Before you accept an offer - pause and check the basics
If you’re a regular here, you’ll know that we advocate having a clear checklist of the things that you’re looking for as you launch your job search. You know that you need to due your due diligence. That said, it’s just worth pausing before accepting any job offer to review the most basic requirements.
What qualifies me to write this? Well, over the course of my career, I’ve made some poor job moves myself. But more than this, when I was an Executive Search Consultant and Recruiter, I was frequently exposed to candidates telling me about the mistakes that they’d made and hoped to avoid in future. The same can be said for what my coaching clients often share with me.
With all of that in mind, here are some things to consider.
More than marginal improvement
At Career Mentor, we’d suggest that any move that you make from your current firm needs to be more than a marginal improvement in terms of whatever is important to you. There’s a danger that a dissatisfaction with your current position is not as big as you think it is, or it’s something that will change with time. It might be better to stay where you are and take steps to mitigate the problem - if that’s at all possible.
If you’re currently unemployed, then this is less of a problem because just getting back into work will be a significant improvement, all things being equal.
Alignment
Understand that your role and the objectives that you’ve been set are clear and achievable, and that they are aligned with what your Direct Report, team and department are also striving to achieve. Any lack of clarity or alignment is a problem in waiting, which will bite at the time of your appraisal and bonus conversations.
Resources
If you’re being asked to deliver on objectives of some size, you’re likely to need resources to achieve them. Perhaps an idea would be to discuss and outline a plan with your Direct Report, including an assessment of the resources required before you accept and - crucially - while you still have some degree of leverage. I remember asking someone who asked for my help, what her deliverables were and what resources she needed. She was unclear about the deliverables but told me that they were demanding. She added that she was going to be given half the time of an untrained intern. Clearly, this wasn’t going to be enough and was a red flag that she should take notice of.
Reporting and clout
It’s clearly essential that you understand who you’ll be reporting to. Sometimes it might be more than one, depending on the structure of the organisation. We strongly recommend that you know who will be speaking up for you when it comes to bonuses and that they have enough clout to ensure that you are looked after and that they can be your top cover.
Genuine consensus
One phase of the interview programme is for the leader of the hiring team to build a consensus around you. It’s important from your point of view that your future colleagues see the hiring into this position is necessary and that they all agree that you’re a strong fit. I heard of one candidate who joined a small firm where the CEO was very keen to hire her. However, she didn’t realise that the COO was not on board and spent 5 months actively working against her until she ultimately decided to leave. So, the advice is to do all the due diligence that you can, including speaking to people who may have left the organisation recently to try and gather a deeper understanding of what’s really going on.
Areas of Compromise
It’s not always possible to find a role and firm that scores ten out of ten on all criteria. However, at least be in a position to know precisely what compromises are being made and be comfortable with them.
Title and remuneration
Of course, be clear about the title that you’ll have upon joining. Promises of being promoted are easy for the hiring firm to make so just be a little cautious about that. Equally, be clear about your remuneration package. This is easy enough if you’re moving to a very similar firm to your current employer. However, if you’e pivoting out of your current industry altogether, the pay structures can be very different.
People and culture
Finally, ask yourself some very basic questions. Do I really like the people that I’ve met? Were they genuine or were they putting on an act in the interviews? Also, have I truly understood the culture of this organisation and how they actually behave to one another and does that match my values? Everything can look great on paper, but if something feels off when it comes to the people you’ll be working with day in, day out, proceed with caution. It might be worth trusting your gut.
Conclusion
You might agree that these considerations are pretty obvious and basic. However, it might surprise you just how often job seeking candidates ignore or fudge them in all the excitement and momentum of the final stages of the process. Keep a genuinely open mind until the very last moment of decision. Be critical in your thinking. Discuss the situation with one or two trusted advisors and be prepared to walk away if it’s just not right. If you find yourself in such a position, let’s talk. You can use this link to book a free, no-strings-attached Coaching Call, where we can discuss what the best move might be.