Two companies want you. Na dat fact dey under de spreadsheet wey you don build three times now, and e take years to arrange, and by Monday you go don forget to enjoy am.
One offer go expire Friday. De numbers close well well so dem refuse to settle de matter, and every time you rearrange de columns, de answer dey shift. Dat no be sign sey you no sabi decide. Na sign sey you dey compare de wrong things, because de things wey easy to measure na dem go matter least for two years time.
So change wetin you dey measure. Compare de two offers on wetin dey compound: who you go dey report to, wetin you go fit do next because of dis one, and how you go feel on ordinary Tuesday. Na how to run dat comparison for one evening and den stop to dey chew am again be dis.
How I go choose between two job offers when de two dey good?
Compare de things wey dey compound instead of de things wey easy to add up. De three wey dey compound na de manager, de next door wey dis job go open, and de texture of normal Tuesday.
Write de two futures out well before you answer any of dem. No be pros and cons list, wey dey turn everything to counting, but two short paragraphs for present tense wey describe one Wednesday eighteen months from now. Who you dey work with. Wetin dem trust you with. Wetin you don learn wey you no sabi before. Wetin you dey tell person for party when dem ask wetin you dey do.
De one wey you fit describe with plenty detail na de one wey you sabi pass, and dat na useful information for true, no be some mystical sign. Detail dey come from asking better questions, meeting real people and understanding de actual work. If one paragraph get life and de oda one na just job description with your name inside, you never get two offers. You get one offer and one advert, and de fix na two more conversations, no be anoda evening with de spreadsheet.
Den check wetin each one dey make possible. Some jobs na ceiling with fine pay attach, some na door. Ask each one: wetin I go qualify for for two years time wey I no qualify for today.
De manager really matter pass de title?
Yes, and e no even near. Gallup estimate sey managers dey account for at least seventy percent of de variance for employee engagement across business units, so de person wey you dey report to dey shape how de job go actually feel far pass de title wey dey de offer letter.
Ask make you meet dem twice, and ask for de second meeting clearly. Na normal request completely for offer stage, and de answer to am na information by imself. Hiring manager wey make room dey tell you something about how dem go treat your time for one year time. De one wey no fit find thirty minutes for person wey dem dey try hire dey tell you something too.
Ask questions wey hard to answer with slogan. Wetin happen to de last person for dis role. Wetin person go do here for de first six months wey go make you happy sey you hire dem. Tell me about time wey you disagree with your team and you change your mind. When last you get person for dis team promoted, and wetin you do make e happen. Dat last one na de sponsorship question for ordinary cloth, and de answer dey separate manager wey dey talk to im people from manager wey dey just talk for dem.
Talk to person wey dey work dia and no dey de hiring panel. One honest twenty minute call pass every page of de careers site.
How I go weigh de money without letting am decide?
Turn de two offers into one yearly number, den keep dat number aside for de rest of de evening. Pay na de loudest input today and na de easiest one to fix later. Dat na exactly opposite of how e dey weigh on you tonight, na why de arithmetic go first and de deciding go follow.
Do de arithmetic well first, because real gap and imaginary gap no suppose feel de same. Add de base, de realistic bonus no be de maximum, de employer pension contribution, wetin de health cover dey cost you, and de commute for money and for hours. Equity for private company no be cash, so write am as separate line with question mark near am. Two offers wey feel far apart dey often end up close once everything sidon for one line, and small gap no worth manager wey you get doubt about.
If de gap survive de arithmetic and e big, treat am as real factor, no be as something vulgar. Money na why most people dey move. Pew Research find sey low pay na one of de two reasons wey people cite pass when dem quit job for 2021, sixty three percent name am, tie with lack of chance to advance. To want more money no be character flaw, and dis library no go tell you otherwise.
And before you accept any one, ask de compensation question once, calm calm, for one sentence. De worst thing wey fit happen na sey de number go remain de same.
I fit ask for more time before I answer?
Yes. Ask for forty eight more hours, for writing, with clear reason and clear new deadline, and almost everybody go say yes.
De sentence short: I dey very interested and I wan give you clean answer instead of rushed one, so abeg fit I come back to you by Thursday afternoon. Nobody wey don spend six weeks dey hire you go wan restart de whole process because dem refuse you two days.
Exploding deadline wey no go move at all na data point about de company, no be about you. E usually mean sey somebody dey try prevent you from getting information, and de information wey dey worry dem no dey sweet.
Use de extra time for conversation instead of anoda spreadsheet. Anoda evening of arithmetic no go produce new fact. Twenty minute call with person wey dey do de job go.
Wetin happen if I pick de wrong one?
You go correct am, and dat one easy pass how e dey feel tonight, because most job decisions na two way door. You fit waka comot back. E dey cost something, but e no be de one way door wey your body dey tell you sey e be now.
Dat framing come from Farnam Street write up on reversible and irreversible decisions, and de practical rule simple: make reversible decisions quick, and irreversible ones slow. Job wey you fit leave inside one year na reversible. Move wey uproot family, non compete wey you sign without reading, or bridge wey you burn as you dey comot na de parts wey truly hard to undo, so na dem earn de slow careful hours. Sort your two offers into which part be which, and you go notice sey de truly irreversible list short.
Wey be why de panic no dey pay for imself. De point of holding body tonight no be sey calm dey make you nicer. Person wey no dey panic dey ask de second question for de manager meeting, dey notice de vague answer, dey negotiate without shaking and dey sleep well enough to sharp for Thursday. Dat na composure wey dey work, no be composure as reward.
Write de two Tuesdays out before you answer any one
Tonight, take twenty minutes. Write de ordinary Tuesday for each job, eighteen months from now, for present tense. Den read dem back and notice which one you write with detail and which one you write with adjectives.
Den decide, tell de two companies inside one day, and stop to dey run de comparison. De part of dis decision wey cost pass no be to get am wrong, na to make am four more times over de next year, for bathroom, inside motor, for two o'clock for night. Write down de two or three reasons wey make you choose de way you choose and keep dem somewhere wey you fit find. For six months time, when de new job get bad week, you go wan read wetin you actually sabi, no be wetin your head fit remember dat time.
You get two companies wey dey compete for you. Choose de one wey go make you more dangerous for two years time, den go and be worth de offer.