So You Got a Job Offer...Now What?

So how do you evaluate your options? What do you do now?

Job offers come in a variety of ways. Some come in writing. Most private sector organizations call first. The call may be made by the hiring manager or a Human Resources representative. If you have been hired through an agency, they may notify you. Some make a verbal offer and only do a written one after you accept. However you get an offer, respond positively but ask for time to think before you accept. No reasonable organization makes 'exploding offers' that go away if you do not accept on the spot! And always ask for a written job offer. You would be surprised how often such a letter does not contain quite the same information as a verbal offer. So get it in writing!

A. Evaluating a Job Offer
Whether you have one offer or several, evaluating an offer is easiest if you have made up a decision checklist or matrix in advance. Although it is wisest to do this in advance of an actual offer, many folks don't get around to this until they are faced with a decision. When you do it after you have an offer, be especially careful to consider your evaluation choices so that they reflect what is really important to you and are not just related to the offer in hand.

Whether you do a formal written checklist or talk it out with a confidante or work it out by any other means, this decision matrix exercise can help you to choose the right job. It also can help you avoid big mistakes!

Make a list of all the various aspects of work that are important to you. Remember the work you did in column 1 to identify your values and needs? Turn that into your list.

Here is a sample list and top line of a matrix:

My needs	Job Offer 1	Job Offer 2	Current job
Uses strengths in X
Learning opportunity for desired new skill Y
Commute under 30 minutes
Regular travel in Eastern US
Performance-based culture with realistic position goals
Diverse employee group
Boss's style is compatible
Good retirement savings plan
Financially stable organization
Low levels of rules and bureaucratic procedures

Some people will also weight each of their needs -- how detailed you want to be in this process is a personal choice.

And in making your decision list, look for the items that make you successful. Pay is rarely the more significant part of the decision -- unless all else is right but the money is way out of line. Good career decisions are those that place you in a position that is one where you can succeed within an environment that allows you to contribute and succeed.

And once you have made your list, you are ready to begin evaluating your offer:

1. review the offer letter
2. review your interview notes and all the other research you have done
3. look at your list -- for each item: evaluate this organization and offer
4. add a list of any other plus and minus aspects of the specific offer/organization
5. if you have much work experience, add a big dose of 'gut feeling' to the evaluation process

Once, when unemployment was very, very high and I had been searching for a very long time, I got a great job offer: terrific work within a great organization by reputation, a boss and coworkers I liked during extensive interviews, excellent money, even a neat title and office. It met or exceeded almost all my criteria. But there was a little red flag. Oh, how I wanted to ignore that little red flag. I was scared of losing everything because I had exhausted my savings and I was desperate for a job. I fought with myself...but I said no. They could not believe me and offered even more. But I said no. And five years later I met a person from there and she told me that no-one had lasted in that job for more than 6 months and that not one person who had been in that large corporate Human Resources function was still there. Can you guess how happy I was that I trusted my gut feeling about the little red flag?!!

A decision checklist like this is only as good as your ability to evaluate the criteria you have decided are important. You cannot effectively do this without good information. You must have done your research on the organization and confirmed or adjusted your views with what you learned during your interviews.

But you also cannot make a list with 15-20 items and do a sensible comparison. So try to define the most important items you are seeking in your next position. These should include the type of work and environment you need to succeed plus any special constraints you may have for family or health or other personal needs.

B. Negotiating a Job Offer
Sometimes during interviews you may be asked what it will take to get you to accept a position. When that happens, you have an ideal opportunity to ask for what is most important to you. And, if you are realistic, to get it. (Greediness does crop up in such events but usually the offer never materializes then.) More often, you may be asked about salary expectations during an interview or the organization may just check what salary data you have provided on their application. In such cases, you may want to negotiate some aspects of an offer.

Hint: you might be surprised at the number of people who say one figure/range in an interview and then want more when the offer comes -- don't do this to yourself! Hiring managers feel betrayed when this happens and even if the offer is not rescinded, you both are unhappy if you take the job.

Organizations vary in their approach to offers. While smart ones make their best offer up front, some regularly negotiate offers while some just try to buy people cheaply. Sometimes, you will learn which is which in your research process. Other times, you will know when you review the offer with the hiring manager.

In reality, the majority of offers are accepted or rejected as originally made. But you need to decide whether there are aspects of the offer which will stop you from accepting it and, if so, whether these are items you can negotiate. Salary and benefits are most negotiable but if you did not like the attitude of most of the people you met there, negotiations are not going to help.

