The last week of July had been really busy and hectic. But I would sweat with no complaints. Coz I was doing what I love. And what sweeten all this hard work further will be my new batch of students. I must say, I really enjoy having lessons with the full time students. This semester, I am very lucky to have received a hardworking, serious and progressive bunch from both MIS and Curtin side. You guys (I’m referring to my current DSMM Marcom, Ad211 Ad principles , Ad340 ad planning, Ad391 campaign development students) made me look forward to all our classes. I hope this level of interest and enthusiasm will continue into all future classes as well.
Not sure if you guys remember my last posting, on “How to choose my job”. Looks like I am right about the job market. They are hiring. Just last week alone, I had got people seeking advice on their job offers.
And here are some common scenarios which have created dilemmas for many about their job offers.
The first one being:
New Job Offer. Should I accept? But I prefer the other company. However, they have not offered me anything yet. What should I do?
The second scenario being:
Two job offers. Which one to accept? I like company A’s reputation better. But I prefer company B’s job scope better. What should I do?
Job offers does create dilemma. If you are in this situation right now, I would say, you have a good problem. It is better than “I have no job offers. My bills are stacking up” kind of scenario. But it is still a problem that we have to see to it.
For such issues, here’s how you might want to manage these dilemmas with the self survey questions below. You be surprised how by asking yourself the RIGHT QUESTION, it will lead you to the RIGHT ANSWER.
(You may also refer to “How to choose my job” for some insights for dealing with these job offers dilemma)
Self Survey Question when considering your job offers:
1) Do I know what do I want for my career?
This is a WHAT question which helps you set your big picture. This question enables you to have a career direction. Without a clear goal and direction, you will never even know where to start.
Like for example, if you do not know what you want, you may apply for any jobs opening under the sun from PR to Sales to Marketing to Insurance to Property agent to floor manager of restaurant. If all these job openings you have applied for offer you a confirmation, which one should you be taking on?
The answer should not be about which job offers you the best salary. This would be too short sighted. It should be about which job offer is the one that is in line with your career goals or direction.
2) Do I know how can I achieve my career goals?
This is a HOW question, which helps you determine or explore your tactics in achieving your previous question.
This question should give you a general idea how are you going to progress in your career. For example, if I wish to be a director of sales, do you know what are the necessary skills, knowledge, experience, achievements that you need to accomplish to become the Director of Sales? If you do not have a general idea of your path to progression, it is not surprising to know that you will probably stay where you are until the day you finally “see the light”. Only when you have an idea about what you need to do to achieve your goals, you will have an action plan.
This is an important question because when reviewing your job offers, you will then be able to evaluate if that job role would help move you forward towards your goal in any way. If it does, you have gotten yourself a good job offer. If it does not, even with a higher salary, I would reject the job offer immediately in view of the bigger picture. Accepting it would be an opportunity cost for me by toying around with my career directions. This will cause a delay in achieving my career goals.
With the two questions answered, you should have a very clear idea of what you want and what is best for you. Once you see the big picture, you should be able to handle other job offers dilemmas easily. For example, coming back to the two common job offers dilemma, here’s how you can handle them with your big picture in mind.
First dilemma situation:
New Job Offer. Should I accept? But I prefer the other company. However, they have not offered me anything yet. What should I do?
Just ask yourself which is the company that is in line to your career goals. If one job offer is about Sales. The other is about Marketing. If you are looking to be in Marketing, take the one that is in line to your career direction and goals.
If both job offers are in line to your career direction, refer to next question below.
Second Dilemma situation:
Two job offers. Which one to accept? I like company A’s reputation better. But I prefer company B’s job scope better. What should I do?
If both job offers are in line with your career direction, study the job scope and the working environment carefully. Which one is in line to your “Path to progression route”? In another words, which one offers you better opportunity to progress upwards. You should probably take the one that offers you better opportunity for your career progression.
Take note, if it helps you to progress upwards, but it is not in line to your career direction, you should not take it on as well. For example, if you join this company, you may become a sales manager in 2 years. However, you actually wanted to be in Marketing Communications.
Your direction comes first before you plan on your “path to progression”. All these might sound really logical. But often when you are hit with such dilemma, it might cloud your judgment leading to wrong decisions being made. When that happens, hope the two self survey questions will come in handy for you.
Happy job hunting and career progressing.
