by Ellen Mehling, Career Development Consultant, METRO

 
We recently discussed how to decide to leave your current job. At some point in your career, you’ll find yourself facing the opposite decision, too, perhaps because you decided to leave a former position: whether or not to accept a job offer. Some of the same factors should be taken into consideration as when you’re deciding to resign, but there are additional components to consider, too.

First, be really honest with yourself throughout your decision-making, and make sure your choice comes from your own needs and preferences and not anyone else’s.

You can consult others and seek their advice (in fact, that is recommended), but remember that your advisors won’t be suffering the consequences if you make the wrong decision. While it is best to avoid making big decisions in a hurry, in most cases you will only have a couple of days or maybe a week from the initial offer, through negotiations, and to a “yes” or “no” from you to the employer.

Even if the offer sounds at first like it is just what you want, always ask for a few days to think it over, and then use that time to examine every aspect of the offer. Don’t say “yes” just because of a salary that makes you smile or because you have been unemployed or underemployed and at last you’ve been offered the full-time position you have wanted for a while.

Some things to consider:

• Is the job description clear? Is it what you want to do, what you enjoy doing, and what you are good at? When you think of where you want to be in five years, or ten years, is this job keeping you on the road to that goal?

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