You're looking for a new job opportunity or you just got an offer, and now you're weighing all the factors before deciding whether to accept. What's on your list of pros and cons?
How highly does salary rank? How are you prioritizing company culture, the organization's purpose or work-life balance?
It's crucial to recognize that higher pay is not the only consideration for your next successful career move. Let me show you four other factors that people looking for jobs need to keep in mind, based on my 35 years of experience, including working with clients at Fortune 500 companies.
How important is flexibility in your workday?
Work-life balance and wellbeing have "increased in importance notably since 2015, with 53% of employees citing them as 'very important' compared with 61% of today's workforce," according to a recent Gallup poll.
Does the organization have a modern and relevant policy for how paid time off is handled? This may include volunteer days and flex time in addition to standard vacation, sick and holiday time.
Many people are also reframing the definition of work. Is the new boss simply looking at the hours worked, or are they most interested in results? A results-focused approach can be more attractive to you. Earnings should always be a result of the service rendered.
For example, someone with kids at home may need an hour off in the afternoons to shuttle the kids from school to home or an after-school activity. Does it seem as though managers trust that the job will be done? If they give you respect and trust - and they expect it - they get it back. Think about what the employer expects from their hires and the role that their actions and mindset play.
How are you valuing the benefits?
Understand all the sources of investment in you as a new hire. Beyond salary, are there other incentives, annual pay increases, performance bonuses and promotion opportunities? What kind of personal and career development does the organization offer that would appeal to you? Also, what about team meals and activities?
Ask questions to better grasp the benefits. The ability to attend a local workshop or annual conference in order to expand your skill set can be extremely valuable and a win-win for all sides.
What's your first impression of the hiring team?
Are your potential bosses distracted by something else during the interview, like checking emails? Are they totally focused on you? Are they going above and beyond what used to be acceptable in terms of making someone feel comfortable? Candidates are looking for that magnetism during a job interview.
First impressions are what will be remembered on both sides. If a prospective employer's head is somewhere else, candidates may be left with negative takeaways, like that they're walking into a disorganized atmosphere where their time is not respected.
Are you in sync that today's workday is more dynamic than ever before?
People are looking to grow and express their talents in an environment where they will be respected. They want workplaces in which collaboration is prized over competition. Are you walking into a safe environment where you can present ideas and have them be acknowledged and even encouraged?
While the frequency of job-hopping has accelerated, many people - especially young people - actually want to plant themselves in a place where they have room to grow and expand so that they don't have to change jobs every couple of years. Does your new team have consistency, or is it a revolving door of new players who are coming and going?
Humans are not designed for work. Instead, work is designed for people to share and express their gifts, strengths and talents. People are not disposable assets; they have unbelievable potential!
The old ideas around work were around hard physical labor - sweat and struggle. Today, the mindset reigns supreme. That's not to say there is no work on the physical plane, but we're called to be in the spirit of work, engaged with purpose. If faith without works is dead, so is thought without action. Being in the spirit of your work is doing something you love, not something out of duty. When people love their work, it's fun!
This guest post was authored by Rhonda Petit
Rhonda Petit is a Sales and Business Peak Performance Coach and the Founder and CEO of 3×5 Coaching, where she works with both corporations and individuals to grow, unleash and activate more of their true potential and power. Prior to launching her coaching business, Rhonda worked in sales for 35 years with clients at Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies. Her book, The Spirit of Selling: Using Universal Laws for Sales Success, contains actionable insight into the universal laws that govern successful selling.
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Ms. Career Girl was started in 2008 to help ambitious young professional women figure out who they are, what they want and how to get it.