In deciding whether a job offer is right for you, many strategic career-minded people remember to consider, (a) Are there promotional opportunities within a company? ‘Can I be promoted within two-three years?’ ‘Is this a company with a good reputation, well-run, growing, and where people seem to move up regularly?’
(b) Is there a learning environment where I can pick up a marketable skill through challenging work assignments and the training offered? Do they offer formal technical training programs to new staff? Are teaching webinars part of the way people are developed? Does this company do mentoring programming? Is the performance feedback helpful and regular?
(c) And, is work-life balance part of the deal? Can I have a life? Will I be able to get time off periodically? Will there be times to slow down after a hurry-up project push? And if I have a family, will that be okay, or will I be penalized for it?
All good questions. A couple of ‘ah-hah moments’ for me in the last 48 hours reminded me that ‘who will be my new boss?’ may be THE question to ask in any job change. If the person-in-charge gets what you bring to the table, believes in you, and trusts you from the beginning, and, btw, most likely approaches work in a manner similar to your own, promotional opportunities will be there; a good learning environment derives from a strong mentor-boss, and work-life balance can be achieved when you have a good boss-relationship from the beginning. So if you want a position with the potential of really making a difference, loving what you do, and building a nice career, ask yourself, who will be my new boss?