The Job Offer
What questions should I ask before I accept a job offer?
Before you accept any position there are a few key questions you need to ask and get clear about with the employer. Number one, what is your salary going to be? The total compensation package, what does that look like? Total compensation includes, not only your salary, but also your benefits, any other perks, stock options, anything at all like that, that's included in that total compensation package. So find out specifically what that's going to look like. Find out if there are any other requirements that the employer's going to have of you. Are you going to be required to take a drug test, sign a non-disclosure or non-compete form, sign any other kind of release forms? Those things are also important to know about. What are you working hours and conditions going to be? How much travel is going to be involved? And what types of other benefits might the company offer for you? Do they offer child care? Do they have on-site, employee assistance programs? Those types of things. Most of that will be covered by the human resources person prior to you coming on board but it's a good thing to ask every conceivable question before you accept the offer.
What are key "job benefits"?
Key job benefits include things like your insurance, health insurance, dental, vision; all of those types of things, anything related to your health and medical care. That also includes personal days or vacation time, and it can also include things like stock options and profit sharing, those types of things. Be sure to ask your employer to get a complete breakdown of all of the benefits that are going to be provided for you and when they are going to be available for you. By all means, if you are going to be getting health insurance at your new job, before you accept the position, negotiate getting your health insurance to start on the first day rather than having to wait 30, 60, or 90 days for that benefit to start. A lot of times, if employers really, really, want you, they will give you that health insurance benefit on day 1, so it's definitely worth asking for.
What is "employer health care coverage"?
Employer health care coverage can be anywhere from minimal to one-hundred percent paid insurance. And, that's a benefit that's paid for usually full-time employees or employees who work thirty hours or more a week, and it basically covers your health care insurance costs for you and sometimes for your family members.
How do I know if a job offer is fair?
You'll know if a job offer is fair if it meets your definition of what is reasonable. If you are offered a salary that you consider to be fair and reflect what you are honestly worth, that's a very good indicator. If the benefits that are being offered to you are fair, again, that's your subjective assessment, everybody's opinion of what is fair is going to be different, and certainly it depends a lot on what your expectations are. So, if you go into an interview expecting a 1% stock option and 1% health care insurance and those are not offered to you, you may think it's not fair; however to someone else it certainly may be fair. What you can do is check various websites and find out what the going salaries and benefits at different companies in different regions around the country are, and that will give you a good idea of what the fair, going rate is and what the market is bearing in your particular industry.
How do I accept a job offer?
The proper way to accept a job offer is with grace and gratitude. The most formal way to accept a job offer is in writing. That's the best way to receive a job offer and also the best way to accept it. See if you can get a letter that is offering you the position, spelling out your salary and benefits and then sign that letter or provide some kind of acknowledgement in writing to let the employer know you have accepted the position.
How do I decline a job offer?
Declining a job offer can be tricky. The last thing that you want to do is burn bridges with a potential employer. You never know if you might want to go and work for them sometime in the future. So be very gracious about declining the job offer. You might want to send a thank you note and a decline in writing. Certainly if you've had the opportunity to build some relationships with the people you've been interviewing with, you'll want to make a personal phone call. Chat with those individuals, thank them very much for their time, tell them how much you enjoyed meeting them, that you really appreciate the offer and hopefully you'd like to consider working for their company sometime in the future.
