2.5 Before accepting a job

If you’ve made it through the interview process and been offered the job, congratulations! However, before accepting a job offer, it’s important to take a good look at the organisation and understand what exactly you are being asked to do. But perhaps most importantly, what is the hybrid working model like at the organisation?

You need to examine their employee value proposition (strategy) for hybrid working, and how organised they are in terms of days in/out of work (Sto, 2022). By understanding the schedule and their future plans, you’ll be able to see how this works for you. It’s also important because it demonstrates how much an organisation may care about their employees’ wellbeing. If they don’t have clear values and structure, you could end up being left with a working pattern that doesn’t suit you: for example, in a fully remote role or a fully in-person environment.

You should also look at the organisation’s culture, and see if it fits your personality. More than a third of employers struggle to maintain an appropriate company culture (Sto, 2022).

As Ploy and Zainab suggest in the video below, it is very important to make sure the culture aligns with your own beliefs and values. Is the working environment what you are looking for? Do the working hours suit you?

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PORNNARAI NILDUANG:

I'd say my biggest advice is to thoroughly research the company, especially if it's your first time going into a place of work, just to see what that company – do they do they follow your beliefs? Do they have the same missions as you? Do they align with what you want to do and your morals?

I think when you're looking for a job and financial stability, you kind of lose your own personal beliefs sometimes, or like how it would affect your mental health and wellbeing. I think that when you're in the interview process, it's very much a two-way street. I think a lot of people think it's a one-way street or traditionally it has been. But I think in our day, we have the choice of saying no if that company, if you don't believe that you're going to thrive there or that your role there won't be pleasing to you, I think, that you should have that choice of saying no, and look for a role that's more fulfilling for you.

ZAINAB AL MUHARRAMI:

So in the actual job description that was given, it did say that it was fully remote working. So that's kind of one of the things that actually drew me to the job because I got to work from home and also the hours were fully flexible. And I didn't know it at the time, but my graduate job was actually in partnership with the Kickstart scheme. So I got my job through the graduate scheme, but it was also part of the Kickstart scheme from the job centre.

So they will call you and check up on you every couple of months into the Kickstart to make sure that you're doing well at your job and if there's anything that they can do to support you. And then if you decide that you don't want that current job that you have, or if they're not going to keep you on after the Kickstart scheme, they'll actually help you find something else that you might want to do.

So in terms of resources, I think that it would be a good idea to look into graduate schemes. There's loads of different ones that you can look into. And they actually send you emails that will tell you whenever there's a new job available and they’re across loads of different sectors usually. So I actually subscribed to one that sent loads of different tech jobs, but there were also some in marketing and some in finance. So there's loads of different sectors that you can choose from. And you can also go to the job centre. They're usually really good with advice and just helping you find a job.

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You need to make sure the organisational culture is something you feel comfortable with, as it is hugely important, and cannot be underestimated when deciding whether or not to accept a job offer.