Career Cheat Code Alert: Evaluating Your Job Offer(s)

After a summer hiatus, Career Cheat Codes is back.? Today’s trek down memory lane will be an oldie but goodie retro classic, Tetris!

Long ago before the dawn of the Internet, there was this white handheld device called a Gameboy by Nintendo.? This revolutionary device enabled you to play a video game without being tethered and wired to a big, clunky rectangular console (kind of like your old school telephone before the advent of the cellphone - Yes! There was a time before the cell phone existed).? I know. Times were hard for us Xennials (born between 1977-85) but Gameboy was one of the hottest toys you could get. I digress. One of the preloaded games on the device was called “Tetris”.??

Created in 1989, Tetris is a puzzle video game created by Russian computer engineer and game designer Alexey Pajitnov (now the picture of St. Basil’s Basilica in the opening credits scene now makes sense - ??).? Players complete lines by moving differently shaped pieces (tetrominoes), which descend onto the playing field. The completed lines disappear and grant the player points, and the player can proceed to fill the vacated spaces. The game ends when the uncleared lines reach the top of the playing field. The longer the player can delay this outcome, the higher their score will be.

ALIGNING YOUR TETROMINOES! (Job Offer Evaluation)

Using the game’s objective of creating alignment and congruence with the tetrominoes to score points, I wanted to dedicate today’s newsletter in honor of all of the former interns going into the Fall Semester of your final year of college.? Picking up from my last newsletter, I hope you received a return offer from the organization you interned at.? If so, Congratulations!??

You should be incredibly proud.??

But wait?! Now you have a decision to make.? Do you accept, decline, or accept now and renege later? (Please NEVER renege!)?

So many choices.? So many TETROMINOES!!! Considerations that are just utterly falling from the sky.? The goal for you, like the player in Tetris, is to weigh these options and ensure there’s alignment.? If there’s not, it may prove troublesome later.??

HOW SHOULD YOU EVALUATE YOUR JOB OFFER(S)?

There are so many considerations you need to make when evaluating an offer.? The biggest tetromino you’re probably thinking about the most is the money.? According to Veris Insights , compensation is currently the #1 issue for college students as they weigh their offer.? However, after having a few years under my belt, money is not the only factor you need to be considering.? In fact, it should be one of the last pieces you should weigh.? I strongly encourage you to consider these other factors that students RARELY consider until after the fact.? Think of these considerations as tetrominoes and your goal to simply ensure that they’re aligning and congruent with you.? Be wise and consider the following from my past experiences to ensure you have inner congruence and alignment with your knowledge, strengths, abilities, personality, and ambitions:

1. TETROMINO 1: ROLE CONGRUENCE: Does the role and or functional area align with who you are?? Have you taken self-assessments to determine ideal role types based on your preferences and personality?? Don’t know what I’m talking about?? Please read my very first newsletter from April 2021 on self-assessments.? Once you have, please complete some self-assessments and determine if the role you’re receiving an offer for aligns with who you are.? If it does not, you may want to pause and possibly restart your entire search process again.? Why?? Having experienced this firsthand, you never want to take an offer that’s incongruent with who you are and what you’re strengths and abilities.? You’ll essentially end up being miserable later and possibly have a career crisis later.? Why have that when we can avoid it now?!??
2. TETROMINO #2 COMPANY CONGRUENCE: Does the company’s culture align with who you are?? Does the organization’s products and services excite you? Does the company’s mission, values, and or purpose align with your own?? Will you have the opportunity to grow and learn?? If I change my mind and wish to switch to a different functional area or department (internal mobility), is that easy to do within the organization or is that challenging or nonexistent? Are you happy with the reporting chain you’re under (your boss, your boss’s boss, and your boss’ boss’ boss, etc.)? Do you like your team? Remember, you’ll spend more time with your immediate team than most of your family and friends when you graduate.? You better like them. LOL? Saying no to any of these questions should make you pause before taking any action.??
3. TETROMINO #3 LOCATION CONGRUENCE: Does the location align with where you want to be?? Even if the role is remote, you need to consider the possibility the company may reverse its stance on remote working.? If it does, would you be happy to relocate to that location?? Do you like the weather ALL YEAR ROUND (and not just the summer)?? Could you create a community there?? If not, even if the company and the role align, at some point, you may get homesick.?Quick story.? When I graduated college, I accepted an offer with a financial services company in Philadelphia, PA.? I’m from an equestrian town in rural northwestern Virginia on the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.? In college, Charlottesville VA was the biggest city I ever lived in (NOTE: Charlottesville is a big college town, not a city).? As you can imagine, when farm boy Billy moved to the home of the Eagles, it was a rude awakening and culture shock for me in addition to being new to Corporate America as a first-generation college graduate. I had no family or college friends in the city. I grew depressed even though the other things were a plus. I felt lonely and constantly spent my weekends driving ~400 miles to and from Virginia Rt 95.? I was miserable and so was my checking account.? Don’t be me.
4. TETROMINO # 4: INNER CONGRUENCE:? The last question is honestly the most important one and it’s “Can you be YOU there at that organization?”? Can you be authentically you where you don’t have to hide, change, conform?? SIDE NOTE: Authenticity doesn't mean you can neglect professional decorum. (Another topic for another day).? Overall, if you can’t be YOU there, change the environment and look elsewhere where you do fit.?

When you achieve congruence and all of your personal interests, passions, skills, and abilities collide, there’s no better feeling. You achieved ikigai, self-actualization, and inner harmony. You will show up more authentically.? Those feelings also will fuel your career ascent and allow you to show up more confidently in the world.?

Lastly, in case you haven’t figured it out yet, YOU are a TETROMINO!? You need to fit within the organization you’re joining.? When you achieve that fit, the sky is the limit for both you and the company welcoming you!?

I hope you enjoyed today’s edition of Career Cheat Codes.? As always, these “tetrominoes” are not exhaustive.? Please like, share, and or comment in the feedback box below.? Take care and see you next month!!!