Which offer to accept?

There are so many wonderful expressions that describe making decisions, good or bad

"It never rains but it pours"
"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"
"Any port in a storm"
and the wonderful Mr Mark Twain
“I must have a prodigious amount of mind; it takes me as much as a week, sometimes, to make it up!”

It is amazing how often we can have two weekends in a row with no plans, then all of a sudden, we have multiple invitations for a Saturday night.   The same often happens with job offers, nothing for interview after interview, and then two offers, one after the other.   And how do you make the right decision?

Logic has to be a key driver and so those Pro and Con lists are critical.  I have included a simple example of how to do one, at the end.   

Salary is important, but if you are earning 10% more at Company A, and your travel costs and time eat up 80% of it, you need to decide whether the travelling suits your lifestyle.   So often, people choose the money path which leads them down to the ditch of deep dissatisfaction.

The amount of money on offer can be an indicator that the company is doing well, but there is no guarantee that higher salaries equal company longevity or a great career option.

I have a STOP sign on my door, which stands for:

• Slow Down
• Think
• Organise thoughts
• Proceed

When making a life changing decision, it is wise to follow that advice.   Do research on the companies.   Do they do community work?  Have a formal coaching and mentoring program?  Do you know anybody else who worked there?   Who are their clients?   This kind of information makes it easier to see if the company is aligned with your ambitions and aspirations.

Did you get an impression of the company culture at the interview.   This is not something which changes easily, even if you are the new CEO.   It takes years to rework an existing culture.   An incompatibility with the culture makes work work.

Another really important aspect is your life style and family.    Making life changing career decisions should be discussed in the home.  Closer attention is being paid to jobs fitting into the family objectives and work/life balance is an important conversation.   There are times when life partners have to compromise for the sake of the family future and financial growth, but this needs to be done as a partnership or the relationship may suffer.

I am always impressed by people who have clear career goals and plans, but even more impressed by those who had a plan, and were still able to see opportunities when they came up.  Those opportunities were not always about stepping up, sometimes they were about broadening knowledge and personal growth.   Somehow, that growth developed a better, happier career path than those who have always followed a fixed plan.  The road less travelled can be much more interesting, too. (Poem attached)

These are not easy decisions, and there can be pressure to give a quick response.   Hopefully, you are worth waiting for, and the companies will give you time to decide.

Pro & Con Worksheet and Chart

Links and References

PeoplePlace Recruitment

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost