Your Job Offer Questions, Answered

Perhaps you can relate to the two job seekers below – who are both in the thick of serious job searches, but are wondering how to handle circumstances surrounding the job offer.  Find out what their questions are and read my advice, which you may be able to apply towards your own job search.

Amy’s Question: I was offered a job, but when I turned in my resignation at my current company, my boss made me a counter-offer to stay. What should I do?

Tips and Advice: This is a tricky one, because Careerbuilder.com says that there is an 85% chance that an employee who accepts a counter-offer will not be working at the company in six months.If you are in the midst of working on a key project when you get another job offer, your boss may offer you more money to stay so that the project can be completed. However, when the project ends, you may not be assigned to another key project because you’re seen as “disloyal” or a “flight risk,” or you may be asked to train other employees on your major responsibilities and tasks in case you do get offered another job — because the company doesn’t want to be caught in that same position again.

From a personal perspective, there was obviously a reason why you were looking for a new job, and a higher salary isn’t usually the only reason. Even if your current employer matches the salary offered by the other company, the counter-offer won’t address other reasons why you were considering a change. Sometimes, you may feel like the “grass is greener” in another company’s field, so you apply for a position that you wouldn’t even necessarily accept, just to see what else is out there.

Mark’s Question: I’ve been led to believe that I’m getting a job offer — the hiring manager talked about salary and benefits, and even showed me which office would be mine … but I haven’t heard anything from him in two weeks. Now what?

Tips and Advice: There are many reasons why a job offer might be late-arriving. Most of them are out of your control. For example, the hiring manager might have had an unexpected project or emergency come up that delayed the job offer. Or the human resources department may have had difficulty connecting with the individuals you listed as references. And sometimes, the hiring process is simply put on hold.This is why it’s important to ask in the job interview about the timeline. If the hiring manager says you can expect to hear back in one week, you can follow up after a week and ask if there is anything he or she needs from you to move the process along.

If the answer is no, ask if it’s okay to follow up again if you haven’t heard anything in another week. By getting permission to follow-up, you don’t have to worry that you’re being a pest.But what if you didn’t ask about a timeline, or get permission to follow-up? Unfortunately, sometimes you may think you’ve received positive feedback that signals that a job offer is forthcoming, and the offer never comes. In this case, the follow-up call might yield the information that the position has been offered to someone else.