A Guide - How to Decide if a Job Offer is Worth Taking

1. Am I happy with the salary offered?

One of the headline aspects of a job offer to be considered is the salary on the table.

Depending on where you are with your career, the salary should reflect your skill set and general value on the labour market, and should ideally be at least 10% above your current salary package, otherwise, the move may not be worth it. Use websites such as Glassdoor and Payscale to research equivalent salaries and make sure you’re getting offered the right amount.

Obviously, there is so much more to consider when thinking about a job, but if the salary is lower than you expected to be offered, you may want to consider entering a period of salary negotiation with your possible future employer.

If the base salary is lower than expected, your overall salary may be boosted with large work-related bonuses and commission. Or you may be offered a salary package with huge perks such as subsidised health care or child care. The role may put you on a salary that is initially disappointing, but puts you on a guaranteed career track with a larger reward in the near future.

Also consider the satisfaction of the job if you are offered a big step-up in pay. Will this rewarding new role also be incredibly challenging? The happiness your impressive new wage gives you may weigh lightly against the additional stress and pressure which comes from an increase in responsibility.

2. What are the benefits?

Alongside the salary, look at the breakdown of benefits and perks offered by the new position. If these aren’t outlined fully in your job offer, request the full details from the hiring manager. Some companies offer bumper benefits packages which can be considered as valuable as your initial salary package. Look at the following benefits when evaluating a job offer:

• Annual leave - is there a generous allowance for paid time away from the office?

• Does the role have a good pension, what is the employer contribution to your pension?

• How good is the health insurance provided by the company? What does it cover specifically?

• Does the role provide large money-saving perks such as a company car, subsidised childcare, or paid memberships?

3. How will the role affect my work/life balance?

Consider the roles and responsibilities of the role - are the tasks something you want to do full-time? Are you giving up
some aspects of your previous role which you enjoy, or taking on new responsibilities which you are not sure you can confidently?

Think of how the role will slot into your life, and how much control you can have over your work/life balance with the role. A large element to consider is whether the role offers flexible working. This is particularly important if you have children. A role that allows employees to build their hours around their family obligations and provides regular opportunities to work from home can be far more appealing than a role that pays more but provides no flexibility.

The commute also needs to be considered when evaluating a role for work/life balance. Is the role in hard-to-reach locations? Will you be dealing with daily traffic jams? Is the role reachable by public transport? How much will the commute cost in train tickets or petrol and parking? A role that requires a lot of travel in itself can be exciting but can have a large impact on your work/life balance, particularly if you are raising a family. If a lot of the role is spent ‘on the road’, you will need to take this into consideration.

4. Am I a good cultural fit?

Hopefully, during your application and interview process, you will have had a taste of the company culture at your potential new employer. Review the business’s employer branding materials, social media accounts, and testimonials on sites such as Glassdoor for more information.

Your work environment is very important. Considering the fact that you will be spending 40 hours a week there, you need to ensure you are accepting a job offer from a company where you will be happy to spend your time. There may be aspects of the company culture which you will find uncomfortable or simply not fit in with.

You may want to request another visit to the office to talk to team members before saying ‘yes’ to the offer, if possible. You can get a good sense of the types of personalities that thrive within the company, and find out how the office operates. Are teams encouraged to work collaboratively, or do they tend to work as individuals? Most importantly, can you see yourself working within the existing structure?

5. Will I be able to work with my manager?

A manager can make or break a role. It is vital to your overall enjoyment of your job that you are working under a manager who you love working with. A good manager who can both confidently lead and nurture your skills can make a role incredibly rewarding. On the other hand, a bad manager who struggles to delegate or communicate properly, or micromanages your tasks, can be a source of great stress.

When considering a job offer, it is vital but often overlooked to find out who your direct line manager will be. It is likely they have been involved in the hiring process, but if you haven’t met them, you may want to arrange a meeting or a phone call to discover more about their leadership style while you consider a job offer.

Ask what would be expected of you in terms of delivery and performance, and run through a typical week within your team. If your potential manager’s ideas and style don’t run alongside your own (for example, you may enjoy working autonomously, whereas the manager likes to provide feedback on each step of a task), you may want to reconsider
saying ‘yes’ to the job offer and keep on looking.

6. Does this new role advance my career?

​You’re already on the job hunt, so you shall certainly have your career on your mind at this
point. You may have an offer for a job that advances your career immediately, but the move could be a bad decision in the long term.

Does the current job offer allow for further growth of your skills and talents? Are you moving into a management position or a position where there is an established management career track? You need to look into the training and networking opportunities provided by the role. Do you have time in your role to develop and learn new skills, or attend sector conferences that will keep you informed of trends in the market? Does the business have a budget reserved for career development and further education of its employees?

LinkedIn is a good website to research this. You can look into the career paths of current and
former employees and see how those within the company have progressed either internally or through new roles. You may want to reconsider a job offer for a role where there is little progression or growth, or from a company that has no immediate growth plans or any career development programmes.

7. Am I happy I got the job?

Now you have considered the salary, the benefits, your work/life balance, the culture, your manager and your career development goals, the final element to consider is your general ‘gut feeling’ when it comes to considering the job
offer.

Are you ecstatic to get the offer, or do you have reservations? If you are reading this, there’s probably a reason you are taking your time to make a decision. Unless you are in a bad financial situation where you need to take the first offer on the table, it is worth reconsidering the offer where you are not sure about certain elements of the role.

No job offer will be perfect, but it is important to trust your gut’ when an offer comes through. If you are unhappy with the lack of flexibility within the role or have doubts about whether you will get on with your manager, it may be better in the long-term to turn down the offer for a role that you may be unhappy with months down the line.

Trust your instinct and intuition. If something is telling you taking the role is a bad idea, write up a list of pros and cons and weigh them up. Moving jobs is a big decision that affects every aspect of your life and navigates
your future. A bad gut feeling, even if backed by no concrete explanations, is there for a reason.