Some of these might sound like common sense but people forget this stuff all the time. If it’s just a random job you only plan to stay at short team to bridge a gap then all these steps might not be necessary.
- Seek out current and former employees and figure out what they like the most and dislike the most about the company. And for those who don’t work there anymore figure out why they left to try and spot any red flags.
- ALWAYS attempt to negotiate your offer. They are oftentimes given a budget for a position and 9/10 times they aren’t offering you the max amount of the budget. Use median salary data for the position in your area and the company’s Glassdoor reported salaries as tools to negotiate.
- Take a good look at any benefits pamphlet/handbook they might give you and make sure PTO, maternity leave, sick leave etc is all reasonable. If it’s one of those companies that have unlimited PTO figure out what the max limit of days you can take off in a row is and figure out from past and present employees how hard it was to get more than a day or two off.
- If it’s a work from home/remote position figure out if they are going to make you install some sort of tracking software on your computer and if they provide a WFH startup stipend tell them your current equipment isn’t adequate even if it is to get that extra money.
- If you have a spouse who has better health insurance than what this job will offer get under their plan and use that to negotiate higher pay when you negotiate your offer.
- If they ask how much you currently make before making the offer give them a number 10,000 over what you’re actually making.
- Figure out how often raises and bonuses are given and if they offer stock options/profit sharing if you have to work there a certain amount of time to be eligible and also how long the vesting periods are for the stock options. Don’t just jump on the offer cause you see a big salary.
Feel free to add more in the comments