If you are interested in an organization and really want to work there but do not feel the offer is one you can accept, you may want to try to negotiate a better deal. Often you will feel as if everyone else does this and does it better than you do -- sort of like many folks feel when buying a car. But you can negotiate well if you prepare well.

Here's how:

1. Decide what it is that you really want. Have a specific goal in mind. Do not try to negotiate a list of items -- just one or two that are really important to you. If you need 5-10 changes to be happy, move on for a better match.

Remember, job offers in different arenas may have different components. Thus, many non-profits and associations offer less in salary but more in benefits than many corporations do. So you need to understand the full offer as well as the market.

Most negotiations involve compensation. Compensation includes both direct pay and bonuses or commissions and indirect pay such as benefits and services. Many negotiations are for relatively small changes -- less than 5% of direct compensation. If you are seeking more than a 10% change, be prepared for strong resistance. You should analyze the parts of the offer also to see if you are willing to trade anything. You can also negotiate other terms and conditions of employment such as budgets or telecommuting.

Decide IN ADVANCE exactly what you will do if they are unwilling to negotiate, do negotiate but say no to your request, or are unwilling to go as far as you want. It is much more difficult to do this during a negotiation and you may put yourself in a position to lose a good opportunity for a poor reason if you are not prepared.

2. Review what you know about the organization and its flexibility. Consider whether it is likely to have strict rules in the area you want to negotiate. Remember that there are also laws which govern benefits like retirement savings and medical insurance coverage so that an organization cannot offer you special deals not available to others.

3. Talk directly to the person who wants to hire you. Start with the positives. Say why you are interested in the position and what you feel you can contribute. Say you appreciate the offer and want to review it. Ask any questions you need to assess items like benefits. Be sure you understand the offer.

Then indicate that you have some concerns with the offer. If the company does not negotiate, it is likely the manager's response will be to tell you that they have carefully considered this offer and it is their best. If they do negotiate, the manager is likely to ask about your concerns as a prelude to negotiating. Remember, unless you are willing to walk away, you do not want to back yourself into a bad decision. This person is most likely to work with you. S/he may have to get permission from others but since s/he has already decided to hire you, s/he is most likely to be willing to support you.

This is a discussion that needs to be done in person or by telephone, not by email. Ask whether the person has the time to talk or prefers to schedule it.

4. You need to be well-organized and very specific during the discussion. Keep your emotions under control. This is a business discussion. Line up your requests and possible options to meet your needs. Add market data or other relevant facts and put them into the context of how this also helps the person/organization meet its goals.

5. If you are asking for more money (salary or bonus), be prepared to discuss your skills and current market comparisons. Start softly with a statement that the offer is really good except that the salary (or bonus) concerns you and makes you wonder if you understood the job responsibilities correctly. Review them. Then, if the hiring manager is willing to talk, it is time to discuss options. Ask if s/he has any flexibility. If asked what you want, be specific but leave room for more than one way to meet your need. DO NOT SAY: "the offer is a lower than I expected." DO SAY: "I am really interested in the position but I was expecting a higher base salary (or a larger bonus or a different mix) given my understanding of the job and the current market. Is there a way we can raise the total package? "

6. Sometimes the starting salary is not what you want and the organization is not willing to give you as much as you seek. In such cases you may want to ask for an accelerated performance and pay review. The most common is one after six months in this situation but some will agree to a three-month review. Or it can be tied to a major event in the organization that would be a part of your work.

7. If you want a different vacation schedule or some other benefit, like coverage of your annual professional conference, you proceed much the same way but discuss why this helps you be productive and contributes to the organization's success.

8. Negotiating a start date or time off for a previously planned event/vacation is usually the easiest to do. Just a short statement of when and why generally results in the desired change.

9. Negotiation of severance packages (under any name) or employment contracts is more unusual unless you are in an executive position. If you are asking for a contract, it is important that you present your expectations clearly. Normally you should obtain your own legal review of such documents.

Good information on negotiating skills is available in a number of books and there are tips online at most major jobsites, at www.careerjournal.com, and at www.asktheheadhunter.com.

Go into the negotiations with a clear game plan in mind that involves a win for both sides and you can usually succeed. Remember that you want this job and you want to go into it with positive feelings on both sides. Put yourself in your potential boss's chair and think of the organization's concerns. Negotiating when you have little interest in taking the job or want so much as to be unreasonable will hurt your professional reputation.

