If you’ve been applying for new roles and have received multiple job offers, congratulations! It’s a sign that your experience, skills and knowledge are clearly in demand.
However, it’s now that you have some tricky decisions to make. How do you know which offer is right for you? How can you be sure you’re choosing a role that’s interesting, relevant and, importantly, secure? Is money the most important thing? Are there any risks involved?
While it’s a nice problem to have, receiving multiple offers can feel overwhelming. With that in mind, here are five tips to help you reduce the stress involved in making such an important decision.
1. Ensure you have written offers
A job offer doesn’t have to be in writing. However, there are benefits to making sure that it is.
A written offer will give you more confidence that you’ve received a genuine offer that is unlikely to be retracted – something that many worry about when receiving offers from multiple employers. Asking for written offers will also help to give you more time to make your decision.
What’s more, receiving a job offer in written form could well give you more bargaining power with other employers should you decide to try and negotiate a better package.
2. Research the roles (and companies) thoroughly
You’ll no doubt have researched the roles and companies you’ve applied for before you applied…but things may feel very different once you’ve actually been invited to accept a role.
Research each business offering you a role in full. Take a look through their company website and LinkedIn page to get an insight into their values and culture, and look at sites like Glassdoor to get the perspective of both current and former employees.
In terms of the roles themselves, think about start dates, salary, benefits, working hours and core responsibilities. Compare your expected work-life balance for each: is there the option for flexible or remote working? What are the travel requirements? How many holiday days will you receive, and are there significant differences in time off elsewhere (bank holidays or the offer of duvet days, for example)?
Having all of the information about each role at your fingertips will also make them easier to compare.
3. Keep communicating
Deciding which job offer to accept may be stressful, but don’t cut yourself off. Maintaining a clear line of communication with all parties involved will show how professional you are, and showing genuine engagement and interest could make them more open to negotiation.
Clear lines of communication will also allow you to be open about your requirements, as well as any concerns you may have. Openness, honesty and transparency are all traits that potential employers will see as positive, and will also help them to manage expectations and potential timescales.
4. Think about your values and goals
What matters most to you? And what do you actually want in the longer term?
Your own values and long-term goals are key things to consider in your decision. Think about each company in terms of their values and culture: do these align with yours, or are there gaps? Does each company feel like one that you could be happy still working for in one, five or even ten years’ time?
Think too about the potential for growth – for both you and the company itself. Which direction is the business going in? Is it on a positive growth trajectory? Is there anything you can see that could have a negative impact on its success?
From a more personal point of view, can the business provide you with the knowledge, experience and learning opportunities you need to progress? Is there a clear path of progression within the organisation? Are there any internal schemes – like a mentoring programme – that show the company’s commitment to employee success?
If you don’t know the answers to any of these questions, don’t be afraid to ask. This level of fact-finding – whether directly with the company or through your recruiter – will show that you’re serious about finding the right fit.
5. Don’t burn your bridges
At some point in the process you’ll need to let at least one company know that you won’t be accepting their offer. Even if you’re completely sure that it’s a company you’ll never want to work for, be careful not to burn any bridges.
In our industry people move around regularly – you could well find that in the future the same face crops up when applying for a new role elsewhere.
Let the unsuccessful business(es) know that you will be accepting a role elsewhere in a professional way, thanking them for the opportunity and expressing your gratitude for the time they took with you as a candidate. Be sure to have a written acceptance letter in hand before doing so, too…then allow yourself to get excited about the changes ahead!
If you’re currently considering your next career move, why not check out our current vacancies?
