Is the Move to That Other Company Worth It?
AKA Should You Take That New Job?
There are so many things to consider when you get a new job offer. As exciting it is to know that someone else thinks you valuable or smart enough to offer you a job at their company, you have to be as certain as you can be before breaking the news of your imminent break up to your current employer. Perhaps you are considering a career shift, or you might want to remain in the same industry but you feel you need to make a move, whatever your reason, there are things other than the salary that you need to take into account before deciding whether or not to take that new job offer.
With the huge data gap in Nigeria, if you type the new company’s name into a search engine, you are likely to see just the basics; a well or poorly designed site with zero or no proper information on the company pertaining to employees, especially, if it is a small company.
Of course, there are sites like Glassdoor that try to give prospective talent a look-see into companies but you will realize after a quick search that there still remains little to zero information on organizations in Nigeria and this makes it really hard to make a well-informed decision on a career move because you cannot rely solely on how nice they seemed at the interview.
There is no nice in business, there is integrity and you cannot measure integrity at one glance but over time.
One of my favorite definitions of a career move defines it as a transfer or change; any sort of action carried out that can be regarded as a strategic play, or possibly a misplay. You do not want to misplay as career decisions are serious life decisions that will have an impact on how your life plays out so here are some things to consider when considering that other job!
1. Contract
Before signing any documents, be sure to read and completely understand the clauses stated in the contract. Do not be shy to ask questions about things you do not understand and do not feel that you will be considered a troublemaker for asking. It is your life. If possible, ask a lawyer to look it over to be doubly sure before signing. Don’t be in a rush to sign. Never make career or life decisions while desperate, you are more prone to make bad decisions in situations like that, so read the document slowly and pay attention to wording. Pay maximum attention to non-compete agreements, deductions, benefits, duties and how promotion and rewards work.
2. Stability
One of the major things to consider before accepting a job offer is the stability of that job. The worst thing that could happen is losing a new job a couple of months after resigning from the old so you want to be completely sure that the new company can afford you. These days, some companies reduce the agreed upon salary after a couple of months and tell you it is because they cannot afford to pay, this is why you have to make sure there is a signed contract between you and the company before resumption. Find out if there is a culture of unlawful lay-offs (if possible) and how long people tend to work with them, if people are leaving the company after a couple of months, there is probably something wrong somewhere. Look again.
3. Duties
Forget the Google job description; you want to know exactly what is expected of you. In addition, you should find out what they expect to see in about three to six months to consider your hire worth it; what is their yardstick for measuring success?
Short term goals, anyone?
4. Compensation:
Your compensation is not just your salary; the salary is just a part of it. Take a look at the proposed salary in terms of your current salary and if you are relocating, take into consideration the standard of living, transportation costs, housing cost etc.
Asides knowing the actual take home pay, you should find out what benefits and perks the organization is offering you. Find out if you are being offered a pension plan and HMO and if you will be paying tax. Knowing your work hours is very important, you want to know if you will be working weekends and public holidays. You also want to know if you will be compensated for working on these days and for overtime. Some companies do not pay for overtime and this should be clearly stated in the contract.
There are stories of people starting jobs with no knowledge of their actual take home pay and while this should be basic knowledge, I am just going to reinforce this here; You should always know how much they are going to pay before you even start considering the job, an estimate is not an actual price, you want to know the actual amount they are offering to be able to start the decision-making process.
If you get in at the beginning stages of a startup in Nigeria these days, while the salary might not be as great as you would want, some start-ups offer stock/equity options to valuable members of staff in the beginning. You can own a specific number of company stock after a specified time period. Be sure to understand how this works and don’t let this sway you without considering the future of the company and how much they will be worth.
5. Office culture and structure
THIS. This is extremely important as you have to be sure you can work in that organization and that there is an actual office structure that will allow for career growth. You spend at least 40 hours every week at work, so you have to ensure you are working in a place with conditions you will like.
There are too many companies these days without proper structure that tend to stifle your professional and personal development and growth after a while. This basically means you want to be sure you love where you work and what you do and you want to be sure you have a shot at growth.
The Fortune 500 and Wall Street big shots you admire did not get there from staying in one place, they grew and developed themselves professionally and personally. Professional and personal development are of foremost importance.
If you know someone who has worked there, you can get a better idea of the office culture and structure. People experience things in different ways but this should help inform your decision.
Most importantly, never rush the decision. Take time off to properly assess the offer and decide if it is right for you at that point in time. Do not let the negativity of the world when they talk about the difficulty in securing jobs today push you into making a decision you will regret. Don’t be pressured into making a rash decision, it is your life and no one else’s. If you do not like the offer, there is always the option of negotiation, talk to them and see if a better agreement can be reached.
If you have to talk yourself into taking the job, it is probably not the job for you.
