This week's job searching tip deals with a question from a subscriber about how to handle multiple job offers. It can be a very real problem for successful job seekers. This tip will provide some steps you can take to deal with that kind of scenario. If you haven't found yourself with more job offers than you can handle yet, we recommend you first take steps to increase your flow of job leads. A good first step is to get your resume posted on all the job sites. ResumeDirector is a service that can do this for you. Using their service, you can enter your resume once and it will get posted instantly on Monster, HotJobs, CareerBuilder, etc. To find out more, visit this link:
http://www.jobsearchinfo.com/rd.htm

Another method for increasing job leads is to use a resume distribution service. You can quickly get your resume in front of thousands of recruiters in the area by using ResumeArrow. ResumeArrow instantly sends your resume to the inboxes of recruiters. To sign up for that service, visit this web address:
http://www.jobsearchinfo.com/dist.htm


QUESTION FROM A SUBSCRIBER:

I have a question, I have been over whelmed with job offers and I dont know which one to pick. Can you help, the job interviews are still coming as well I dont know if I should say no, because there may be something better out there.

J.A.

Dear J.A.,

This is certainly a good problem to have! I would recommend you develop some objective criteria as to the kind of job you want. This would include features that are important to you such as company size, career advancement opportunities, location, dress style (formal vs. corporate casual), etc. This way if you find a company that meets all or most of your criteria, you can accept their offer.

In terms of salary, I would recommend you find out what your "market" rate is if you don't know it already. You wouldn't want to take a job that's paying much less than your market rate. However, looking for a job that pays more than the market rate is probably not the best strategy.

If the company's paying 10% more than the market rate now, they may not be doing so a year from now. If you go with a company that's good about staying on track with market rates, you probably have a good chance of being paid fair wages there over the long term. To find out what your market rate is, I would recommend you check out the personal salary report at this address:
http://www.jobsearchinfo.com/salary.htm

Also, if you're unsure about an offer, you can always ask the employer if you can get back to them in a day or two. Most employers will be understanding and will give you that opportunity to think it over. Hopefully you'll also have your interviews close together so if you wanted to see if another company had a better offer, you could use that time to talk to them too.

The most important thing is to have an objective set of criteria to compare job offers against. Putting this "wish list" together requires that you do some research up-front -- ideally before the job offers start coming in. Your criteria list should describe a job that would make you happy, but which is also realistic. For example, if your experience is working as a TV newscaster, it would probably be unrealistic to look for a job where you wouldn't have to wear a suit because just about all newscasters dress in formal attire. For most people, the key things they look for in a job include: co-workers, location/commute time, opportunity for advancement, and fair pay.

As mentioned earlier, you can get a personal salary report to find out what a fair salary would be. Learning about a company's work environment, potential co-workers and corporate culture can be somewhat harder. You may try networking through friends and other business associates prior to the interview to find someone who works there and who can tell you what the environment and culture are like. If it's a larger company, there's a good chance you can find a discussion board online where people are talking about it. Try a google search or visit the Vault Reports and Wet Feet web sites. To find out more about Vault and Wet Feet, visit these links:
http://www.jobsearchinfo.com/vault.htm
http://www.jobsearchinfo.com/wf.htm


This article was provided by JobSearchInfo.com.  For additional career resources, please visit http://www.jobsearchinfo.com.