This is the first of a three part series. Check out all three posts regarding the post interview job hunt process:
- How To: Compare Job Offers
- How To: Negotiate Salary Out Of College
- How To: Accept and Decline Job Offers
If you are reading this, congratulations! Aren’t choices great?
Actually, if you are anything like me, than you’re probably thinking this is a bittersweet circumstance. Of course it is great to know that you are wanted by more than one company, but at the same time, the rest of your life is on the line, and generally this is going to be a tough decision.
With some careful and logical thought, you can make this decision and know that you made the best decision you possibly could. After going pulling my hair out trying to narrow my decision in my head alone I realized that I had to go about this using a methodical process. I think you may also benefit from this process, so read on to see how I did it.
Where I went wrong in the beginning is that I tried to make decisions based on the salary of Company A compared to the benefits package of Company B compared to the job content/title of Company B compared to the company name of Company C.
Do not compare job offers based on the positives of each!
1. Preferrably at the beginning of the job hunt, but certainly before you start making decisions, get a physical piece of paper and a pen and right out some of the things that you want from your job. Try to get specific, i.e. “at least $50k/yr” as opposed to “good salary,” and try to think about all of the factors that might affect your decision. Here are a few that particularly effected mine:
- Salary
- 401(k)
- 401(k) company matching (this varied much more than I expected… from matching 50% of your contributions up to 5% of your annual salary up to a 2% of your annual salary contribution regardless of your contribution and dollar for dollar contribution matching up to 6% of your annual salary.
- Tuition reimbursement for a graduate degree (and the process necessary to receive it, and the limits and restrictions associated with it – ie is there a maximum annual dollar amount, do you have to study a certain subject, do you have to attend a certain school, etc)
- Geographic location (in your backyard, across town, across the country, or on the other side of the world)
- Relocation package (some companies arrange everything and pay everything up front, some companies reimburse you up to a certain amount, some companies give you a certain amount of cash up front, and some do otherwise)
- Job description (this one was particularly difficult for me because there are many things that I am interested in, but ended up being a very deciding factor)
- Health care (I really had to do some digging on what is good, what is bad, and what would fit my needs on this one, but there is tons of info on the net)
- Stock options (as a signing bonus and / or as performance bonuses)
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan aka ESPP (know the difference between ESPP and stock options… ESPP means you can buy stock in the company at a discount through regular deduction of your paycheck (a 15% discount is pretty standard), and stock options are shares of stock that are given to you as a signing bonus or performance bonus or part of your compensation (there can often be some pretty serious restrictions on these, so find those out too))
- Company name and image… (i.e. companies like Enron and Halliburton have had very serious trouble hiring in the recent years because of the scandals that they have been involved in… does this matter to you?)
- Company Culture… Very closely related to company name and image, but more on the side of do you like the recruiters, do you mind working with a group of co-workers much older than you, does the company value and promote diversity, etc.
- Advancement opportunities
- Vacation time
- Is the offer negotiable (see my post on How To: Negotiate Salary Out Of College)
This list can go on and on, and it is important that as early in the process as possible you write out what you want out of each of these that are important to you. Warning: if you are making this list after you have begun the job search or offer evaluating, do not include company specific benefits… that will come later!
2. Once you have received all of your offers, make sure you have accurate information on each of the factors that you listed for each of your offers. Before comparing your job offers, verify all of the information. Do not let yourself make assumptions – for example, I assumed at first that one of the companies which made me an offer would have a competitive 401(k) matching program because it was a Fortune 500 firm… wrong! Try to find your information on your own (ie the company website) then verify it over the phone. You will be amazed at how fast things change within companies and how easily you will be able to tell if the information on the website is something the company is serious about or if it was just to fill up the webpage (ie the website says they offer tuition reimbursement, but in fact only a select few actually get it). Do not be afraid to make multiple calls to your recruiter with questions. They will respect that you want to know all the details of their offer, and depending on how much they want you, your asking of questions may make them think they need to sweeten the offer (ie if they don’t offer stock options and you don’t ask… you won’t get em!… if you ask… you just might).
3. Write down the details for each offer on a list in the same order that your needs/wants list is written in. Do this one offer at a time, with all your information about other offers away from you. You should be trying to stay open minded still at this point as you are still at a point where you might find or think of more important factors to you.
4. Look for any easy decisions. If you have one or more job offers that you know you are not interested in (even if they sweetened their offer considerably), set it aside, and rule it out completely. Do not let yourself bring it back in to the picture as it will just cause you stress and you will start to compensate in your head for the reasons why you ruled it out originally.
5. Find someone who knows you well, is a good listener, and who’s input you value. Tell them you are trying to make the best decision and you need to talk it out. Then, with your lists and information in front of you talk it out. First read over and talk about each of the factors that you wrote down on your original needs/wants list. Then talk over each offer point by point comparing their offer to the needs/wants that you mentioned first. In this step do not intermix the offers. Do one company completely, than move on to the next.
6. Once you have gone through your needs/wants and each of your offers, mention any extra company specific benefits (ie company car, free laptop, company credit card, expense account, etc). Realize that these can be flashy benefits, but don’t be .
7. By now your listener will likely know exactly which one you should take, but because they want you to make the decision, you will have to coax their opinion out of them. Questions to ask them that might shine some light on things you emphasized, even subconciously, might be “what do you think should be a deciding factor,” or “which offer do you think is best for me?” Then take their advice… with a grain of salt.
8. Make your decision. Use reasoning, logic, and your personal needs and wants to narrow job offers down one by one.
By following these 8 steps, you can be sure that you have done all of your due diligence, and that you made the best decision possible based on the circumstances that you could control. I am of the feeling that whatever decision you make, you will get what you make of it. If you hold confidence in your decision, then go to that job and do your best, you will have no regrets.
Next, read up on How To: Negotiate Salary Out Of College…
