You have got the recruiter’s call with the new job offer? You cannot accept or decline the offer just now? Quite natural, you take time …”I have to think over the matter”…
I propose to start your thinking professionally and evaluate the recruiter’s offer under the 10-factor matrix used by our Navigator company.
Certainly, you will consult with your wife, relatives and/or friends, compare pro and contra, and gather information on the new company… However all of this could be insufficient for taking such vital decision as the job changing. Even if it is an offer of the very respectable company with an attractive salary, don’t bustle and analyze the situation under the below presented matrix.
Put the below questions to yourself and try to get definite answers from yourself as well.
1. Are you really suitable for this job? Had you before (without embellishing) the similar experience and will you handle the job well? Is it your size? You nodded during the interview persuading the recruiter, but what about the real situation? The recruitment is a trilateral process: the recruiter has his own goal, the employer – another one; and what is your goal? Take a sober view of recruiters’ persuasions and compliments. The tactics “to get involved in a battle, and then – will see…” cannot be acceptable for this case. You are potential candidate for the job, and you bear the same responsibility, as other participants of the process…
2. Is your new position one more forward step (even very small one) in your development, career growth, intellectual perfection, acquainting of new skills, access to new technologies? Is it a step to your dream, after all? Don’t you get this for that? Are there new, more interesting creative and professional tasks (certainly, if you are interested in anything except salary)?
3. Are there opportunities for further education and advanced training? Are these opportunities declared quite definitely or the recruiter (employer) limited himself with some common phrases?
4. Is there a chance to improve your internal and external status? Will you respect yourselves in the new position better than before, or only a change of scene will occur? Will your friends and simply surrounding people respect you better than before?
5. How interesting will be your future chief for you? Will you be provided with a tutor at your new place? Who and what is he? What are his experience and achievements? Had you a chance to meet him? Did sympathy arise between you and him? The greater is the change of your activity and status, the greater is your need in support of future manager and/or tutor.
6. Quality of the team. How the competence level of your future colleagues and subordinates will comply with your level and goals? Don’t be shy to put these questions to the recruiter, because you will have to work together with these people over 40-50 hours a week. Who are they? What is their age, sex, education etc.? What are their traditions and habits? A problem may be quite banal: all of them smoke, but you not.
7. What are the company’s growth prospects? Is the company’s development strategy available and what is it? Was the company’s development strategy expounded by the recruiter or manager sufficiently clear? Gather the max possible information on the company in media, internet and from your friends. Are you going the same way with such company? Is it a good place to work – for you particularly and generally speaking? The more your new job will be connected with the long-term strategy of the company, the better for you…
8. Corporate culture. Is it available in the company and what does it mean there? What are its specificities? Though not all the companies could be such pleasant workplace as the Google (in any case according to the media information), but it is worth trying to reach the better environment…
9. Balance between work and private life. The long and hard work for earning a lot of money and building a career… Is it the main goal of life? Everyone appreciates workaholics, but if overtime is usual practice in the new company – is it not a sign of bad organization of labor? Will the quality of your life better? If you will get bigger salary for considerably bigger work – do you need it? Is it an adequate exchange?
10. Salary and social package. Are they competitive at the market? Is the high salary a single advantage of the proposal? On the other hand, possibly you fall into a trap of popularity and status of the company, which may pay a salary lower than the market level in exchange for a pleasure to be a member of a “company of such name!” ?
Thus, if you have found no attractive reasons at all in the first 9 factors – your things look blue. Only material motivation is a swift-passing subject…Soon you will become accustomed to the new salary, but disaffection in relation to the work and to you yourself will remain. It is better to see the brighter and further prospects…
Take a sheet of paper and compose a comparative table: the said 10 factors are to be the columns, the current and potential workplaces – horizontal lines. Such table is especially useful, if you have several new job proposals. Even the process of the table thinking over and filling will help you to avoid hasty and emotional decisions…
At the same time your competent refining questions and serious approach to investigation of the new position will invoke respect of the employer and confirm rightness of his selection…
The experience shows that only the last factor has lower correlation with the job-satisfaction (in the longer term, of course). I underline: job-satisfaction, not the job-proposal-satisfaction.
Prepare such table before going to an interview. It will help you to make the better decision.
Sergey Belyaev,
NAVIGATOR, Personnel company
ARKA, Association of Recruitment and Employment Agencies of Ukraine
April 01, 2009