How To Choose Between Multiple Job Offers

Sometimes you’ll have a lot of time to decide, sometimes not.

Whatever the circumstances, it will be easier to make that decision if you have some sort of decision-making process in place.

Here are 3 options you can try if you receive more than one job offer.

Pros and Cons

This is a long standing method that needs very little explanation. You make two columns listing the Pros on one side and the Cons on the other. If you’re deciding between two jobs you’ll have to do an assessment of each and then evaluate which one is more appealing.

While often used, making a list of Pros and Cons doesn’t make comparing two job offers particularly easy.

Criteria Method

In my early days as a career counselor I was introduced to the criteria decision-making process. You begin by creating a list of criteria that’s important to you. You may want to list these items in terms of importance. Most important first and down the line.

Once you have completed your criteria chart it’s a matter of filling in the blanks. Here’s an example.

Criteria	Job #1	Job #2
Target Salary $175K	Salary $170K	Salary $185K
Professional Development / Tuition Reimbursement	Yes	No
Short Commute	Yes	No
Growth Opportunity	Yes	Yes
Extensive Travel	No	Yes
Culture Fit	Yes	Yes
Unused PTO Carryover	NO	Yes

Looking at a chart like this should make it easier to make a tough decision. Depending on your career plans will the tuition reimbursement offered by employer #1 outweigh the higher salary offered by employer #2?

Only you can decide.

The beauty of this process however, is that you can decide in advance which criteria is most important to you.

Flip a Coin

While flipping a coin can’t exactly be called a process, people do use this practice every day. I recall reading that flipping a coin actually does make sense because as soon as you toss it up in the air you know which side you hope it lands on.

If you are fortunate enough to receive multiple job offers look at is as a blessing not an obstacle. Make sure you have all the information you need and analyze it carefully. While the Criteria Method is my go-to when making a difficult decision, you need to choose the process that works for you.

Updated 8/7/18