?? How To Evaluate New Job Offers

?? How To Evaluate New Job Offers 347 For best results, negotiate with yourself before negotiating with employers. This is a guest post by Joey Trebif. We've all been there. We make the decision that it's to time leave our current employer and look for another job.eval Once you've started your job search, you've cut the emotional ties and now it's just a matter of time until you get the right job offer and then you are on your way. But what happens if you were not actively looking for a job?eval Suppose you were as happy as a pig in **** and then a request for a job interview comes knocking on your door? You go on a few interviews and then you get a job offer you were not planning on. A job offer as a result of proactive job search is, in a way, a little easier to handle than a job offer that is unsolicited (i.e. when you were not actively looking for a job). In that situation, it can be tough deciding between a job offer and your current job. A case in point: a friend of mine was happy in his job. The hours were flexible and the pay was good. He liked his boss, liked the people he was working with and was happy with his responsibilities. Then a friend of his told him about a great opportunity at another company. Long story short, he went to the interviews and actually got a job offer, which challenged him to make a decision he was not prepared to make. I'm a big believer in “it never hurts to listen” even if you were not looking for a job change, but you need to be prepared for the outcome before the big event. Did you do any salary research on your most recent job search? Yes No View Results What to consider before accepting a job offer 1) Compensation While compensation should not be the single driving factor of your job search, it is certainly in the top two or three considerations (who wants a new job for less money?). Your job offer will obviously include your salary and bonus details. Prior to your offer, you should have done some homework on the current market rates for your position. While this is not a hard and fast rule, you will have developed some ranges as to what to expect. If you did not do this prior to the offer, it's never too late to take a look. Hopefully, the offer meets or exceeds your expectations. Whichever way it goes, you should consider the following: Too much of an increase â€" sounds like a nice problem to have, but if your offer is significantly higher than your current compensation (greater than 25%), it might be a cause to worry. Excessively high compensation offers are often signs of a bigger issue. This is where your due diligence homework comes in (salary surveys and reviews). Try to find someone in your network that has some inside information about the department/position you've been offered. Salary increase is too low â€" while there is not a set percentage increase that you should expect when changing jobs, the job offer should reflect the risk of changing jobs. If you are leaving a current job, as opposed to looking while unemployed, there is a fair amount of risk. Less than a 10% increase might be an issue, but consider the below 9 points along with the compensation piece before making a decision. Potential â€" there should be reasonable upside potential in your future compensation at your new job. You should ask some questions regarding annual compensation or performance reviews. You should also consider where you fall on the low/high compensation range for your role. Where you fall on the salary range will drive upside potential. If you are already earning at the top of your range, the prospect of significantly higher increases will be somewhat lower. Variable compensation â€" you should also consider any variable compensation such as bonuses, overtime pay and sales commissions where relevant. 2) Future Advancement The potential for advancement should have been one of the questions you asked during the interview process. The size of the company, your role, your performance and the size of your department all play a key part when evaluating future growth. Regular performance reviews (another question that should be asked during the interview process) also play a key factor. Not to worry, if you did not ask these questions during the interview process it is not too late. The job offer negotiation process (more on that later) is a bit of a give and take (hopefully ‘take,' for you). 3) Organizational Structure You should fully understand the organizational structure of the company. If this was not made clear during the interview process, now is the time to clarify this. You should clearly understand: Who you will report to: your manager and reporting line should be clearly defined in your job offer. How many bosses will you have? Who does your boss report to? Who works for you: How large is your staff? Are there any issues to consider? 4) Expectations Ask the question â€" “After one year on the job, I've been very successful and have exceeded all expectations. What have I achieved in the year?” You need to fully understand expectations. What is expected, what must be delivered and what are the obstacles you will encounter? 5) Training How long will it take you to “come up to speed”? Will some training be provided? Will you need to “hit the road running”? Depending on your level of experience and position in the new company, there will be some expectation that you can come up to speed quickly. You need to ensure that those expectations are reasonable. Don't get yourself into a “no win” situation. 6) Stability What happened to the previous person in the role? More likely than not, you will be taking a position that belonged to someone else. If you are lucky, the person who had the role before you was promoted and that's why the position is available. But if the person left the organization, you need to understand why they left or were asked to leave. This is a great time to leverage your network to see if anyone you know can help you find out the details. You should also feel comfortable with the department's and company's turnover. 7) Benefits Sounds basic, but make sure you fully understand your benefits. While not directly “compensation”, the value of benefits provided (or any shortfalls to what you currently have) can have a huge impact on your net gain over your current role/company. Medical and dental Vacation, sick days and personal days Pensions, 401k plans, matching savings plans Work environment â€" flexible work environment (hours and work from home) 8) What You Can Negotiate Don't be afraid to negotiate! Compensation is always up for negotiation. Vacation is also a somewhat easy benefit to negotiate. Benefits are probably not negotiable. Make sure you balance your requests, as pushing too hard could end the offer. On the other hand, don't settle and be prepared to walk away if you feel the offer falls short. 9) Comparison With Your Current Job Is the grass always greener on the side? Items 1 through 8 should help you make your decision but the good old “pros and cons” list is the best way to go. Make a list of everything you are giving up in your old job and everything you stand to gain in the new job. Be honest with yourself and your pros and cons list will help you make this difficult decision. 10) Counter-offers Counter-offers are very common. My own personal view is that if it takes a resignation to have your current employer offer what the new company is offering â€" and many times, more than what is being offered â€" then it is too late. On the other hand, a counter-offer generally means that you are highly regarded and that they don't want to lose you. If you receive a counter-offer, review the reasons you decided to search for a new job and check that you'd be comfortable with staying (you don't want to be looking for a job again in six months). Life is a journey and your decision is just one more step in that journey. There is no such thing as a “bad decision”, there is no looking back, only looking forward. Whatever you decide, good luck in your search. Question of the article What's the first thing you considered the last time you received a job offer? Tell us in the comments. What others are saying How to Evaluate, Accept, Reject, or Negotiate a Job Offer How to Evaluate a Job Offer â€" Comparing 10 Factors to Choose the Best Job Use This Checklist Before Accepting That New Job Offer The Complete Guide to Evaluating a Job Offer Got the Job Offer? Don’t Blow It Now! If you want to improve at something (getting a job offer, getting selected to speak at confs, etc), some of the best advice I’ve ever received was: “Try to get 10 rejections.” Or 100, or whatever. Framing it this way frees you to take bigger risks, and sometimes they pay off! â€" Denise Yu (@deniseyu21) June 16, 2019 About the author Joey Trebif is a senior finance executive from the New York area who has extensive experience in job search and career advice. Joey blogs about career advice, job search advice and job search site reviews at CareerAlley.com and can be found on Twitter at @CareerAlley and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/careeralley. This article was part of the The $11K 8th Annual JobMob Guest Blogging Contest. READ NEXT: Should You Always Reject the First Offer For a Job?

