This article covers the following, in service of considering whether a job offer you’ve received is the right move:

Let’s get into it.

Identity

At the start of any job search, I recommend establishing what your career identity is.

This may be at the point of an unexpected redundancy, when you’ve decided your current job is no longer right, or even if a recruiter contacts you out of the blue with a compelling proposition.

I also recommend you do this once a year, even when gainfully employed, because it’s easy for the path of employment to diverge from where you want your career to go.

It’s simple really, and goes back to basics with key questions.

These answers aren’t fixed and can change quickly with a change in circumstance, as you change over time, or for reasons out of your control.

It’s a good idea to establish what you want and what you need, and therefore what this looks like in your next job.

If you find yourself out of work, and with bills to pay, one answer might be to take a job stacking the shelves at night, so you can look for work during the day.

Or you may have cash in the bank and can afford to wait for the right role, rather than any role.

There’s no one right answer, but there are answers that you can find for yourself.

This identity informs your job search strategy, part of which is the roles you go for, part of which is the approach you take, and part of which is what an acceptable job offer looks like for you.

Total compensation & opportunity cost

It's common to see salary as the most important factor in a job offer negotiation.

However, it's better to look at negotiating total compensation and opportunity cost.

Total compensation is the overall financial value of a role. It includes things like:

Salary
Pension contribution
Bonus
Commission
Car allowance
RSUs

Some benefits are salary sacrificed or tax efficient - their value goes beyond what they appear on paper.

For example a great pension scheme will save you 20% or 40% on tax payments in the UK across the salary invested. It might even, at a higher salary level, improve access to child benefits.

Conversely opportunity cost is the consequence of taking an offer, compared to what you might have if you stayed.

For example:

Moving to a three-day hybrid, compared to full remote. What's the cost of mileage, and time travelling? What's the cost of heating your home when fully remote?

Or - a role that offers more money now, but no progression in future. Vs a role that pays less now, but will leapfrog in future, while giving you skills that support career growth. Are these contractual, things that are likely to happen, or empty promises - look for evidence such as a track record with other employees.

It's entirely possible to accept an offer with a higher salary, yet find yourself worse off with take home pay.

Consider all the financial implications of an offer.

Impact

Impact goes both ways. The impact you can have in your new role, and the impact your new role will have on you.

Important to understand both against your career identity.

A high paying job that takes you away from a young family might be a solution or a problem.

A brilliant job that’s an unsustainable commute won’t work long term. Does that matter to you?

A well paid job that gives you a good balance at home, yet will only be a cog in a machine - a dream for some, unfulfilling for others.

Impact also includes trajectory. Are you someone who wants to do the same job over time, in a structured way? Someone who wants regular advancement and career development?

Both, and others are fine. Make sure you know what you are getting yourself into.

Culture & People

It’s at least partly true that people leave bosses, not jobs.

While decent people can become bad bosses for various reasons, some of which relate to the environment they manage within.

The problem is that people are on their best behaviour in interview processes, while culture as it’s pitched doesn’t always reflect the culture experienced.

The interview process should be there for you to establish this as much as possible.

But it’s also a good idea to do your own research, to get a sense of a company’s values, principles, how it treats its people, and all those other elements that will affect a career with them.

This is research to be done at interview stage, even before. These points may help.

ikigai (not Ikigai)

Click on the link right above for why I differentiate.

Ikigai (with a little i) is a great Japanese concept. In its original form it means ‘what you get out of bed for’ or ‘those small moments we take pleasure in’.

Rather than the westernised Venn Purpose Diagram many are familiar with as Ikigai (with a big I). Indeed, if you ask people in Japan what they think of Ikigai they may well say something along the lines of “huuunnhh?”

This ikigai is an important principle in job offer.

It’s those qualities unique to you (often defined by your career identity) that you take pleasure in, while others around you may not get it.

Sometimes this is gut instinct. Important to listen to, important to challenge.

It’s at least part of your decision in a job offer.

Everything else might be just alright, but there’s an ikigai in your job offer that might be good reason to take it.

For example, I’d stack shelves at night, while looking for work, if it meant it paid the bills and supported my family. That’s not something to be ashamed of - that’s my ikigai.

Or it might be the company’s purpose and what they are doing to improve the world.

ikigai is unique to you, and it makes everything better if you can find it.

Those are the key points I’d consider if given a job offer.

There’s no right or wrong, only right for you and the people you support.

Thanks for reading.

Regards,

Greg

p.s. please share this article with your fellow job seekers. LinkedIn has decided this substack is, at least for now, harmful content and removes links to it. Frustrating when I try to share it in posts, with contacts, or in declining applications.