|
Evaluating Job Offers -- Eleven Warning Signs You Must Watch Out For
Moving into a new job always involves some degree of uncertainty. You should do your best to find out all you can about a prospective employer, starting right from the pre-interview stage. Here are some things to look out for. If one or more of these warning signs are present, you need to be doubly careful about joining that organization. 1. The company is in the midst of mergers and acquisitions, or there is a major reorganization taking place, staff cutbacks are on the anvil or some other major flux is occurring. 2. The company you are considering is not undergoing problems like those described above, but many other companies in that industry are. That could be an indication that trouble may spread to your prospective employer sooner or later. 3. The person who will be your boss has a bad reputation. This is something you should find out about from your network. 4. Your prospective boss has joined the organization very recently and his or her reputation is generally not known. 5. You asked to meet with and speak to your new colleagues and this request was refused. What are they afraid the existing employees will say to a prospective new hire? 6. This is a non-profit organization that has had funding problems several times before. In such cases, think twice before taking up a position. 7. They told you a story about the company or about your career prospects that sounded too good to be true. When something sounds that way, it usually is. 8. The company is a small business that is not very profitable and does not seem to have access to strong funding sources. It's very easy for small businesses to go bankrupt if they're mismanaged to any degree. 9. The position you are being offered has high turnover. This is usually a bad sign. 10. The interviewers keep saying that they want you to hit the ground running from day one. This may imply that they don't have the means to provide enough support for your role. This could be a problem particularly if you're used to working for large organizations that do provide lots of support. 11. The whole interviewing process was done in a big hurry or in a disorganized manner, leaving you in doubt whether they really had a chance to know you. The presence of a warning sign from the list above does not necessarily mean you have to write off that organization as an employer. It does mean that you must get all additional information you need. Perhaps you could get an opinion from a trusted friend who is familiar with the industry and company. You need to do some serious thinking before you make a decision either way. Ann Wilson is a successful business author who writes extensively on jobs and careers. Her articles include best interview tips, how to write effective thank you notes and many others with cutting-edge advice on interviewing.
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Online Business: The Underground Railroad for Corporate Escapees Millions of people everyday spend eight hours or more in a small padded cubicle. The curious thing about it is they choose to do that. They willingly sacrifice a quality of life because they believe it is the only way to support their families. That may have been true 10 years ago but it isn't any longer. Bullseye Interviewing An interview is much like a blind date. You have sweaty palms, heart palpitations, shaky nerves and a preconceived notion of what could happen. The perfect scenario unfolds in your mind, where you are calm, cool and collected, dressed smartly, totally in control, enthusiastically meeting the other person's gaze and brimming with confidence. However, that idea has begun to unravel, because as of right now, you are LATE, because you got lost, forgot your resume, wore a shirt that is making you sweat and have pulled a muscle breaking in new shoes. As you are being led to the boardroom, you're informed that your possible Superiors will be sitting in. Panic sets in with the realization that this blind date is over before it even begun. 10 Tips to Help You Ace the Interview and Get the Job The interview is the "beauty contest" part of the job search process. Interviewers get to compare candidates by asking them similar questions and comparing the answers. Being just the right person for the job won't help you if you blow the interview. Success at Work : People Skills : Networking Getting along with your co-workers is critical to yourhappiness and success at work. You may find yourselfspending more time with your co-workers than with yourspouse and family. Each individual in an organization isjust a small cog in a big wheel. Without the assistance ofco-workers, you will find your assignments much moredifficult. Business & Career: Know Your Ruling Star! "Know your Ruling Star. One man is better received by one nation than another, or is one welcome by one city than another. He finds more luck in one office or position than in another, and all though his qualifications are equal or even identical. Let each man know his luck as well as his talents. Follow your guiding star and help it without mistaking any other for it. Know how to transplant yourself. There are nations with whom one must cross their borders to make one's value felt."