The
Top 5 Things to Consider When Looking for a New Job
Few people are exactly alike when determining
what makes them happy at work, but there are some key drivers
of job satisfaction. "Having performed countless exit interviews
and evaluated job satisfaction criteria from a variety of employee
surveys, I’ve found that there are a number of common factors
that are important to employees’ happiness, fit and sense
of well-being at work," notes Rich Lakis, a Human Resources
professional with more than 25 years experience in HR.
Before making a leap into a new job, Lakis suggests
you consider each of the following areas and ask these tough questions
of yourself and your potential employer.
Relationships
With Manager: How employees and their managers
get along is one of the strongest employee retention drivers.
Ask your prospective manager during the interview process how
she makes decisions and how she evaluates talent or superior performance.
Can you work with the answers she gives?
With Peers: Ask who you will be working with and how the people
within the department interact. How have the relationships been
in the past? Is there much interdependence? What will your colleagues
expect of someone in your position?
With Subordinates: Ask about the strengths and weaknesses of employees
who might be working for you. Then decide if you have the skills
to effectively manage them or if they have the skills to help
the team achieve success.
Work/Life Balance
Location/Commute: Be honest with yourself in deciding
how far and how much time you are willing to devote to your daily
commute. Will it impede your ability to do things that are important
to you, your significant other or children? Consider people important
to you in making your decision, because home stress can make you
less effective at work.
Travel: Will having a job that requires frequent overnight travel
be an issue? Where will you draw the line? Are you willing to
travel 20, 30 or 50 percent of the time? Ask how much travel is
required and if it’s spread out evenly or concentrated during
certain seasons or business cycles.
Amount of Work: Try to determine if the culture is one where there
is frequent overtime. It’s reasonable to assume that many
professional jobs will require you to do the work necessary to
complete the job, but excessive overtime could mean insufficient
resources or poor planning.
The Kind of Work
Autonomy: Do you like to work with little supervision
or do you prefer detailed assignments? How might you handle being
micro managed?
Type of Work: Ask questions that will help you gauge what portion
of your new job involves project work, building client relationships,
developing strategy, implementing tactics or doing creative work?
Decide before taking on a new job what you like to actually do.
Contribution: Will the work you do make a notable difference in
your department? The company? Society? Does it matter to you?
Growth Opportunities: What is the internal environment like relative
to promotional opportunities? Ask if internal candidates have
been considered for this job. If not, ask why and what that will
mean to you in the future.
The Company
Values: People who feel disconnected with the
values of the company often want to leave. Ask what the values
are and how they are manifested in the day-to-day environment.
Do employees just recite the company mantra or are they able to
describe how these are applied in the workplace.
Leadership: Are the leaders of the company people who you and
others respect, admire and want to work for? Find out how long
top management has been in place, what their backgrounds are and
where they came from.
Industry: Does the company/industry provide products or services
with which you would want to be associated? Research news articles
to determine if the industry is healthy and growing or if it companies
within the industry are going through mergers, acquisitions or
frequent restructurings.
Financial Considerations
Base Pay: Are you being offered a salary commensurate
with your worth in the marketplace? Make sure it is enough to
warrant leaving your current job/company.
Incentive Pay: If you perform at a superior level, is there an
upside opportunity or incentive pay? Consider how the total compensation
compares to your past earnings and current expectations.
Lakis suggests that once you have the answers
to these questions, make a list of pros and cons and assign them
relative weights of importance before making the final decision
to accept a new job. You will be better off and better-prepared
for what lies ahead.
