How to Choose Between Multiple Job Offers
Whether you’re between jobs or looking to take the next step in your career, getting multiple job offers may seem like an absolute blessing—especially if your job search has been fruitless up to this point. And while multiple job offers is always better than none, it’s common for prospective employees to feel “paralysis by analysis,” especially if two or more offers are equally promising. In some cases, workers may even lose out on the offers they worked so hard to obtain due to taking too long to decide.
Prioritizing Your Prospects
It’s important to begin prioritizing jobs and ranking your interest in each one as you apply and interview. Although you likely won’t get offers from every company you interview with, it’s better to be prepared and ready to act quickly if you get multiple offers around the same time. A quick and decisive “yes” to the hiring manager at the company at the top of your job board not only ensures that you won’t be passed up for another candidate, it will also help set the tone for your entire tenure there.
At TA Staffing, we recommend that job seekers with multiple offers take the following steps to ensure that they commit to the right position and the right company:
- Determine each company’s approach to work-life balance. Even if you’re a true workaholic, you’ll appreciate having plenty of opportunities to unwind and focus on your family and your hobbies when you’re not at the office. Different companies have different views of proper work-life balance, with some making it a priority/perk and others strictly adhering to extended Monday through Friday business hours. A company that strongly promotes work-life balance may ultimately lead to more job satisfaction than one with higher pay and greater benefits but longer hours.
- Consider who you’ll be working with and for. No matter what careers most workers have, they’re ultimately in a people business—and those people include their coworkers, supervisors, and managers. The people at a workplace can make or break a job. If you had a chance to meet your potential direct supervisor and/or team members you would be working with, take those encounters and conversations into consideration. First impressions are important, and if there was anything about a team at a specific position that stood out favorably, give that job extra priority.
- Decide which position most closely aligns with your career goals. It’s easy to fall into a comfortable routine in all aspects of life, including your career. And while a position that closely matches your current skillset may seem ideal at first glance, it could also prevent you from growing as a professional—especially if it doesn’t offer many opportunities for advancement or cross-training. A position that’s outside of your comfort zone can help you learn new skills, new processes, and new ways of solving common problems.
These steps should always be weighed alongside more common pros and cons for jobs, such as pay, benefits, commute time, and perks. But in many cases, the obvious job perks aren’t what attract and keep employees in positions—it’s the opportunities for self-improvement, personal and professional networking, and career-advancement that keep employees engaged in their work and motivated.
If you’re looking for the perfect position to advance your career, fill out a free contact form on our website or visit our Facebook page for more information about our most recent job postings and career opportunities.