Take the Next Important Step to Landing that Job – Step 6: Select the Right Job

Congratulations! You completed steps one through five of the job search: every day you chose to have a good attitude, you inventoried your unique skills and accomplishments identifying and learning to articulate your competitive advantage. You identified your target companies, and you developed and polished your marketing materials. You successfully conducted the search and nailed the interview. They just called and made you an offer. The money is good; the commute is okay so you are ready to say “Yes, when do you want me to start?” Not so fast.

Step 6 – Select

Remember the proverbial frying pan into the fire? You want to make sure that this job and company match the criteria you identified in step 3 and is a place where the “you” that you identified in Step 2 will thrive. Don’t end up making a mistake by taking a job doing work you don’t like, for the worst boss ever, in an environment where you will not thrive.

Let’s take a look at some of the criteria you should consider and questions you should ask the hiring manager or yourself before you know this is the right job.

I’ll Take Anything at This Point

Some of you may be thinking what I have heard other job seekers say, “I’ll take any job at this point”. Don’t do that to yourself. Take a lesson from one dear friend of mine. He took the first job that came along although he saw caution flags flying. Three months later he was on the job market again and had to start over with Step 1 – Attitude. In the long run it took him longer to find the ultimate job than if he had passed the chancy job over and just kept looking.

Think back to the worst boss or the worst company you ever worked for (most of us have those). If this new job is as bad as those, then you will be miserable. There is a plan for you, one that will prosper you and not harm you, one that will give you hope and a future. Why would you settle for anything less?

Understand the Opportunity

When you receive an offer, you want to be 99.9% sure you understand the opportunity that is being offered. You understand the salary, the benefits, and of course the commute. What other things do you need to know up front?

Let’s use one example. If you will be traveling on company business, even periodically, you want to understand the policies on travel expenses. 1) Does the company require you to use your own credit card? If so, that means you have to always have enough available credit for any last minute trips your company decides you need to make. 2) Do you get a company credit card? In most cases the company issues a company credit card to travelers but the bill comes to the employee’s home to be paid. In this case you want to understand the average time it takes for the company to process expense reports and get the reimbursement check to the employee. Some companies are notorious for talking a full month or more getting the reimbursement to the employee, in essence floating a loan on the employee’s back yet companies do not reimburse late payment fees. This is one example of additional information you need to understand about the opportunity.

Be sure also to measure the opportunity against the requirements you established at the beginning of your search.

Is This Job Right For You?

In Step 2 you took an inventory of you. As part of that process you identified your personality (the way you were made). You reviewed your prior job history and identified what you liked best and least about your former companies, bosses, and the positions you held.

Personality

Let’s look at a few examples of evaluating if the opportunity is a match for your personality. The two options for the first Myers Brigg Type Indicator and Keirsey Temperament Sorter are E for Extrovert and I for Introvert. These indicators represent the source of energy for the individual, extroverts getting their energy from being around people and Introverts recharging their batteries by being alone.

If you are an extrovert, working from home could drive you crazy, like a cat in a room of rocking chairs; you can’t wait to get out and around people. If you are an introvert, it would drain you to work constantly around people with frequent interruptions and no time to yourself.

The last indicator within Myers Brigg is J or P. People with the J indicator like to have things orderly where people with a P indicator like to “wing it”. If you are a J and are asked to work in a company that has no written processes, no on-boarding orientation, and frequently changes in direction, you will feel adrift. If instead you are P and the company is buttoned up tight, you could feel stifled.

Evaluate the work environment and be sure it matches your personality.

Prior Job History

In Step 2, you evaluated your prior jobs to determine what you want in a company and in a boss so you can flourish. Leverage that information. Measure the company, the boss, and the position you are being offered against these identified qualities.

Negotiate!

The best time to get the right salary is when you come into the company. It is harder to get equity increases once you are working there. Most hiring managers do not give their best and final offer initially; on the other hand they do not low ball the offer either. Most times there is a little room for negotiations.

There are other things besides salary to ask for in the negotiation process as well. If you want to pursue a professional certificate for instance, ask if the company will cover the costs of the preparation, exam and other fees. If you need to work from home occasionally, that ability may be up for negotiation, so can the start or end time (to avoid the rush hours or to pick a child up from daycare), extra vacation days, etc. Whatever you both decide during negotiations be sure to get the agreement in writing.

Are You at Peace About Taking the Position?

You will experience as amazing peace if this is the right position and company for you. Check your “peace-a-meter” to be sure you don’t have any negative or nagging thoughts about taking the job. If you do, you need to evaluate them and make the right thought-out decision, not a decision out of desperation.

Take the job that is meant for you, one in which you will flourish.

Last Article in the Series

You may not want to hear this the moment you land your new job, but your new job is not your last. The average being quoted for the number of jobs a person will have in a lifetime these days is 12 and the number of careers is 4 in a lifetime. In the next installment of the “Take the Next Important Step to Landing that Job” series Judi Adams, Senior Job Search Coach of RightChanges.biz will cover “Action Items to Take While Working to Make the Next Transition Easier and Faster”.

Copyright: The 6 Steps of a Job Search are copyrighted by Crossroads Career Services.