In the candidate short data recruitment market, it wouldn’t be unusual to find yourself in the enviable position of deciding between multiple job offers. But weighing up the pros and cons of each role can be a tricky and somewhat stressful task, as there are many factors to consider when choosing a job; ones that can impact both your short and long term success.
The following advice will support you on the path of choosing between two jobs to identify the best option for you.
1. Identify What’s Important to You
The first step is to reflect on your career priorities. Think back to what you were looking for when you initially began your job search, and home in on both what you wanted and what you wanted to avoid. Are there any areas of the job that are non-negotiable (for instance, a minimum salary rate or the ability to work remotely)? What about areas that you would be willing to compromise on?
Then, try to sort your needs (‘must haves’) from your wants (‘nice to haves’) and rank them in order of importance. Keep this ranking at the forefront of your mind as you objectively compare the offers. This ensures you aren’t swayed by extra perks that might seem enticing, but don’t meet your core needs.
2. Analyse the Total Package
When deciding between multiple job offers, it’s natural to focus on the dollars and cents that determine your pay packet. But to accurately compare job offers, look beyond this and reflect on the total compensation offering. You can then clearly see how each job aligns with your priorities list.
Consider:
- Flexibility (is there a work from home option or flexible start and finish times?)
- Bonuses/incentives (are they per project, yearly etc.?)
- Company share options
- Professional development opportunities
- Salary review and raise timing
- Commute time
- Extra holiday entitlements or parental leave
Company culture is another major consideration. According to a 2020 Stack Overflow survey of 65,000 developers worldwide, company culture greatly influences a person’s decision in choosing one job offer over another. It came in second place on a list of the ‘11 most important job factors’ (45% of respondents), with the top slot going to ‘languages, frameworks and other technologies I’d be working with’ (51.3%).
While it can be difficult to compare company cultures without direct exposure, there are ways to get a feel for it. Think back to your interviews – did the interviewer/s use ‘team’ language such as ‘we’ and ‘our’ when describing company achievements? This can indicate that leaders value team input and provide recognition for it, rather than taking credit themselves.
Other ways to take the company culture’s pulse could be speaking to someone you know who is currently working there, or your recruiter. Here at Continuum for example, we know how essential it is to ensure an ideal cultural alignment between candidate and company. And over the years, we’ve developed close professional relationships with a range of top tier data and analytics companies, and would be happy to share our insider’s look on what it might really be like to work there.
Looking at all these aspects together helps you see beyond just the salary figure, enabling you to get an idea of the overall impact each role could have on your life, professionally and personally.
3. Look Ahead
When it comes to choosing between two job offers, it’s important to not only think about the present, but what each role could bring in the future too. For candidates in the data and analytics field – where progression is paramount – this may be the thing that helps you rank one job offer above the other.
Take some time to carefully consider the types of growth opportunities at each company. Perhaps one company is in a start-up phase and looking to scale quickly, while the other is entering a consolidation phase and the types of projects required are stable. Do they both offer the chance to extend your current knowledge of languages and technologies? If not, is there potential to in the future?
It’s possible to uncover this information during your interview, but it is well within your scope to ask further questions afterwards through your recruiter.
Even if both positions fail to tick every one of your ‘needs’ boxes, it’s still worth asking yourself whether one could grow into your ideal role further down the track. It might be through further training, either on-the-job or externally, or organically as the business changes.
You might even entertain the idea of trade-offs between starting salary and room for advancement. You can then decide which offer satisfies enough of your immediate needs, while boosting your longer-term employability.
4. Get a Second Opinion
After having gone through this review process, you may still be a little stuck about how to choose between two jobs. While your gut instincts are often reliable, it doesn’t hurt to get a professional perspective.
Your recruiter can help you critically look at the positives and negatives of each role and weigh them against each other. They can also come in very handy in managing the expectations of each potential employer, particularly if you have two simultaneous offers and need some time to breathe, process and make your decision.
Here at Continuum, we have decades of data recruitment experience, placing tech specialists like yourself in roles in Sydney, across Australia and overseas. Please get in touch if you’d like a fresh set of eyes and ears to help you review your job offers.