Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Just Say No

Gasp! You mean you’re telling me it’s okay to turn down a job offer?!

Here’s a great article with some thoughtful advice:

http://lifehacker.com/5861352/how-to-decide-when-to-turn-down-a-job-offer

As the title promises, it’s a solid checklist of elements you might consider when turning down a job—and trust me, there are some you should turn down. I’ve kicked around the block before I become a department chair long enough to have seen some screaming stinker offers, and even to have worked in a few of those stinkers.

But it’s also a good read (or refresher) for how and when to frame questions about salary, benefits, working conditions as you are going through the process of looking for a job. For example, if you’re heading out the doors of Niagara University for your first real job, it’s difficult to know when to expect your prospective employer to discuss salary. Heck, it’s even hard for us folks with several lifetimes of experience to do that. (You know, of course, that you-the-job-seeker never, ever raise salary first—you always let the employer open the subject!)

This is also a great article for the point between the job offer and your acceptance—that grey area when you are courting and being courted, not quite signed on, but definitely entertaining the idea. If you only get one chance to make a first impression, then this time in Limbo of being “not quite employed” is an excellent opportunity to raise tactful questions about the terms of employment that will make your (hopefully future) employer respect you even more... It’s one thing to hire a new employee, but it’s another thing entirely to support and appreciate that employee as he or she continues working and moving up through the ranks.

Finally, if your intelligent, carefully-phrased questions lead an employer to rescind (take back) a job offer... trust me, you did not want to work for this bozo.

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