It’s not uncommon that when someone receives an offer, they’ll receive two or three within a week, even if they have not sniffed an offer for months. Kinda weird, but I’ve seen it happen over and over again.
Now what? How do you pick the right one? No matter the situation, my advice is always the same and it never entails me finding out the details of the offers.
Place the offers off to the side and take out your notes regarding what you were specifically looking for in your next job before you started your job search. Ahh, so you’re telling me you didn’t do that. Ok, that’s fine, let’s do so now. You see, the best job to choose is the one that’s most in alignment with you…who you are, who you want to be, what you want, and where you want to go. So how on earth do you find that out? Simple…ask yourself.
Take out a sheet of paper and free-write (brain-dump) everything you’re looking for in your ideal job. Then narrow it down to the must-haves for the next job you’re about to take. The must-haves list should not include “would be neat, this is what I’m hoping for, it would be nice” etc. The must-haves are just that, must-haves and include things like (but not limited to) salary, amount of travel, type of company, size of company, commute, size of team, managing or not managing, ability to work at home, autonomy, advancement opportunities, benefits, type of work you’re doing, type of work you’re not doing, etc.
Once created, the must-haves list represents you; it is what’s important to you and your soul…it’s who you are. Now, you can take out the offers you’re considering and simply choose the one that’s most in alignment with the list. It really is that simple.
P.S. If none of the offers are in alignment with your must-haves list, walk away from all of them and start over. Accepting an offer that’s out of alignment will be short-lived and out of integrity. Trust the process.
