How to Deal With Multiple Job Offers

Before choosing your next job from among various job offers, think critically about what you want in a job.

While in bad economic times, job seekers often consider themselves lucky to land one job offer, but successful job seekers in recession-proof fields may find themselves with multiple job offers. Selecting from multiple offers can be difficult, as different jobs can offer different advantages. For instance, whereas one position may offer very good pay, another may offer the opportunity to work from home, and yet another might offer the chance to work with someone who is revered in the field.

Instructions

1. Ask the employers for a day or two to mull their offers. Employers typically will give job candidates this amount of time to decide whether the job and the offer is right for them.

2. Create a set of objective criteria about the job you want and the company you want to work for. As an example, if you are career oriented, you may decide that you want to consider only those jobs that put you in a managerial or supervisory role or those that will allow you to advance up the career ladder quickly. On the other hand, things like a flexible work schedule and inexpensive, but good, health benefits might be more important if you have a family.

3. Create a wish list of features you'd like but don't necessarily need in a job. These might include casual wear, small commute time, on-site daycare or even a private office.

4. Look at what jobs offer the most financial compensation. For most, money is important. However, salary alone doesn't tell the whole compensation story. Compare compensation across the different jobs on the table by looking at salary, health benefits, pensions, bonus programs and employer retirement plan matches.

5. Eliminate jobs that don't meet your objective criteria, then compare those remaining based on your wish list and compensation package to find the one that meets most of your desires for a job while still offering competitive compensation.

6. Let the company you've chosen know you will be accepting its job offer, and let the others know, in a professional manner, that you've chosen to go with another job offer. Be diplomatic, because you never know when you might decide that you want to go to work for one of the companies whose job offers you rejected.

References

• JobSearchInfo.com: Dealing with Multiple Job Offers
• Grad Money Matters: The Multiple Job Offers FAQ
• Chicago Job Resource: How to Handle Multiple Job Offers