How To Choose Between Multiple Job Offers

If you're in the lucky position of having to choose between multiple job offers, you might be stressing out a bit when it comes to figuring out which job offer you'd like to accept. You don't have the luxury of spending a lot of time trying to choose a position, and you need to make the best decision for your personal happiness and your career.

There are a ton of different competing factors that might make the decision a bit harder for you, but we've come up with a comprehensive guide on how you can narrow down your options and choose between multiple job offers.

14 Ways To Choose Between Multiple Job Offers

We've outlined fourteen ways for you to choose between multiple job offers. Each one of these methods is simple and offers you a chance to approach your unique problem from different perspectives, and increase the likelihood that you'll choose a job you are excited about.

1. Evaluate Why You Started Your Job Search

For some, pursuing a new job opportunity means that you're graduating school and you are ready to get your professional career underway. Another potential reason for pursuing a new job opportunity could have been because of a recent layoff. For others, you might even be discontent with your current job and need to spice up your career by pursuing new opportunities. Whatever the reason might be, it's always an important step to evaluate why you initially started your job search.

If you were unhappy in your previous position, evaluate why you were unhappy in that role. Were you hoping to advance your career and didn't find the opportunity to in your previous job? Were you hoping to find a better cultural fit?

Identify what made you want to start your job search initially, and you can begin to think critically about the job offers you've received. If you're struggling to evaluate why you wanted to pursue a new job opportunity in the first place, take the time to talk to some friends, family, or even a career coach. Sometimes an independent and outside perspective can give you some key insight into why you might be unhappy and help you solve why you're looking for a new job opportunity. Subconsciously, you'll start to narrow down your job offers as you go through the methods we outline.

2. Look At Your Growth Potential

The next thing for you to evaluate between the multiple job offers is the growth potential you have. Sometimes your growth potential isn't limited to your career, oftentimes you can grow and develop into a more well-rounded individual who can bring more to the table. Think critically about which job offer might give you more room to grow as an individual through new training seminars, skill development opportunities, networking opportunities, and more.

The great thing about learning new skills in a role is that they often lead to more career opportunities down the road. Even if it seems like there won't be many career opportunities in one role, you might learn more skills than other offers you're entertaining and ultimately lead to that next career catapult down the road. There are some scenarios that make evaluating a job offer difficult when you're looking at personal growth potential, because there might be multiple job offers that provide the same opportunities.

Even if one of the job offers give you plenty of potential opportunity to grow individually, sometimes that's not enough and you need to look at the career growth potential as well. In the event that you need to do that, ask yourself a critical question, which offer aligns with your career goals?

3. Which Job Offer Aligns With Your Career Goals?

As we mentioned earlier, sometimes personal growth isn't the only thing that you can rely on when you're evaluating multiple job offers. If you're passionate about your career and want to make sure that you're consistently taking a step forward, then the next question you need to ask yourself when evaluating multiple job offers is, "Which job offer aligns with my career goals?"

As an example, you might want to work towards a certain title in your career and industry because it holds some form of prestige, the work is more interesting to you, or a variety of other reasons. As you're evaluating the positions and job offers, does one job provide easier access to meeting those career goals you've set for yourself? As an example, one job offer might have one promotion that acts as a barrier before you can meet that career goal, whereas the other one has multiple steps you'd need to take.

Which job offer will give you the skills and training necessary for you to find success later on throughout your career as you work to achieve that goal you've set for yourself? Evaluate if you'll be able to progress through the company efficiently without having to pursue new job opportunities every few years because there is room for growth.

4. Think Back On Your Interviews

The next thing to do to help you choose between multiple job offers is to think back on your interviews. Sometimes the people you interact with, meet, and observe will give you a better understanding of whether or not you can envision yourself in that role. Did the individual(s) you interviewed with seem like they enjoyed their job? Were they passionate about the culture? Did they seem like they were grateful for the benefits they have with the organization, or did it all seem like they were hoping for more?

Oftentimes, it's not what people say, it's also how they behave. If you were given a personal tour of the facility, organization, or company, what were your initial impressions? Were you impressed by the facility and the commitment the organization had made to its employees by providing outstanding and clean facilities?

Were there additional perks and benefits that could be taken advantage of from the employees like an employee wellness center, transit opportunities, and more? Think back to when you were touring the facility and you noticed other employees. Did people seem like they were truly passionate about their work, or did they seem like they were just keeping their heads down to do their work and get out as soon as they can?

Another thing to take note of is how social some of the other employees seemed to be. Did it seem like they enjoyed working with each other, or could you sense the tension as you got your tour or interacted with them during the interviews? Figuring out and remembering all of these things is a great way for you to identify what kind of culture the job might contain. Understanding whether or not there is a potential culture clash is critical in evaluating whether or not there are any red flags that are waving in your direction.

