LinkedIn, and however you look at them, they are incredibly important. When a trusted friend tells you about a business, you transfer that trust to the company, and similarly, when a trusted acquaintance refers you to a person, you then transfer your trust into the referral.
When you refer someone, you put your own name on the line
When you refer a friend, you’re not only putting them up for scrutiny, but you’re putting yourself up for it as well. If you refer someone that clearly isn’t a good fit for the company, it can suggest two main things:
- It suggests that you haven’t done any research on the company and what the company is looking for in an employee.
- It suggests that you really don’t know the person that well, so it weakens your referral.
Either option reflects badly on you. If you’re going to refer someone, it’s important to do your research so you feel truly confident that they could be a good fit for the company.
Similarly, you want to ensure that you believe in someone’s work ethic and quality of work prior to referring them to someone. It’s impossible to control other people’s actions, but the reality is that if someone doesn’t work out or someone makes a bad impression at work, you’re probably going to think about who referred them in the first place. This is part of the reason why that referral from a friend is such a big deal. They’re putting their own reputation on the line along with yours.
You truly don't know what someone is like at work until you actually work with them
People can be very different in and outside of the office, and ultimately you never truly know how someone acts at work until you’ve seen it first-hand. GlassDoor estimates that being referred by someone at the company boosts your chance of successfully landing a job as high as nearly 7%. This makes a big difference during the job search, but it can be tough for someone to refer you when they haven’t seen your work ethic.
"You don’t truly know what someone is like at work until you actually work with them."
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If you are asking a friend or acquaintance for a referral, make sure that you can show them that you’re worth it. Their name and reputation is on the line just as much as yours is, so do your best to highlight why you’re the right fit for the position. If you can show them what you’ve accomplished in your career and what you would like to accomplish at the company, that is ideal.
It can set you up for an awkward situation if things don’t work out
One of the hardest parts about referring someone or getting a referral from a friend is that it can make for some awkward conversations if things don’t go as planned. Going back to the fact that you don’t know how someone acts at work unless you’ve worked with them, you might be surprised to hear that a friend had a low work ethic or another less than ideal quality. It can also be hard to tell a friend that the person they referred made a bad impression. While this isn’t the end of the world, this is why asking for or giving a referral for a friend is such a big deal.
Acknowledge the fact that if someone is giving you a referral, they are confident enough in you to risk their reputation or some potentially awkward conversations down the line. On the opposite end, it is important to acknowledge the risk and make sure you are confident in your choice when you are referring a friend.
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Ultimately, referrals make a huge difference when looking for a job or looking for a candidate to hire, but they can be risky for the person who is giving the referral. If someone is willing to give you a referral, it means that they have confidence in you, so it’s important to do your best to uphold that. Referrals mean that both the referrer and the referral get judged, and this is what you need to consider before you ask for or give a friend a referral.
A native San Franciscan, Michele Lando is a Certified Professional Resume Writer and founder of writestylesonline.com. She has a passion for helping others present the best version of themselves, both on paper and in person, and works to polish individuals' application package and personal style. Aiming to help create a perfect personal branding package, Write Styles presents tips to enhance your resume, style, and boost your confidence.