CAREERLIFESTYLE & TRAVEL

Things to Think About When Accepting a Job

You’ve received a job offer — congratulations! Even if it’s your dream job, it’s important to look at all elements of the job carefully before you say yes. This is particularly essential if you have more than one offer to consider.

Income

Money isn’t everything, but it is important to be able to pay your bills. Budgeting is a really helpful tool to know if the salary a job is offering will be enough to sustain your lifestyle. If you live in a more expensive city or the job requires some traveling, does the paycheck make up for it? Even though your salary or hourly pay is not the most important thing, it should be something to evaluate when considering a job offer.

Benefits

It’s very common to look at how much a job pays and base your decision on that alone; however, you should also take benefits into consideration. Benefits can include health insurance, dental insurance, retirement benefits, childcare assistance, gym access, pet insurance, a vehicle, and so on. These are really important to factor into your decision. If you’re deciding between two options and one salary is much higher than the other, factor in how much the benefits could cost coming out of your pocket if they’re not included.

Culture

The culture of a company is an essential factor to consider as well. You will be spending most of your time there if it is a full-time job. You don’t want to be put in an environment you don’t see yourself being successful. Take things like management philosophy, dress code, company values, and office setup into consideration. Everyone is different, so you just have to find the atmosphere that works best for you.

Opportunities

Different companies work in different ways when it comes to advancing your career. With some, moving up is easy, specifically in growing companies. With others, it may be harder to move around to try different positions or advance to higher levels. This is also something that depends on the person, but it’s something to think about when accepting a full-time job. If you are looking for a place you can move positions frequently, ask about growth opportunities during your interview.

Job tasks

Another key factor to look at are the day-to-day tasks and if you could see yourself enjoying what you’d be doing. Make sure it’s very clear what is expected of you before you accept a job offer. Some people prefer doing one thing all day and getting better at it, while others may prefer a variety of tasks. Similarly, some prefer work done in an office while others like to leave the office and work in the community.

Travel and Relocating

Every job is different. There are different hours, responsibilities, and locations. Some jobs require little to no travel, while others require a lot of it. Keep this in consideration when looking at careers. If you have obligations on evenings and weekends or may in the near future, it may be harder to take trips to conferences in other cities, states or even countries. If your job requires you to relocate, think about expenses related to moving. Finding a place to live in a new city could be expensive and harder to do if you have loans to pay off. If this is something you want to do, make sure you stick to a budget and do some research on how expensive bills, gas, and groceries could be in the new place.