3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Accepting a Job Offer - Coffee Break

3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Accepting a Job Offer - Coffee Break Receiving a job offer is incredibly exciting, but its also not something you should take lightly. By accepting the job you are making a big commitment. There are a lot of things to consider! Most job seekers usually think of the compensation plan first, and focus on things like salary, benefits, and perks. However, in todays blog well be focusing on a few questions that may be less obvious, but just as important. 1. Will I advance professionally? Sometimes getting overly fixated on the salary or company causes you to completely overlook your own professional growth. In your career, its important to always be moving forward. Advancing your own skills and experience helps you grow as a professional, and will open many doors for you later on. However, if you keep taking steps back, it could lock you out of some great opportunities in the future. In some industries, failing to seek continuous growth means your skills will quickly be out of date. This can also damage your career, and leave you with a lot of catching up to do when you want to find a new job. A big salary can certainly be tempting, but you should always consider if taking that position would hold you back in the future, or stunt your growth as a professional. 2. Am I excited about this job offer and the work it entails? Getting caught up in your own career growth can also mean losing sight of what you enjoy doing. Take a step back, and think about if this position and the opportunity it offers excites you. If not, why would you accept it? If youre not sure, try looking over the job description, and visualize yourself working in that position, doing the required tasks. Does it awaken that sense of purpose and excitement in you? If youre having trouble envisioning that excitement, think back to why you started working in the profession you are in now. Does this opportunity offer that spark? If not, you should weigh the other benefits of accepting the position. Being excited to head to work everyday makes any job more enjoyable. Try to find a position that excites you in some way, and taps into what you are passionate about. If it doesnt excite you, you should reconsider if you really want the job, and how accepting it benefits you. 3. Did I get a good vibe from the people and culture in the interview? In a job interview, the interviewers and recruiters are trying to assess many things. Part of what they are trying to understand is if you would fit in with the company culture, and work well with the team. Since you may be working for that company, you should be evaluating them too. How did the interview feel? Was it warm and welcoming or cold and foreign? Think about how your whole experience interacting with the company has been. If you met the hiring manager, are they someone you would want to work for? Did you get a sense that the company values culture and encourages growth? These are all things you should consider. Everything about the job may seem great. The salary could be a huge increase, and the work may appear rewarding. If you got a good vibe from the interview, thats great! However, if something seemed off, the position may have other problems. Perhaps the workload is incredibly heavy, or the manager is very tough to work for. Look beyond the surface level of a job offer before you accept it. Make sure you always consider the people, culture, and environment. When you receive a job offer, its easy to fixate on the compensation package. Salary, benefits, and perks are certainly a huge part of a job offer. However, you shouldnt let this keep you from looking at other important factors. The aforementioned questions should help you evaluate a job offer from all angles, and make a more informed choice whenever you have an offer on the table in the future.