Submitted by editor on Sun, 06/15/2008 - 7:20pm.

When I first moved to New York City, I had a tough time finding a job. I was only using the newspaper at the time (this was a while back) and I wasn’t networking all that much because I didn’t know very many people in the city. One day, I went to an employment agency to seek help in finding a job and I received some valuable advice which I remember to this day.

The lady who was assisting me at the agency told me not only that I should make my job search my full time job, but she also told me two priceless words of advice: don’t settle.

When enduring a tough job search it is easy to take the first offer that comes along. You may be low on cash or tired of the hunt, but in many cases the first job that comes along might not be the best one for you. Here are four things you should consider before accepting any job offer:

• Upward mobility. Regardless of what your starting salary may be, you should always consider whether the company you will be working for can get you where you want to be over the course of your career. If the company that offers you a job has no formal training and development programs that will help you move up the ladder in due time, it may not be the job for you. You may be better served enduring a grueling job hunt to find a job that will provide you with the opportunities for advancement that you need for your career.


• Salary and benefits. Salary isn’t everything, but most people have a minimum salary requirement, even if they are working in something that they love. It is important to quantify benefits such as time off, educational reimbursement, and sick days when you consider the salary and benefits package offered to you. Before even going into the interview, you should have a good idea of what your skills and abilities are worth, you should research the average local salary for the position for which you are interviewing, and you should quantify the type of benefits you want. This will not only help you determine whether the offer is a good one, but it will also arm you with knowledge should you need to negotiate the offer up.


• What you really want to be doing. At almost every age, there are some individuals who are not sure what they want or are looking to change the direction of their careers. As you conduct your job search—well before you are considered for an interview— be sure to take some time to get a good idea of what you want so that you don’t waste your time and energy applying to jobs you don’t really want. Because if you take a job you don’t really like, misery (despite the size of your paycheck) will inevitably follow.


• Job satisfaction and personal happiness. These two factors alone can trump all of the other consideration. You need to find a job that you are going to enjoy doing, one that you can be proud of, and one that you can look forward to every morning when the alarm goes off. While this sounds somewhat idealistic, among the consequences of not finding such a job are that you will end up essentially hating every day at work until you cannot take it anymore and you quit—without a job already lined up. Try to find the job that’s best for you, because after all, no amount of salary, promotions, or benefits will make up for unhappiness and dissatisfaction with your job.

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