How Being More Conscious Can Change Your Career

How Being More Conscious Can Change Your Career Increasing your consciousness has many benefits, especially with regards to your career. Becoming more conscious is the ability to be aware of what each of your choices is going to create, and how those choices can place you in a position to achieve more in the workplace and in your life. Becoming more conscious does not necessarily require you to take a spiritual path.   Consciousness can be gained by practicing presence with the way people around you function, as well as the way you function. Here are some Conscious Tips you can use to increase the  level of ease and upward movement in your career: Be aware of how others function. If you pay attention to the way other people function in your workplace, you have a better ability to deal with all kinds of personalities. What we tend to do is speak to people the way we would like to be spoken to. This doesnt always necessarily work. What creates a greater result is to speak to people in a way that they can relate to. We all come from different places, backgrounds and social strata, and the way to influence people is to find out their nuances, and patterns. If you are conscious of this when speaking to people and make an effort to get to know and understand the people you are interacting with, it will change the way you relay information. Even though this practice is usually very subtle, people will notice and appreciate you took the time to include the way they see the world. Choosing to be diplomatic in this way increases the value you have in the eyes of others and builds a sense of trust. Trust your Instincts. Following your instincts sounds like a simple solution to most problems, but when we feel pressure from those around us, we tend to follow what their agendas are, rather than ours. Learn to drown out the noise of others, because your gut feelings will never lead you astray. If something makes you feel expansive, it is true for you. If it is heavy or restrictive, it is not true for you. You can use this as a reference point with many of the decisions you make, and you will be aware of how much you instinctively know about what is going to make you happy and advance your contribution in the workplace. In other words, if something doesn’t feel right to you, it probably isn’t. Just Choose. When faced with tough decisions we are often crippled with indecision. Most people would rather avoid making a choice than choose the wrong option. The greatest leaders are the people who are willing to trust themselves enough to make choices on a dime, even when they affect other people. If you are willing to have this trust in you, and see that your point of view matters, you can quickly become an innovator in your office. If you make a wrong choice, realize that nothing lasts forever and that your ability to choose, equals your ability to lead. Remember that even the most renowned and successful leaders in the world have failed at some point in their lives â€" what matters is what they did to bounce back after failure, that ultimately led them to unimaginable success. Whether you consider yourself to be introverted or extroverted, you always have the choice to be the leader of your own life. Being more conscious allows you to have more trust in yourself, and gives you more ease in personal and professional interactions. If you see yourself as lifting others up and empowering the people you converse with, that will ripple out in positive ways you may not even realize and guide you to a successful and fulfilling career. This guest post was authored by Julia Sotas portrait Julia Sotas has always been interested in self-improvement, attending her first course at the tender age of 13. She has a degree in Sociology from the University of Winnipeg and now lives in South Carolina with her husband and three step kids where she works as an Access Consciousness facilitator, a job she’s been doing for the last five years. She’s seen personally how to change money mindsets and go on to earn more than you could ever imagine. She teaches Right Riches for You classes so others can do the same. Right Riches for You is a specialty program of Access Consciousness.