Another thing that you need to consider when you're looking back at the interviews you went through, is what kind of feedback you received from those you interacted with or interviewed you. Were you grateful for their feedback or did it seem like they were rude in the feedback they gave you?

One of the last things that you want to happen is to go through the interview process, get all excited about a potential job offer, accept the job offer, and then realize that you just don't mesh properly with the workplace culture.

5. Find Out What People Are Saying

Another great way to identify what a company culture might consist of, or identify what some individuals liked and disliked about their job is to do a bit of research. Doing a bit of research is always a good idea when you're considering multiple job offers, because it can pay dividends in the long run. One of the best things that job seekers should appreciate in today's modern job search environment is the ability to view independent reviews and feedback from current or former employees. One of the sites that you can view independent feedback and reviews on is Glassdoor.

Glassdoor allows for people to search for employers and see what reviews people have listed. There they can also rate the CEO or leadership, detail the benefits and perks, leave salary information, and more. All of this is some vital information that you can use to help narrow down your job offers easily and get real feedback from current and former employers.

Not only can you evaluate what people are saying about the organization, but you can also review what they're saying about individual roles within the company. This provides another layer of insight for you to evaluate the job offer you've received. There might be an odd scenario where people absolutely love the organization and their employer, but they cannot stand their role for a variety of reasons.

By checking Glassdoor and doing a bit of research, you can narrow down your job offers with ease while getting a glimpse into what other people are saying about the organization.

Another way you can get more insight into what people think and feel about the organization or the role is by reaching out to your network. Do you have friends, family, or former co-workers that currently work within the organization? Take the time to reach out to them to see what they say. Do they enjoy their job? Do they think you'd be a good cultural fit? What things would they like to see changed or improved in the future? Some of your peers in your professional network might not be willing to go into detail or explain the way they feel, but those individuals who are willing to inform you can provide a wealth of knowledge.

6. Prioritize Your Happiness

In the modern work environment, it can seem like everyone else is sacrificing their own personal happiness to work in their current role, or that it should be on the back burner when you're considering new job offers. The reality is that you should prioritize your happiness whenever you get a chance — especially when you're considering a new job offer.

Your happiness is one of the most important pieces to consider when you're evaluating job offers and choosing between them. A lot of things can fall by the wayside if you sit back and realize that you're happy in your role. For instance, salary doesn't mean as much if you're happy about the work you're doing, and you truly get along with your co-workers.

Sometimes you might not mind working extra hours every now and then because you're excited about going into work each day and it doesn't feel like a burden to you. Now, all of this doesn't mean that you should sacrifice those other things you should be considering between your multiple job offers, but it should help you put things into perspective when you're evaluating the offers. Does one job offer seem like you'd be happier in your time with the organization, or does it seem like you'd dread going into work each day?

In the modern world, it can seem like the only thing that we should focus on is salary. This logic comes from the idea that, "it doesn't matter what you do at your work, cause then you can take the extra income you're earning and do stuff you truly enjoy." And while that's true, you'll spend nearly a third of every single day during the work week at your job. Do you really want to suffer through a job that you don't enjoy just so you can earn a bit more money at the end of the month? The answer should be no, and you should always prioritize your happiness when you're considering multiple job offers.

7. Ask The Important Questions

It's important to remember that you need to ask the important questions when you're going through the interview and offer process. Before you accept a job offer, you want to make sure that you have all the details you need to make a sound decision. This involves making sure that you ask the right questions during the interview, and after you've received the job offer.

Make sure before you go to the interview, that you've written down a host of questions that you'd like answered. Some of the top questions that you might ask include what the workplace culture is like, what a common day in the job might look like, and what benefits are offered with the job. In some cases, the individual who might be interviewing you might not have the answers, which is why it's always important to continue to ask questions in the offer stage if you still haven't found the answers you were looking for.

You need to make an informed decision when you're selecting a job offer, and you can only do that if you have all the information you need. Make sure that you ask the important questions if they're not included with the job offer like, "What are the benefits?", "Is there any additional compensation?", "Is there room for flexible hours?", etc. In addition, make sure that you ask questions that are directly related to things that are important to you and will have an impact on whether or not you accept the job offer. You need all the information you can gather to fairly judge each job offer for what it is and then make the best decision for you.

8. Consider Offers Where You Can Negotiate

After you've taken the time to ask some additional questions during the offer process, you need to remember that you can always negotiate. In some rare cases, an organization might give you a job offer and let you know that the offer is firm. That might be the one thing that'll help you choose between the job offers, because you'd rather work for an organization that has a little bit more leeway with the negotiation process. You want to make sure that you get what you deserve and that you're not leaving anything on the table in the negotiating room.

Make sure that you take the time to consider the job offers where you know you can potentially negotiate instead of forcing yourself to choose the offer that locks you in at certain things you're not willing to budge.

9. Write Down What A Typical Day Is Like

The next thing you can do to help determine whether or not one job offer stands out compared to the rest is to write down what a typical day is like. Every role has a set of pros and cons that you need to evaluate when considering multiple job offers, and one of the only ways to make sure that you understand what those are is to write down what your role will consist of from start to finish.

