Jobs

[CowboyMRW]

So my final interviews are winding down. I have received 3 job offers to date, and expect at least one more based upon my interviews. So basically, when choosing a job, what should I look for? What should I do to insure I choose the best fit for me. I know money isn't everything but one of these jobs pays significantly more than the others, but take out salary and it would be number 3 on my list. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Lott's Bandana]

Think about where you want to be in 20 years and choose the job that gives you the best chance of reaching that goal, meaning it might not be the one that pays you the most but gives you the most experience.


The drawback to this strategy is...all of us that have worked careers now for 30+ years have probably changed our goals several times. However, it is a good foundation for you future success and options.



Finally, get the **** out of Stoolie. Jus sayin...

[NormanPride]

Consider the total compensation, not just the salary number. How much of that salary will go to health insurance? How much paid time off do you have? What is the 401k matching like? Once you have all of this info you can accurately see what the total compensation is for each job.

Beyond that, see which culture you like the best. IMO, people should work for less in environments that they feel comfortable rather than hating where they work. In our generation, I've found that we value our time away from the job as well as the peripheral benefits of having nice bosses and coworkers more than the salary and compensation package. I've seen several of my friends leave here saying they felt under-appreciated, only to come back a year later saying that they missed the flexibility and considerate atmosphere.

[Boomer.....]

Choose whichever job that you will enjoy the most regardless of money. More salary is never worth going to a job that you hate everyday.

[Petro-Sooner]

Choose whichever job that you will enjoy the most regardless of money. More salary is never worth going to a job that you hate everyday.

This!!!!

[badger]

If you can, find out what turnover is like in each of the places. This is easily the best way to tell if you are going to enjoy the job or not.

[8timechamps]

So my final interviews are winding down. I have received 3 job offers to date, and expect at least one more based upon my interviews. So basically, when choosing a job, what should I look for? What should I do to insure I choose the best fit for me. I know money isn't everything but one of these jobs pays significantly more than the others, but take out salary and it would be number 3 on my list. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

First, realize that this job is most likely not the place you will be 10 years from now (employer, not career). That's not a bad thing, it's just the way things are now. So, money should be a big part of your decision making. However, as mentioned previously, accepting a job/employer that you think you will enjoy what you do is huge. As the saying goes, if you love what you do, then you'll never "work" a day in your life.

[bluedogok]

Plus office cultures change, sometimes greatly due to mergers and acquisitions. I know the culture at Benham changed quite a bit after the buyout in 2001 by a British company even though it was an almost 100 year old OKC based company, I left there in 2003. It has changed in recent years due to another buyout, just because a company culture is the way that it is now doesn't mean it will remain that way. Even the small firm that I worked for here in Austin was much different when I started there in 2007 than when I left a week ago, there are only two other employees left from the time that I started (other than the principal) four years ago. When I started there they had 21 employees and most were younger, fresh out of school interior designers and now there is none of that type of employee there. Go with the one that you feel has the most upside both for the current time and potential future. I don't know what field but I know in architecture I have had many co-workers have to leave one firm to get a certain type of experience required for the IDP that they couldn't get at their current firm. Just a fact of life.

Good luck with whichever one you choose.

[badger]

Any time you need to appreciate your job more, read this blog. (http://trenchescomic.com/tales/post/9810)

Example:


Back in the late 90s, I’d just started in the game industry and had, along with my fellow coworkers, been on a dusk-til-dawn schedule testing a racing simulator. The QA manager, short on budget but big on ideas, came up with a great plan to help motivate us.

In the conference room there was a whiteboard with each of our names on it, and next to each name was a daily-updated count of the number of hours of unpaid overtime each of us had accumulated on the project.

When each of us got to 100 hours of unpaid work, he would come in and give a little round of applause.

Yay.

[Lott's Bandana]

Plus office cultures change, sometimes greatly due to mergers and acquisitions. I know the culture at Benham changed quite a bit after the buyout in 2001 by a British company even though it was an almost 100 year old OKC based company, I left there in 2003. It has changed in recent years due to another buyout, just because a company culture is the way that it is now doesn't mean it will remain that way. Even the small firm that I worked for here in Austin was much different when I started there in 2007 than when I left a week ago, there are only two other employees left from the time that I started (other than the principal) four years ago. When I started there they had 21 employees and most were younger, fresh out of school interior designers and now there is none of that type of employee there. Go with the one that you feel has the most upside both for the current time and potential future. I don't know what field but I know in architecture I have had many co-workers have to leave one firm to get a certain type of experience required for the IDP that they couldn't get at their current firm. Just a fact of life.

Good luck with whichever one you choose.


Sometimes, in your field, I think everyone starts out working for Ben Graves.

[DCSooner]

Take the job offering the most money and see if you still like it after 6 months. If not, you are obviously are very marketable if you have 4 job offers in this economy. Go back into the job market asking companies to match what you were being paid the last 6 months. Fcuk all of that, "do what makes you happy" bs. I know what makes me happy. Money.

[badger]

If you are young, single and not doing much besides the job, then by all means go for the money now. If you have a few other things occupying your time... then you might need to consider that above money.

[8timechamps]

Take the job offering the most money and see if you still like it after 6 months. If not, you are obviously are very marketable if you have 4 job offers in this economy. Go back into the job market asking companies to match what you were being paid the last 6 months. Fcuk all of that, "do what makes you happy" bs. I know what makes me happy. Money.

Is that why you became a hooker?

[bluedogok]

Sometimes, in your field, I think everyone starts out working for Ben Graves.
If you are in OKC or Tulsa there is a good chance of that. I was there for a total of 11 years, 8.5 in the last stint but I grew up around the place, my dad retired after 34.5 years there. My grandfather worked there for awhile after retiring from the Corps of Engineers but he retired before I started there. When I left it was the first time one of our family wasn't employed there since 1967.

[CowboyMRW]

Thanks for the answers everyone! :encouragement::smile:

[XingTheRubicon]

How can there not be one form of a "shepherd" joke 16 posts in. Indescribably disappointing.

[CowboyMRW]

How can there not be one form of a "shepherd" joke 16 posts in. Indescribably disappointing.

That's a hobby not a job. I get incredible enjoyment from my sheep, so that could never be considered a "job".

[StoopTroup]

Be careful who you show yer Sheepskin to.

[CowboyMRW]

How do you turn a job down? What do you say to the people that offered you? Freshman orientation did not prepare me for this :)

[jumperstop]

How do you turn a job down? What do you say to the people that offered you? Freshman orientation did not prepare me for this :)

You start by saying, I'm no longer interested in this job. And finish by saying thank you....

[NormanPride]

Yup. Thanks for the opportunity, but I have a better offer elsewhere. They're not new to the rodeo and know that getting the top talent may cost more than they are willing to part with. You won't be offending anyone as long as you are polite and thankful.