You researched the company, you submitted your application, you had the interview and now all your hard work has paid off and you’ve been offered the job. Congratulations! But how do you know if you should take it? What if you’re still waiting to hear about other roles you’ve applied for? And what if you’ve done really well and you have two job offers? This is your chance to consider all of the options before you make your final decision. Take time to think it through Many companies will contact you by phone before they send out an offer letter – they want to be sure you’ll take the job before they turn away the other candidates. However, you don’t have to decide immediately. Ask if you
can have some time to consider their offer while you weigh up your options but make sure you stick to their deadline or they’ll make the decision for you. Think about the work you’ll be doing If you did an assessment of the job before you applied, go back to it and review the pros and cons you listed. See if you still agree with them now that you’ve been interviewed. If you didn’t assess the job before you applied, you still have time to do so. This is also a great way to compare multiple job offers. If you’re still waiting to hear about other positions, try contacting those companies now. Calculate your salary and your costs Think about the salary package you’re being offered – does it contain additional benefits? Calculate your salary after tax and how much any other benefits are worth to you. Finally, work out your daily travel costs and balance that against the salary. If you want to negotiate your salary package and didn’t discuss this at the interview, now is the time to do it. If you wait until you’ve received a formal offer letter, you’ll have much less room to negotiate. Consider your colleagues At your interview, you had the chance to meet your new boss and possibly some of your new colleagues. Presumably they thought well of you, or they wouldn’t be offering you the job, but what did you think of them? Consider how you would fit in with the team. If you have contacts on LinkedIn who are connected to them, ask their opinion. Saying Yes If you decide to take the job, ask for a formal offer letter to be sent to you. This should contain the date of the offer, job title, details of your salary and benefits, your expected start date and details of your notice period. Reply with a letter to accept the offer and confirm your start date. Saying No If you decide that you don’t want the job, tell the employer as soon as possible and keep it friendly. You might want to work for them in the future, so it pays to part on good terms. If you do decide to turn the role down set up a jobs by email alert and we’ll send you relevant jobs daily.