Do These 5 Things Before You Accept a Job Offer

Cognitive dissonance is real. We have all made choices that seem right, but in hindsight we realize were suboptimal.  When weighing decisions, it helps to have some relatively objective and empirical benchmarks that keep us from waking up two months into a job thinking, "what have I done?"

Consider the following five steps before you sign on the dotted line for any job:

1. Decide if you want this job, or if someone else wants you to have this job

It is easy to fit ourselves into the role of what others desire for us, whether that is a parent, spouse or friend. It can be difficult to untether oneself from the expectations of others and focus on what we really want.  Career advisor Kat Boogaard shares her view of why career choices and others’ approval should not be commingled: it just does not matter what other people think. 

I am guilty of seeking people’s approval for career and job decisions in the past. After volunteering to help foster children in my early 20s I decided to become a therapist. I – shocking now to the older, wiser me – backed off this plan when my well-intentioned parents dismissed the idea with, “There is no money in that; you should stay in business.”  

This first step requires you to step back and think about what you really want. Consider your dreams, desires, and long-term goals without the noise of external expectations influencing your internal dialogue.  While it may seem old school, What Color is Your Parachute? is a classic for a reason, and may help ground you in what you really want for yourself. 

2.      Conduct a DIY culture scan

Culture can often be felt. You can experience it while interviewing, and you can observe how engaged people seem when you tour the office. Culture has an impact on how people communicate, influence, work together, and make decisions – all things that matter to your experience and your effectiveness in the new job. Be sure to spend some time assessing if the organizational culture is right for you.

• Talk to former employees.  These folks have moved on and their perspective is powerful. Just be sure to calibrate their input based on the circumstances of their departure.  Find them on LinkedIn through your contacts.  Explain that you are talking to the company and that their insight would be tremendously valuable. Make it a phone call, not a conversation over email.
• Ask specific questions about the culture. Best-selling author Lindsay McGregor offers up 22 questions to ask during the interview process that get to the nuts and bolts of corporate culture in a direct and professional way.
• Research attrition rate. In a full employment economy this may be higher than usual, but look for comparisons. What is the average attrition rate for this industry? How does your potential employer compare? Voluntary attrition is one of the most objective measures out there for how happy employees are.

3.    Decide if your future manager seems happy

This is relevant! If your future manager is distressed or disgruntled, that spirit can be contagious. In a recent position I held, I knew early in the interview process that my manager was desperately unhappy. I made excuses for it and worse, convinced myself I could make him happy (due to what power I am not sure). 

It is incredibly difficult to be happy working for an unhappy leader. What to look for? There are many signs, including complaints about other team members, compensation, un-respected vacation time or career trajectory.  I didn’t pay attention to these red-flags, and I wish that I had.

Asking your potential new peers what it is like to work for your potential new boss can be telling. Ask specific questions to make sure you are getting the detail you need around communication style, frequency of 1:1s, team member recognition, etc. Body language can provide as many answers as words, so pay attention.

4.    Determine if this job will fit your lifestyle 

Think about your lifestyle as it is now and what you want it to be in the future. Start with a blank sheet of paper and write down:

• How much sleep you want
• How many weekday dinners you want to have at home
• How often you want to exercise
• If you want work-free evenings/weekends
• How much travel is acceptable
• If you want vacations where you can truly unplug

Hone in on your lifestyle non-negotiables, and ask yourself (and a potential employer) the right questions to either confirm or refute the lifestyle fit. You can also tell a lot by how people at the potential new employer behave and the types of activities and hobbies they talk about. 

It may be tempting to let this one slide if the other boxes are checked. But ignoring a lifestyle disconnect will only lead to you being unhappy or leaving your job.

5.    Make sure you are not chasing a shiny object

We have all heard that you should not take a job for the money or chase a title. There is nothing wrong with a lofty job title or frothy compensation if that is the job you want. Push yourself to ask: would I do this job regardless of pay or title? This is not an easy internal dialogue. You want to make sure that the underlying job is actually fulfilling. Shiny objects will fade, so make sure that the day-to-day work lines up with your passion and career goals.

Dig into the question, “Am I actually set up for success or did I just interview really well and talk myself into this big job I am not really ready for yet?” If you are the kind of person who gets 99% of the jobs they interview for, then you are a special breed (and you know who you are).  Along with this rewarding skill comes a word of caution to tread carefully to make sure you are ready for the job you just landed.  There are few things more lonely than sitting in the corner office and realizing that you are in over your head.

If you take these five steps and feel good about your answers, congratulations! You are on your way to accepting a job with a much greater chance of finding sustainable fulfillment. Good luck and please share any feedback on your experience.

Margo Christou is a professional executive coach, speaker and consultant. She can be reached on LinkedIn, or at [email protected].