Once you have completed any negotiations, accept the job and ask for a revised offer letter with the new terms and conditions in it.

C. Accepting a Job Offer
Accepting a job offer is usually an enjoyable event. You are happy, the person hiring you is happy. So do it first by phone to the hiring manager. No voicemail acceptances -- you want to talk to the person! Reaffirm your interest and delight in the offer and say you are accepting. Ask if there is anything you should do in preparation for your start. Tell the person if you want to start in advance of the start date and offer to come in sooner.

Follow up your phone call with any required paperwork. Many organizations want you to send in a signed copy of the offer. Some have other documents to complete in advance, too.

Get together all the paperwork you will need to start. Some organizations tell you about the documents needed to complete various forms. If not, you can always ask the Human Resources person you met in interviewing.
Common ones include:
your passport or drivers license and social security card to prove you are eligible to work, Social Security numbers and birth dates for any dependents you want to cover on insurance, and people to contact in an emergency -- names and phone numbers.

D. Rejecting a Job Offer
Do it as quickly as you can. Be professional. You do not have to give a reason. You can say something simple -- perhaps just that you have another opportunity which more closely meets your goals. You never know when you will run into the hiring manager or other company representatives again and you do not need to create a bad reputation. Yet every hiring manager and HR person can tell you about a candidate who blasted someone in their organization when turning down a job. And many of us can tell you about the next time we saw them job-hunting at our new or a friend's organization.

E. Starting right to succeed
Starting a new job is usually a time of enthusiasm mixed with fear. Did you make the right choice? Will you be able to show your best work quickly enough to make a good impression? Will the people be good to work with? You can significantly improve the probability of your own success by learning the important things quickly.

Some organizations have very effective orientation programs. Far too many have little beyond a filling out of forms for Human Resources and a packet of materials or an online employee handbook to read. Yet the most important orientation is that within your work unit. This is so that you know what your supervisor expects and how it fits into the larger organization's goals. If you do not get all of this below, ASK!

You need to know about the overall business and where your work will fit in. This includes a detailed discussion of the organization: its history, philosophy, and goals; the business and marketplace or competition; the unit's role in the organization; and then the job itself.

Specific areas you should ask about include:

• Job content, responsibilities, and performance standards
• Interfaces with others (in the company, clients, etc.)
• How this position affects other functions in the company
• Manager's style and the way s/he likes to work.
• Staff meetings and any other meetings you should attend and how these work.
• Work planned for the first few weeks
• How your work will be evaluated in the first months
• Performance review process
• Any big events or standard planning deadlines in the first few months
• What information about you has been put out to the other people you work with. And if none has, draft a short bit about your background for your boss to email to all.
• Who you should ask about network access, systems, office supply needs.

Your manager is not the only source of information. Whether your organization has a formal 'buddy' program or not, you need to meet the others you will work with and get their views on what is important there. When you are introduced around the office or unit, tell people that you are looking forward to talking to them. And then as the first few days go by, do so. Ask for 5-10 minutes of their time and ask questions. If no-one takes you to lunch, ask someone for a local recommendation and if you can join them for lunch soon. If they don't say no, go for a specific day.

F. Changing Your Mind
You accepted the job...and now you want to take another job or you have realized that you made a bad decision. What do you do?

Contact the hiring manager immediately. Tell her/him simply that you have changed your mind and will not be coming to work with the organization. You may want to say that you are sorry this happened and that it is not their fault but that you had a change in circumstances. If you have signed and returned an offer letter, send in a new copy rescinding your decision after you have talked to the hiring manager.

In recent years this has become a very common trend. Too many candidates, at all levels, change their minds but do not let the company know until the day before or the day they were scheduled to start. Such behavior leaves a very bad impression in the minds of those involved in hiring. And it is a small world so it can return to hurt you. So if you do change your mind, tell the hiring organization quickly and professionally -- no emails on the day you were supposed to be there.

This column completes the basic cycle of the job seeking process. We have covered the ways to make yourself the best candidate for jobs. We have covered how to show the qualifications you possess. We have talked of the information you need to have to sell yourself effectively as well as to make good decisions. If you would like to go into greater detail, one of the most well-known books in the area is Richard Bolles' frequently updated "What Color is Your Parachute". Job clubs and state employment services offer assistance. Good hunting!