Take the time to make a list of all the things that you'll be doing for each job, then expand upon it. The best way to make sure that you write a comprehensive list for what you'll be doing is by asking yourself some key questions like: what will your commute consist of, what will you be doing once I check into work each day, will you have to drive to get lunch every day or will you have lunch options provided for you, how many people will I interact with on a daily basis — do they seem pleasant to work with, will I have to travel in this role, what hours or days will I be asked to work?

There are loads more questions that you could ask yourself, but you need to make sure that you paint a clear picture of what each day will consist of for each role and job offer that you're considering. One great thing about doing this is that you might forget something in one job offer, and remember to add it to another later on. This way, you can make an accurate comparison between the multiple job offers.

Just remember to envision yourself going through a typical day at work when you wake up, drive to work, go through the day, and then drive home and you'll have an easy time filling out this list. If some of the details are vague to you, use what you can to fill out your list based on what your interviewer has mentioned to you, and don't be afraid to ask questions like we've outlined earlier.

10. Do a Deep Dive on the Company and Organization

The next thing that you should do when attempting to choose between multiple job offers is to do another deep dive on the company and organization. You might have dug a little bit before you went in for your interviews, but now you've got an offer and it's time to make a real decision on whether or not you're willing to work there. It's important to gather some more research in some critical areas before moving forward.

We've already discussed how you should do some additional research to see what people mention regarding the organization and their role, but you should also seek out some research on how the company and organization is viewed independently. You can just do a Google search to see what comes up in the news feed. Are there any negative publicity things that you don't want to be associated with? Is there a new initiative that the organization is trying to push that you'd be happy to get behind?

The next thing that you should research is how the company is doing financially. If the information is publicly available, you should try to get an understanding of where the future outlook might be for the company. Does it seem like the company is struggling, or are they expanding rapidly and need new talent? If a company is currently experiencing some struggles, it might mean your job in a couple months if they decide they need to cut costs and lay off some of the more recent and non-essential hires. For those healthcare job seekers and hospital job seekers, the American Hospital Directory provides some great information to learn more about individual hospitals, as well as our Find Employers on HospitalCareers. Don't get caught off guard when the time comes, as you can easily do a bit of research and make sure that you're going to be set up for success.

Have you identified what the company values? One job offer might tick all the boxes for things that you're passionate about, great compensation, central location, and more — but it doesn't come close to valuing the same things you do. What a company values is important, because it dictates how they'll operate and the decisions they'll make for both their customers and their employees. If you're not passionate about what the company values, then are you really going to be excited about new initiatives that they force everyone to abide by? Probably not. Make sure that you know what the company values are, and you're comfortable with them or more importantly excited about them.

11. Evaluate Each Job Offer Using The Same Methods

It's important to make sure that you're weighing each job offer using the same method. Otherwise, you won't give each one a fair look and one could outweigh the other, ultimately leading to making a potential bad decision. The best way to make sure that you use the same method is to give every consideration a letter grade. That way, you can tally up the grades at the end and see how you'd rate them all side by side.

Take the time to make a list for each job offer and give a letter grade for each of the following criteria:

• Career Opportunities
• Self-Growth Opportunities
• Commuting
• Work-Life Balance
• Salary
• Culture
• Benefits
• Other Compensation and Perks
• Insurance
• Company Values
• Company Reputation
• Overall Grade

Once you've graded each thing, make sure that you create an overall grade and then see if it helped you make your decision a little bit easier. You don't have to measure each criteria against some ideal job, you just have to measure them against each other. That way you can easily narrow down your job offers with a system that actually works.

12. Highlight The Job Offers You're Excited About

The next way in which you can narrow down the job offers you've received is to highlight the ones that you're actually excited about. It's always great to hear that you're being considered for a position or that you've been offered a role, because they clearly find value in you and the things you can bring to their organization. The problem is that even if the job offer is fantastic and it gives you everything you might want, it can still seem boring. You shouldn't pursue a job opportunity that you're not passionate about or excited about, so don't be afraid to eliminate a job offer from contention if you're just not excited about it.

13. Don't Overthink It!

One of the biggest things you can do to complicate your choice even further is to overthink it. If you find that you're overthinking the choices you have to make, then take a step back, breathe, and go back to it with a fresh attitude. Sometimes all it takes to clear your mind is to let the decision rest for a bit and come back later.

14. Trust Your Gut

When in doubt, trust your gut! Your heart knows what the heart wants, and if one job offer is just standing out amongst all the others even after you've used all of our methods or tricks to help you choose between them, you should go with it. Sometimes all it takes is a leap of faith when your heart and gut are telling you to go down one road. Choosing between multiple job offers doesn't need to be more complicated than it should be, and if your gut is telling you to pursue one option — then that's the one that you should pursue.