One of my clients recently approached me, having racked his brains over not able to decide from two equally good seeming job offers.
Both are good companies where I wanted to work for a long time. I don’t know what to do.
In the recent past, especially with a surge in hiring in a few industries, this is one of the common scenarios that I, as a career coach, have come across. For anyone going through the tedious interview rounds, and secure the job offer is no less a triumph to celebrate.
However, more often than not, especially in cases when you receive multiple job offers, it ends in turning you more confused about which one to go for, when both seem equally appealing.
So here’s a helpful guide that can help you evaluate the job offers in a more factual and prudent context.
- Know what you are worth:
“Sometimes the hardest part of the journey is believing you’re worth the trip.” -Glenn Beck
You are someone with a certain expertise and years of experience. So, go ahead and research on reliable sites (payscale, glassdoor) to understand what is the industry standard for compensation range among other factors for these key aspects of your profile.
With this detail, try to evaluate what an ideal market value for your profile looks like.
2. Weigh your preferences:
This is an exercise that has helped many of my clients to find clarity in their priorities. First take a deep breath/s and relax yourself completely.
Then, write down the top 3 aspects of a job that matter to you most. Think of the work culture, flexibility, compensation, brand, industry type, job profile, and so on.
Now, that you have made your choice, identify the pros and cons of each job offer relative to the first option.
3. Keep both the parties posted:
Now comes the most important part of the process – communicate about your decision to both the companies involved.
Sound professional and respectful while acknowledging your gratefulness for their offer. You can also choose to let them know about the other offer that you received. Just remember to use a positive tone throughout.
4. Negotiate tactfully :
This is one of the most delicate parts of the whole process. Ensure that you clearly communicate to the company with the competing offer about your preferences (higher compensation, work flexibility, stock options, etc) in comparison with the offer that you prefer.
Sometimes, the non-cash components such as professional development, appraisal cycles, leave policy, etc prove to more beneficial than focussing only on the salary aspect itself.
Negotiate based on what one company offers better than the other and weighs heavily in your preferences.
5. Communicate :
After clearly weighing in on your preferences and deciding to go ahead with one of the job offers, remember to communicate both the parties about it.
Even while declining one of the job offers, sound polite and appreciate for all the positive aspects of their process, keeping the doors open for future opportunity.
One of my clients had got a job offer from a top tier company, which she had to unfortunately decline as it required her to relocate and she wasn’t open for the same. The following year, she was laid off from her company, after which she sent an email to the same recruiter who had handled the hiring for the top tier company. To her pleasant surprise, they were still open to her joining them and this time she went ahead with the offer.
In conclusion, think strategically when faced with the situation of having to choose between two or more job offers. Consider the complete package that includes other parameters of importance rather than focusing only upon compensation.
