How to Evaluate Offers for Your First Job After College

How to Evaluate Offers for Your First Job After College How to Evaluate Offers for Your First Job After College Youve got a job offer for your first job after college - now what? Should you take it, or should you hold off for a better opportunity? College graduates typically expend an enormous amount of energy on their search for a post-graduation job. When offers start to come in, it can be challenging to change gear from self-promotion to careful consideration of  job offers. Its natural to be flattered by the attention of any employer making an offer, but it is essential to carefully evaluate offers based on their merits. 10 Tips to Help  You  Evaluate Your First Job Offer After College Here are 10 tips to help you assess offers for your first job after finishing  college. 1. Decide Your Good Job Criteria Develop multifaceted, personal criteria for a good job so you have a filter  to  apply when  evaluating offers. Common factors are how well the job content corresponds to your interests/skills, the initial level of responsibility, prospects for advancement, training opportunities, salary, benefits, location, quality of potential supervision and organizational leadership, growth potential for that industry, corporate culture, and corporate ethics/social responsibility. Decide how important various factors are to you, what  type of employer would match your criteria, and what  job would best  suit  you  at this first stage of your career. Be aware of red flags that  may indicate the job could be a nightmare  instead of a good first step in your career. 2. Be Clear About Your Role Make sure you understand what you will actually be doing in your first job. Go beyond the descriptions in corporate literature. Ask your prospective employer for the opportunity to speak with recent hires in similar jobs and ask questions like  these: Walk me through how you spent your day yesterday?Which skills are most critical to carrying out your job?What are the most stressful aspects of your job?What is the most responsible activity associated with your job?When did you first get to take on more responsibility?What percentage of your time was spent on the routine tasks that you mentioned? If youre still unsure about the job content or work environment, ask whether you could shadow one of last years hires for a day or two. 3. Consider Your Career Path Assess the pattern for advancement at your prospective employer. Find out common career paths evolving from your initial position. Ask to speak with staff who have progressed to next-level positions and determine what it took for them to make that progression. Ask recruiters and corporate managers for the typical percentage of new employees who are promoted and find out the normal time frame for advancement. 4. Check Out Training and Development Opportunities Investigate opportunities for training and professional development. Is training formal or on the job? Can you receive reimbursement for taking outside courses or seminars? Are new hires encouraged to join professional organizations and funded for travel to conferences? 5. Does  the the Pay  Equate  to What Youre Worth? Analyze your salary offer within the context of that type of position and industry. Connect with your college career office, where staff will have access to survey data about entry-level salaries. Request a list of alumni contacts in your target field and ask them whether your salary offer is competitive. Consult  online salary resources,  including Salary.com, PayScale.com, and Glassdoor. Recognize that starting salaries are normally higher in larger cities and bigger organizations. Assess the growth potential for your salary by asking about the timing of your reviews, eligibility for salary increases, average salary increases, and salary ranges for next-level positions. 6. Consider  the Non-Salary Compensation Determine the value of the  non-salary elements of total compensation, such  as healthcare benefits, profit sharing, and employer contributions to 401k plans. Ask how much of the healthcare premium is paid by the employee. Find out about co-pays and deductibles. Speak with college alumni in Human Resources and ask them to help you evaluate the plan. Heres  how to compare employer benefits packages. 7. What  Will  You Learn? Carefully consider how much you will learn in that first job since most new hires will change jobs many times within the first 10 years of their career. The skills and knowledge that you acquire will help you to access subsequent jobs and generate a higher income later on. Ask early career staff from the firm about the skills they have developed and the  knowledge they have acquired 8. Location, Location, Location Take a sophisticated view on how you weigh the importance of your initial job location. If the job looks great and the location is less than ideal, consider whether you might be able to transfer easily within the company or industry to a more desirable location after a couple of years. Would you be able to easily travel on weekends to your first-choice location to socialize with friends, family, or a significant other? In  any  case,  you will be very busy during the week with most new jobs. 9. Think About the Future Assess the prospects for your target employer. Is the organization growing, stable, or shrinking? Is the industry growing or fading in significance? Advancement prospects will usually be better at a growing company, and it will generally be easier to find another job if the industry is expanding. Ask alumni in the industry about trends and about  whether they would target that industry if they were starting their career again. Consult library resources about trends at the organization and within the industry. When youre deciding on which job to accept,  keep in mind that most likely  you wont stay at your first job for more than three  to  five years. 10. How About Management Style? Carefully evaluate the leadership style and personality of your prospective first supervisor (if you  know  who  it  is). Ask people who report to him/her open-ended questions like  these: How would you describe his/her approach to management or leadership style?What do you enjoy most about working for him/her?What mechanisms exist for providing feedback? If alumni work at the organization you might ask some more direct questions about your prospective bosss reputation. Taking the time to  conduct a thorough evaluation of your job offers  will make it more likely that you will select the right employment situation to launch your career.