As we continue in a candidate-short market, top candidates
are finding themselves more and more frequently in a negotiation or situation
where they have multiple job offers to consider. When you find yourself in this
exciting situation, it’s easy to get distracted by dollar signs, but that’s not
the only, or even the most important, aspect to consider.
So, you’ve been through the recruitment process. You’ve
applied, interviewed, and have just been given a job offer. Fantastic! Now
what?
First thing’s first - have your dream job criteria handy.
You should evaluate every job offer against these criteria. If you need a hand
understanding what we mean by this, check out our previous page for tips.
Secondly, try to look past the money. If money is your top
priority, we suggest going to your current employer and negotiating a raise,
which saves yourself and any other potential hiring manager the time and energy
of going through the recruitment process.
After you have thought about your dream job criteria, and
evaluated your current employment, it’s time to look at your job offer.
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What should you think about when evaluating a job offer?
Does it meet your expectations? You’ve been through
the interview process; does the job offer include everything the hiring manager
said it would?
What factors are important to you? Don’t jump right
to the salary. Although it’s easy to get distracted by the money, think about
your career progression opportunities with this company, team culture and
activities, and other benefits like parking, mental health services, and
discounts on insurance.
Are there any restrictive clauses? Make a note of any
clauses that could affect your ability to do your job such as non-competes or
non-solicitation clauses for sales roles.
After considering your job offer, the next stage is
negotiation. Is there anything you want to negotiate on? If you are happy with
the offer, and it is a fair offer, then perhaps you can skip negotiation and
sign away! But if not, it’s on to the negotiation stage.
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What should you think about when negotiating a job offer?
Start date: Is there any flexibility? Do you want
some time between jobs or are you looking to jump straight in? Sometimes a few
days off to reset can be fantastic for your mental health.
Salary flexibility: Instead of a $5k increase, could
you ask for an extra week of annual leave? If the offer can’t budge on salary,
is there an option to negotiate the bonus? Think about options that have a
monetary value but are not added dollars onto your paycheck.
Confidence is key: If it really is salary you are
after, consider offering to start on the offered rate and putting a three-month
review in place to talk about salary. That way, you have three months to prove
yourself in the role, and you are giving your hiring manager a chance to see
what you can do.
Working from home/flexibility in hours: It almost
comes with the territory now, but does this new role offer flexibility in your
‘online’ hours, or the ability to work from home if you need to?
Note: Don’t make any of these negotiations a surprise
to your future employer. You should always aim to be upfront with what you want
from a new opportunity in the interview/conversation process before you get to
job offer stage so the employer can aim to give you a fair offer.
Once you have been through the offer and negotiated any
points you need or want to, then hooray, it’s time to accept! Unless you find
yourself in the lucky position of having multiple job offers – then, there is
one more stage.
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What should you think about when you have multiple job
offers?
Think about career progression. If you are early in
your career, it could be more beneficial to go for the role that will give you
the best experience, rather than pay you the most. Don’t settle for instant
gratification; learn to play the long game, as it will better you in the long
run.
Be upfront with employers. If you have multiple
offers that you are thoroughly considering, then let the hiring managers know.
You never know, this could lead to them offering something else to convince you
to join them.
Ask an industry professional. Think about bouncing
your ideas off someone who knows the industry you work in. They could offer
insight or an unbiased opinion about each offer. Your friendly OCG Careermaker can help with this – give us a call for a confidential chat.
Remember, a multi-offer situation is the point that job
hunting can become emotional. You can draw up a pros and cons list, you can
weigh up everything against your dream job criteria, but at the end of the day,
which company and opportunity do you have the best feeling about? That will be
the company where you will be happiest.
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Once you have been through these stages, then hopefully you
have your answer and you are on your way to starting your new role!
Congratulations – now it’s time to celebrate!