Jason Monastra

My life and thoughts out on the web

 read one of my favorite blogs earlier this afternoon, My Career’s Blog, and there was discussion about certain things to consider previous to the accepting of an offer from a prospective employer.  The article is spot on when considering crucial elements of evaluation when considering an offer.  Read the full article here.

It got me thinking….what is the one crucial element if nothing else could be considered that I would find the most important.  Well, the person I was working for.  The job could be perfect, meeting all the challenges, career goals, and compensation requirements - but what if I dreaded coming to work each and every day?  Would that not be the worst?  The perfect job except for my boss is the worst to work for.  Trust me when I tell you, that perfect job will not look so good very soon.

Management has a strong direction on how well your job experience is at a company.  No matter how the role is “sold” to you, if the people there working over you are not solid, truthful, and exceptional people - well that really places some obstacles for your long term plans within the company.  Look at the person running the department.  What are they like?  How do they treat people?  What do others in the group think?  What do other departments think of her?  Do they have any complaints about them?  What makes that person?

If you can find a good deal about your manager in addition to the facts mentioned in the article, life will be much easier.  You can weigh the tangible and intangible aspects of the role, being able to make a clear decision knowing what you are getting into and avoiding avoidable mistakes.  Surprises will always happen, better to limit those to ones that are impossible to predict.  Make your choice with as much information in front of you as possible.