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You are now ready to scrutinize job offer(s). Your objective -- to make sure you have enough quality information on hand. Refer to pre-interview research you would have done on company. Your personal network can be a very valuable source of inputs -- so ask several people what they think of organization.
Do a search on ‘net and see what you can turn up on company, senior management personnel and even your supervisor. Call up company and ask questions. If they truly want you, then they’ll be willing to share information.
Talk to person who last held position. If he or she has moved on to another organization, call them up and have a short, informal chat.
Once you’re reasonably convinced you have adequate information that’s reliable, it’s time to match job offer to your priorities. Pull out sheet on which you’ve written down your criteria.
For each criterion, review information you gathered and see how well job stacks up against that criterion. As you do this exercise, you may find that you either increase or decrease importance for some criteria. That’s fine.
If offer matches well with factors that are most important to you and many others, then you can seriously consider accepting offer. Else, try negotiating to get more of what you want. If that’s not possible, keep looking till you get a job offer that’s a reasonably close fit with your interests.
Follow these simple steps and you’ll find yourself making better job and career choices.
Ann Wilson is a successful business author who writes extensively on jobs and careers. Her articles include best tips for job interviews, the right questions to ask at an interview and many others offering cutting-edge advice on interviewing.