A REFLECTION PAPER: HOW DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU ARE BEING OFFERED A JOB?

By : Jemuel B. Arias

Within one’s career life, there may be changes in your path that come unexpectedly. In my case, if I did
not seek for new opportunities, I will certainly feel flattered when all of a sudden I get job offers not only
by one company but by two or more, sometimes, simultaneously or one after the other.

Speaking from experience

Citing a specific case after working for a few years in my first job, surprisingly, I got offers left and right.
Young as I were then, I was still adventurous, excited, and daring. As I idolize by cousin-in-law, who had
three great-paying jobs within a span of five years as he has always been pirated by big and bigger
companies as he progresses, I thought I would be happy if I accept the highest offer without any other
consideration except basic compensation and allowances.

Little do I know then that there are other considerations that I should take before jumping into conclusion
and taking risk into getting a new job. I know everyone dreams of being associated with a prestigious
company aside from increased salary and fringe benefits. So I grabbed the opportunity to transfer to
another telecommunications company.

I am proud to say though, that I live by my principle of giving my best and more than the salary that I am
receiving.

Foremost, I hate hearing comments like, Ano ba yang empleyado na yan parang sweldo lang ang
kailangan, hindi trabaho! It would have been sweeter to the ears to hear from the grapevine, Alam mo
ba yung bago nating empleyado, mas magaling pa sa boss natin. And where one would even second the
motion and add, Oo nga mabait na at gwapo pa.

During my second job, I went through several training programs almost to the point of becoming a junior
executive. I worked hard, trying to squeeze my time for studies and work assignments. Little did I know
that I was already being exploited because as I have said, I always want to excel in my job without having
to think if my I am being justly paid for as long as I am able to contribute to the company as well as to
please my boss, my colleagues so they won’t have any room to say negative things about me.

There came a time ‘though that the job wasn’t challenging any more. It became just a simple job that I do
day-in and day-out. Hence, I opened again the window for opportunities to flow in. Luckily, there came
offers from different well-known companies. Most of them offered higher pay, of course.

With dwindling minds, I decided to ask help from my mother. She advised me to acknowledge all the
offers graciously but not to trust those who made verbal offers unless they do them in writing. According
to her, not all who promise attractive benefit packages would hold on to their words when one gets hired.
She likened this situation to obtaining a credit card wherein the terms and conditions are written in fine
prints.

Indeed, it is confusing to make a decision among job offers if you are already happy with your current job.
This is when I realized that it’s not all about money but also a caring culture work environment where
teamwork is predominant and where there are less intrigues. The latter became important for me when
I realized that no matter how productive you are, if there are team members with envious minds who will
do anything to mar your image and eventually destroy you, this will only add stress, dampen your
enthusiasm and productivity and hence, won’t help you in anyway to maximize your earnings.

Learnings
Taking off from here, I believe that my experiences became my skills foundation, gradually forming a
framework and criteria for making quick but informed decisions when confronted with varying job offers.

I made a matrix with quantifiable items on the left column (i.e., salary, allowances, bonuses, productivity
incentives, car plan, medical and dental packages, life insurance, local and international trainings, travel
stipend, paid time-off; housing, emergency, and personal loans; and other fringe benefits) and non-
quantifiable items (organizational culture, potential for growth and development, company reputation,
flexi-time or flexi-workplace, and/or allowable leave of absences) on the right. Then, I placed points for
each item depending on my priorities. To make it easier, I just separate my needs and wants.

When being offered a job, the feeling of elation or nostalgia is just temporary. It is a natural reaction at
the onset. It stirs excitement and motivation to do better because this means that my efforts are being
recognized by the industry otherwise, no one would spread the word that I am good.

Moreover, I realized that my feelings alone should not rule my decision. It should always come with critical
thinking. Since most companies, when making an offer, would pressure you to decide within a very short
period of time, I learned that you can still stall or delay by saying that you are still evaluating other job
offers. This also increases your value by giving an impression that you are very competitive.

However, if the company insists that you need to decide because there are other applicants that are being
considered for the post, it is better to just say ‘thank you’ and decline. Such company does not work within
the sphere of professionalism. The position may have been opened for quite a long time already and they
would just want to fill it up otherwise it might be abolished or the hiring company is just strategizing to
make you decide for less compensation. If the company has good reputation, it has a well-planned human
resource recruitment and development policy that would allow you to research their profile within a
reasonable period of time.

When I exposed myself to a lot of interviews I also learned how to leverage and hone my negotiating skills.
They always start by giving you a little raise based on the last salary that you declare when they are not in
a hurry to hire one to fill in the vacancy.

On the other side of the coin, there are also some companies that may be testing your loyalty when they
look at your resume and finds you moonlighting. The bottomline is, when offered a job, don’t just grab it.
Look at it from a holistic point of view if it is indeed a step away from achieving your dreams.

A man’s worth is what he is divided by what he thinks – by Eric Hoffer