Hiring has picked up significantly. Numerous individuals are reporting multiple offers. Yep, the economy is up! Several students are in a dither about what to do. As hard as it is to believe, several offers in hand creates a problem.
Sometimes your favorite possibility has not weighed in yet, but a viable job is being offered to you. You don’t want to burn any bridges, but you really need to know what all of your options are and you need to decide who you will allow to employ you.
The first task at hand is to reel in all of the offers.
Once you receive a solid offer, call the companies who have interviewed you, but who have not yet extended an offer. Let them know you have a serious offer in hand and you want to check on the status of your application. Ask if they are going to make you an offer and ask if they might be able to move the process along so you can make your decision.
When you finally have all of the offers laid across the table you are ready to start the decision process.
Focus on what you will learn.
The training you receive sets the tone for your early career growth and development. You want to find a company where you will get excellent training and have an opportunity to pursue further education. You want to know that you will have the opportunity to continuously update your knowledge and skills. Any worker who becomes obsolete is absolutely useless.
Assess which job is going to push the limits of your abilities.
You want to be challenged! Stretch your knowledge and abilities! A person who is not challenged quickly loses interest and it shows... Boredom is the kiss of death for any worker but for an engineer or computer scientist it is like taking cyanide.
Seek a company that is at the cutting edge of their industry. Companies that are growing and expanding are usually doing so because they are industry leaders. These companies are always hiring because they recognize their future depends on talent.
Make sure you will have a boss who empowers you.
Your job success rides on the boss. Bosses have the power to make or break you. Having a boss who mentors and helps you adapt to your new job and new work environment is absolutely critical. They help you build your confidence as they help you build your skills.
One individual who was fired after less than a year on the job was absolutely devastated. After a bit of probing, he told me that he hardly knew his boss, he did not have the tools he needed, and he had received little mentoring, and no training during his 5 months with the company… definitely a recipe for failure... He felt that he had failed, but in fact, the company had failed him.
Lastly, do a quantitative analysis of each offer.
How does each job possibility fit with your goals and interests? Make lists - what are your career goals? What are your interests - or passions?
Assess the offers by how closely each possibility matches your goals and interests. List pros and cons and weight each item on a scale of 1 to 10.
The companies who make offers of employment want answers as soon as possible. You need to make an informed decision so you can move forward. Companies need to move on if you’re not really all that in to them.
Choose carefully or you lose...
