How To Evaluate a Job Offer

You got the job! But should you take it, decline it, or attempt to renegotiate the offer? Writing in The Harvard Business Review, Rebecca Knight, journalist and lecturer at Wesleyan University, offers a compendium of expert advice:
 

• Shift Your Mindset: John Lees, a UK-based career strategist and author of The Success Code, points out that getting an offer marks a new phase in your relationship with a potential employer. Stay enthusiastic but remember that you now have more leverage.
• Be Methodical: “Think about what matters to you in both your professional and private life and then assess the offer,” says Jeff Weiss, president of Lesley University and author of The HBR Guide to Negotiating. “Think…in terms of your development, your quality of life, and the variety of the work you want to do.”
• Consider Trade-Offs: No job offer is perfect, Weiss adds, so know your priorities—be they salary, flexibility, cultural fit, or job content.

 
Not every job offer is right. Don't neglect any red flags you see, and don't forget to consider your walkaway alternatives (Tweet it!). If you do say no, be respectful. You never know when your paths will cross again.
 
Have you ever successfully renegotiated a job offer, or turned one down after much deliberation? What advice do you have to offer? To join the conversation, click "comments" on our Community of Practice Forum.

If you would like to read more about creating a habit around masterful communication, check out our book: Be Quiet, Be Heard: The Paradox of Persuasion.

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