- Balthasar Gracian, (Spain, 1600's) The Background on Background Checks In one of my past lives I held a Top Secret clearance as a Civil Service employee working for the Air Force. So I am familiar with background checks. But many job seekers are not. Here's a little background on background checks... The 5 Ps Of A Job Search Step One - Plan: Get a Job! Tips for Organizing Your Resume Whether you're a Vice President of Marketing or a recent college grad, your resume is the 'key' to opening the doors of employment. It is an employer's first impression of you and believe it or not, many hiring officials spend less than thirty seconds reviewing it. With only fleeting moments to make a first impression, it is imperative that your resume be organized. Dont Get Caught In The Security Trap The day you begin to think of your job in terms of the security versus the opportunities it provides is the day you start to put the brakes on building your career. Fact or Opinion? "You ain't going nowhere, son. You ought to go back to drivin' a truck." What if Elvis believed this Grand Ole Opry manager's critique after his l954 performance? Or the Beatles listened in 1962 when Decca Recording Company responded, "We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out." Free Resume Template: What Makes a Good One? You can drown in the "free resume examples," "free resume templates," and "free resume samples" on the web. Preparing For An Interview When preparing for an interview, you need to know your skills, experiences and achievements, and how to answer interview questions. Are Online Degrees Valid to Prospective Employers? Online distance learning has gained rapid popularity with the advent of the internet, which has proven to offer great supporting facilities and convenience for online education. However, just like everything else with pros and cons, the internet has also opened doors for the widespread sale of bogus online degrees. According a report by USA Today, there were already 400 diploma mills in the year 2003 and the numbers are rising. In fact, many of these unscrupulous operations are run by organizations in an industry that is worth $500 million a year. Cover Letter Sample -- For the Corporate Flight Attendant Writing a cover letter to send with your résumé can be both confusing and frustrating. What exactly should you say? Are you saying too much? Are you only speaking about your needs vs. the company's needs? Oh, what to do! In this "short" piece, I will list some ideas on how to craft your cover letter. I have also provided some important links -- for additional assistance -- particularly if you find yourself still needing outside help. When and How to Say I Just Cant Do It! We naturally hesitate to tell our boss when we can't do something or are feeling overwhelmed in our job. Bosses don't want to hear that, right? Well, it depends. In many situations, your boss is so busy that he/she doesn't keep track of how much work you're doing. When your boss gives you a new project, he's not thinking about all the other projects you're already working on. And here's the kicker -- unless you speak up and tell your boss that you can't handle the workload he's giving you, he'll assume everything is fine. This can have bad consequences for you AND your boss. You know what will happen. Eventually things will start falling through the cracks or you'll rush through tasks and start making mistakes. You can only do so much in a day, and deadlines will be missed. While you're stressing out, work that your boss needs you to do is NOT being done. When this happens, your boss will not appreciate your excuse: "But I had too much to do, I was overloaded with work!" Saying that AFTER the fact will be much worse than telling your boss up front -- before mistakes occur or deadlines are missed -- that you're having trouble with your workload. It is your responsibility to tell your boss when you are overwhelmed, and there's nothing wrong with doing this. Of course, you don't want to tell your boss, "I can't do that; I'm too busy." But you can say, "I'll be happy to take that on, but I need your help with prioritizing the other projects you've already given me. Which jobs can I put on hold or delegate to someone else while I work on this new one?" That's way better than keeping your mouth shut, trying to do too much, and failing miserably. Resume Tips To Take You From SAHM to WAHM When looking for a telecommuting position, it is very important to have your resume in tip-top shape. This is often the only thing that a potential employer has to base a hiring decision on since they most likely will not be interviewing you in person, your resume has to make that great first impression for you. Discontentment in the Workplace While more people are finding employment, more employed workers are discontent and experiencing frustration. In most cases it can be boiled down to four factors: feeling undervalued, unappreciated and powerless, and world events. Four Important Questions to Ask Your Interviewer; Do You Really Want to Work for This Person? Many job seekers miss a golden opportunity when they are asked towards the end of an interview if they have any questions. If they feel the interviewer adequately explained the position, they make the mistake of answering "No" to this question. But this is the perfect time to find out if you really want to work for this person! After all, even a wonderful job can turn into a miserable experience if you don't get along with the person you work for. Why One Word Answers are Bad News at Job Interviews It takes a lot of time and effort to get invited to a job interview. Don't blow your chances by being misunderstood by the interviewer. Not many people are aware that giving one word answers to questions, substantially increases your chances of conveying the wrong impression. How to Write a Better CV (UK), or Resume (USA and elsewhere) The first point to make is that the terms "CV" and "Resume" (with or more often without the French acute accents over the e's) are virtually interchangeable in the UK; they mean the same thing, but if anything the norm is CV. In the USA and elsewhere, the CV (Curriculum Vitae to give it its full title - literally "Life Study") is a different animal - a dry listing of qualifications and experience more suited for a university faculty listing for example.
|
|
|
Copyright © Advancing Women (TM), 1996- 