Jan 11, 2018 ● Eric Titner
Ask these questions when negotiating a job offer
If you’re on the job hunt and you’ve played your cards right, then perhaps you’ve found yourself in the following scenario: you’ve successfully made it through a series of interviews, waited patiently, been contacted by a hiring manager or HR representative, and been made a job offer. Often, this is absolutely fantastic news—the end result of a challenging job hunting process filled with ups and downs, excitement and disappointment. Now, after a long journey, you’re faced with an offer for what could be the next great opportunity along your career path.
But hold on for a second—are you absolutely certain that this job offer is the right one for you?
Most people fall into one of two camps when making a decision about a job offer. On one hand are the impulsive deciders, those who blindly and quickly latch on to the first available offer made to them. While it can be good to show that you’re eager and enthusiastic, there are some very good reasons for deciding to slow things down a bit and take some time to weigh a job offer before accepting it. After all, accepting an offer that may not completely align with your best interests may actually set your career trajectory back, and it may be difficult to make up any lost ground—either in salary or job title. Furthermore, if you do quickly take an offer that you come to regret later, you may be sowing the seeds for a passive-aggressive workplace attitude down the road.
On the other hand are the overthinkers—those who spend way too much time and effort weighing and overweighing every small detail of the offer in an attempt to reach a clear and decisive decision about whether or not to accept. These folks can count on a few restless days and sleepless nights as they struggle to reach some decision. And in the end, the exhaustion and worry that these people generate make it hard for them to feel good about whatever decision they reach. That's not a good recipe for happiness either.
There is a middle ground between making an impulsive decision and overthinking a job offer, and for most folks it’s right where they should be when trying to decide about whether to accept a job offer. Thankfully, there are some strategies you can take advantage of to help you negotiate your next job offer. Envato recently published an article highlighting the key questions you should ask—either yourself or someone at the company—before accepting a job offer. Let’s take a closer look at some of these.