Juggling Multiple Job Offers? THIS Is What You Must Do!
Spoiled for Choice
When applying for several jobs, most of us think it’s a miracle when we receive a single offer. But what happens when we receive not one, not two, but multiple offers?
If you’re in a position where you have received offers from multiple employers at once, then congratulations are in order! But now, it’s time to sort out the tricky part: deciding which one of these offers you will accept, and which of the others you will decline.
Six Steps to Successful Decision-Making
To help you navigate this process, follow these six helpful steps:
- Get Written Documentation
Firstly, make sure that the job offers you received are in written form. It’s one thing for employers to give you a verbal offer, ie. over the phone or during a video call, but for practicality’s sake (especially when you follow the next five steps in the job-offer selection process), it’s important to have official documentation.
Why? This will help you to properly compare each offer, negotiate with respective employers about salaries, inquire about deadlines regarding accepting the offers, etc. If you’ve received verbal offers, kindly request the employers to provide you the offers in writing.
- Start Comparing
Carefully comb through the details of each offer. This will take some time and energy, but it’s crucial to look over the relevant information with a meticulous eye.
When comparing the offers against each other, take into consideration the following factors: what your role entails; the salary amount; the commencement date; the working hours; the perks, benefits and/or compensation; work-life balance (ie. travel requirements, the options to work remotely or on location); company culture; and potential growth and development opportunities.
It’s helpful to create a pros-and-cons list or a visual chart so that you can critically weigh up each offer against each other and see which one best suits your long-term needs.
- Reach Out
Once you have given yourself the time to deliberate, now it’s time to reach out to the respective employers.
For example, imagine you have received five offers. Reach out to the first employer – whether it’s via email or telephonically – and express your interest, enthusiasm and appreciation. Then, explain that you are considering multiple offers (without revealing too much information about the four other offers). Ask the employer to set a deadline to make a definitive decision. If you need more time beyond the deadline to contemplate your choices, then politely ask for an extension. Repeat this approach with the other four employers.
In each case, maintain a respectful tone throughout. After all, you don’t want to burn your bridges and/or create a negative impression on the employers.
- Negotiation Time
Sometimes, by letting a certain employer know that you’ve considering other offers, this may prompt the employer to increase the salary amount in order to persuade you to join their company. If not, then this can be a prime opportunity to open the floor for negotiation.
Using your official documents as leverage, you can negotiate with other employers to increase or match their competitors’ salaries. Alternatively, they may add or tweak certain perks, benefits and/or compensation to the existing offers.
It’s important to negotiate only with the employers whose companies you are seriously considering joining. Also, remember to maintain a respectful and professional tone; refrain from being too forward, as this can make you appear unprofessional, greedy and conceited.
- Accept Your Dream Offer
Once you’ve narrowed down your offers to one, reach out to the employer and let them know that you have accepted the offer.
Again, show your appreciation and enthusiasm as you thank them for the opportunity. This is also the ideal time to ask them to provide you with the contract or letter of employment to sign, when you can start working, what miscellaneous requirements you need to meet before starting, etc.
- Decline The Other Offers (But Respectfully!)
Now that you have secured your dream job, you must communicate with the other employers to let them know that you have declined their offers.
Thank them for their time and for considering you for the position you applied for. Let them know that you have accepted another offer that is a better fit for you, wish them well in their endeavours, and maintain open channels of communication so that, in the future, they may consider you for another job opportunity.
When declining, maintain a respectful and professional tone throughout; simultaneously, you want to show them how grateful you are. Refrain from criticising them and/or explaining why the offer you accepted was better – burning bridges could spoil any opportunities to work for those employers in the future.
Ready to Go!
By following these steps, juggling multiple job offers – and deciding which one is ultimately suitable for you – will be far less daunting and stressful. Good luck in your new job!