Trying to decide between two competing job offers can be difficult, especially when they are both jobs that you are more than capable of doing. This article has been written in an attempt to help provide some tips for aiding you in the process.
1. Write down your thoughts on paper.
Writing down your thoughts on paper is often the best way to make an objective comparison. Write down the strengths and weaknesses of each offer, that way it’s easier to see visually whether one offer has more drawbacks than another.
2. Location
Think about the location of each job offer an how easy it would be to get there. Whilst the one further away may appear more lucrative financially by offering a high basic salary, by the time you’ve calculated travel costs you may discover that there is little difference.
You need to decide whether you are willing to travel or even relocate for the right job and what effect this will have on you and/or your family.
3. Job Role
Are both job offers comparable in terms of the role being offered or is one more appealing because of new skills you may acquire?
Sometimes going for an identical job to the one you have had is a bad idea as you may be likely to become bored more quickly. A job that offers confirmed training opportunities may be more beneficial to your career and job satisfaction in the long term.
4. Promotion Prospects
As well as developing skills and abilities are there good promotion prospects in both roles being offered or does one have less opportunity that another? The last thing you want to do is end up getting stuck in a dead end job where career development is hard to come by.
5. Company Reputation
This is often of critical importance when deciding between rival job offers. What have you heard about the companies concerned, do you have friends or family working for those organisations who can give you a real insight?
Don’t just think about salary, as a company with a poorer reputation may seek to offer a higher salary to cover up for its weaknesses in this area.
Tip: Why not call both companies and ask if you could visit the sites again. This will give you an invaluable opportunity to chat with staff and get another feel for the environment rather than simply relying on your experiences in interview. If one of the companies refuses your request then this may tell you something about the way in which they work.
6. Benefits
Aside from salary what benefits are available in both job offers? Whilst the basic salary may be higher on one offer the associate benefits of another may outweigh this.
Think about what discounts you may be offered if you join a particular company, length of vacation time, commission structures, car or car allowance, pension arrangements or medical insurance. |