Download Free Social Media Checklist Template For Your Business

Download Free Social Media Checklist Template For Your Business I just came across a social media checklist created by the good people at  the whole brain group. Its the most comprehensive social media checklist available to  download for free, that I have come across. Any business doing social media marketing needs a checklist. And it should cover all aspects of social media marketing, including creating content and promoting it across various social media channels. Heres a social media checklist template in the form of an infographic. 1.  Define your target audience. Age Gender Occupation Income Level Educational Level Type of Industry # of Employees Type of Business Revenue 2. Create Shareable Content Here are some tips from the social media checklist to keep in mind: Keep posts to 300-500 words Include a featured image and relevant meta description on your post to enhance shareability Optimize posts to include target keywords End each post with a call to action that links to a landing page for a relevant content offer Include social sharing buttons on your post to encourage other people to share your content Find the infographic below to have your own social media checklist. You can download a free copy from The Whole Brain Group 141

Its Not You, Its Me Why Companies Fail The Interview

It’s Not You, It’s Me Why Companies Fail The Interview Joining a company is like starting a new relationship. And while you like to consider yourself open-minded, when it comes to a career partnership, you still have boundaries. You still have deal-breakers. How do you know what they are? Know your ideal setting. In order for you to determine if you are a suitable partner for your future company, your self-awareness needs to be high. You need to know the kind of workplace environment in which you will flourish. You must understand if you have a need for structure and have a grasp on the amount of fire drills you can handle in a position. (Every 5 minutes, no thank you…every few days, I got this!) Actively listen and ask follow up questions. When you have an opportunity to learn about your next career partner, remember, YOU are interviewing them just as much as THEY are interviewing you, dear interviewee. When they tell you that you are responsible for knowing all aspects of your Client’s business, ask them about their communication habits. Are there daily status meetings or emails? Is there a process or structure in place? Do they fly by the seat of their pants? Try to get a feel for their culture and daily flow and then, thanks to your heightened self-awareness, decide if it’s a good fit. Be original. If it doesn’t work, it was not meant to be. When being original worked: I once walked into an organization without an appointment and a few weeks later I started what became a successful 4-year partnership. I once walked into an interview with a swollen lip and bandaged face thanks to a bike accident the night before and I still got the gig. Be confidently yourself â€" if you were meant to join their ranks, it will work out! When being original didn’t work: Another time, I had been in contact with an organization and was in town for only one day. My contact said she could not meet with me. I had other appointments that day so I decided to stop by to hand-deliver my resume to my contact or the receptionist. The receptionist looked down her nose at me and rudely informed me that I really shouldn’t come this close to lunch (it was 11:45am). I smiled and chirped; yes well I was in the area and just thought I’d stop by! When she did phone my contact my contact answered, spent 90 seconds on the phone with the receptionist, yet declined to come to the lobby to shake my hand, look me in the eye, and collect my resume. Behind the receptionist, “face to face marketing” the company motto, was painted on the wall. I smiled at the irony and left. Be original â€" if you were not meant to join their ranks, it won’t work out and you can at least get an amusing story from the experience. Watch out for the bum rush. If the company is eager to get you in the door as fast as possible ask yourself why? Are they trying to snatch you up from the competition? Is the competition potentially a better fit for you? When you feel they are suddenly rushing you, take a moment to pause and consider all of your options. Verify all of the other options before making your choice. You are gracious no matter what. There are things you can do to position yourself for success when looking for a job and post-interview, proper etiquette will include following up with a hand written thank you note.   This is not negotiable. Columnist Archive

