8 Tips of Choosing the Right Job Offer

After a few interviews and sleepless nights, you finally receive the job offer. The only problem is that more than one company made their offer at the same time, and both roles are equally appealing (you wouldn't have attended the interviews or applied otherwise!) and the packages are competitive. Now you have a dilemma, albeit a good one.

Hope these tips help to ease your headache and sort out your thoughts on making THE decision:-

1. Pay or Position?
Say, you get offered a role in an MNC for "Business Development Manager" and the monthly basic wage is $6,000.  The other role is in a mid-sized firm - your title is (wow) "Head of Business" and the monthly basic salary is $5,000. Ask yourself if pay or position matters more, and if there's room for negotiation with either company.

2. Overall Package
Besides the basic pay, take time to study the other remunerations as well, for they are very important as well. If you are in sales, which role offers better commission or profits sharing? On top of that, are there AWS Bonus, performance bonus, insurance (for self or family members as well?), medical and dental benefits (in lieu of health insurance), number of days of leave, and other allowances etc?

3. Career Progression
Let's hope you are looking for a long-term role here. What are the potential areas of progression for this role / company? Would your title or role be able to go higher, or do you have the option of managing another department within the company in future?  Or would this be a stagnant role and you won't likely get promoted till your superior (who has spent his last 25 years in the company) leaves or kicks the bucket someday?

4.  Upgrading Opportunities
Does this company provide their in-house training periodically to keep employees updated? Or does this company send you for work-related enrichment courses frequently? Overseas training opportunities? Will they send you for a sponsored degree / Masters course? This shows the level of investment a company puts into their employees.

5. Job Responsibilities
Review both roles meticulously and re-consider the overall jobscope and responsibilities. Do you prefer the role with travelling requirements or not? Do you enjoying managing a team of executives or a department of sales associates? Do you prefer the role that sounds more "relaxed" instead? And more importantly, which KPI are you more confident of achieving?

6. Company Profile and Culture
Besides the type of company (MNC, SME, Start-up, etc), are there any other distinctive differences between the companies? Are they in the same industry? Do you prefer the Singaporean culture better or the US company better? Do you prefer a company with more departments to liaise with, or the more cosy the better? Also, how about the environment and location of the companies?

7. The Management
You were probably interviewed by both the Human Resource department as well as your immediate reporting management team, i.e. your Subordinate. How are they like, and who are you more comfortable with? Do you feel more confident working under the ambitious but demanding GM, or would you feel better reporting to the personable, fatherly MD who always has a smile for you?

8. Research / Reviews
If you know someone working in the companies, or have worked there before, it does not hurt chatting with them to get a feel of the company culture and expectations. There are also some job sites such as Glassdoor that has reviews from employees or ex-employees, therefore you can read to get a feel. Don't be too affected though - for the toughest survive anything (why do you think the management in a "high-turnover" firm managed to stay around for the last 20 - 30 years?).


Having said that, congratulations on impressing your potential employers, and landing the jobs. May your choice take you on a path of success, rewards and recognition!