Customer Service Resume Skills Lists

Customer Service Resume Skills ListsWhen you apply for a position with the first company you call, it is important to have a resume skills list of qualifications. These can be used for a range of positions in the company and for your future recruitment efforts. Here are a few tips to get you started.The company you are interviewing for is looking for certain skills. They want someone who is open to change, flexible, and needs to be trained on new software. A customer service resume skills list will help them determine what these are and if they are something you can provide. By having this list at your disposal, you are setting yourself up to present yourself as an ideal candidate.The company that you are interviewing for will look at your customer service resume skills list as part of their hiring process. If you are selected for an interview, you will want to make sure that you impress them. Don't keep your excitement under control. Use your resume skills list to get some informati on about yourself and make an impression. This will set you apart from other candidates and show them that you can handle the job.You want to include skills on your resume skills list that the company will be looking for. There are many things that need to be learned for a good job description. Even in the most professional environments, there are still things that need to be taught.It takes time to learn how to manage your own business. If a person has worked in a smaller organization, they may be trying to manage a lot of things without having the experience to do so. They may be in a position where they need to learn some skills in order to succeed and a customer service resume skills list will provide the foundation they need.There are several skills listed on acustomer service resume skills list. You should check off each of these as you are learning them. Once you know them all, then you can look at what type of positions that include them. Customer service resume skills list is a great place to start when you are looking for a job.There are several things to look for when you are applying for a job or when you are trying to find a new position in a company that requires a customer service resume skills list. People who know the types of positions that require these skills are usually hired more quickly than those who don't. That's because they already know what to do.By having a customer service resume skills list, you can use them to get hired. They can be used in many situations, so make sure that you know what they are before you start. This will help you get the best possible job for you.

How to Write Relevant Resumes for Retail - CareerEnlightenment.com

Above all else, ensure your resume is tailored to the specific retailer and position you’re applying for. Adding relevant and interesting content to let the recruiter see immediately how your skills are perfect for the position helps give you an edge and demonstrates how you will add value to the organization. It might even tempt the recruiter to give your resume more than a six-second scan!INNOVATION IN HR RETAIL WEBINARLearn from the HR Experts exactly what employers are looking for in a retail candidate. Whether you’re new to retail, or looking to climb further up the ladder, don’t miss your chance to ask your questions to the recruiting experts.Monday, April 307:15pm â€" 8:00pm ESTWatch live via:www.facebook.com/socialjobs orwww.facebook.com/innovatecv

Happy at work at Microsoft - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Happy at work at Microsoft - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Michael Brundage has written a very interesting piece on what its like to work at Microsoft. The good includes personal freedom, the top leaders, free soft drinks and the fact that Microsoft contrary to popular belief is not evil. For instance: Microsoft gives software developers a lot of personal freedom over both the work and the work environment. I order my own supplies, customize my office as I see fit, schedule my own trips and meetings, and select my own training courses. I choose when I show up for work and when I leave, and what to wear while Im there. I can eat on campus or off, reheat something from home in the kitchen or scavenge leftovers from meetings. I can even work remotely from home (within reason). The bad: mid-level managers, internal cults and bad work-life balance. Compare this with Paul Thurrotts highly critical analysis of Microsofts failure to deliver Windows Vista on time or even with all the feature they promised. Two and a half years later, Microsoft has yet to ship Windows Vista, and it wont actually ship this system in volume until 2007 Microsofts handling of Windows Vista has been abysmal. Promises have been made and forgotten, again and again. Features have come and gone. Heck, the entire project was literally restarted from scratch after it became obvious that the initial code base was a teetering, technological house of cards. Windows Vista, in other words, has been an utter disaster. And its not even out yet. What the heck went wrong? It almost seems like Microsoft is an example of a company that has a huge, tremendously talented and motivated staff, but still manages to create enormous problems for itself. Does this contradict my claim that a happy organization is also a successful one? UPDATE: John Dvorak weighs on on the issue. All of Microsofts Internet-era public-relations and legal problems (in some way or another) stem from Internet Explorer. If you were to put together a comprehensive profit-and-loss statement for IE, there would be a zero in the profits column and billions in the losses column?billions. So theyre happy at Microsoft but they make really bad top-level decisions..? Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related