5 Unique Ways to Evaluate a Job Opportunity - Walrath Recruiting, Inc.

5 Unique Ways to Evaluate a Job Opportunity - Walrath Recruiting, Inc. When it comes time to seriously consider a job opportunity, its easy to get tunnel vision. Many candidates get caught up thinking about, company size, and their responsibilities. These are all important considerations to take into account, but there are others things you should factor in. In todays blog well be discussing a few different tactics to evaluate a job offer that you may not have thought of. Check them out below! 1. Check Out Past Employees on LinkedIn One of the cool features of LinkedIn is that you can search the past employers of your connections. When youre searching for people on LinkedIn, you will notice a search filter on the right titled Past companies. It will have a few suggestions, but you can type in any company you want. Pull up a list of all past employees from the company you are looking at. From here, you can look at employees who have worked in the same (or a similar) job as they one you are interested in. If you notice that a lot of employees left the company after only 2 or 3 months, it should trigger a red flag. You can use this research to lookout for high turnaround. You can also gauge where employees went after they left the organization. All of this is valuable information in considering an opportunity. 2. Look Up The Company on Glassdoor Google Glassdoor is a great website in that it allows employees and job seekers to review companies that they work for and interview with. Obviously you have to account for some bitter responses, but they reviews typically offer an accurate glimpse into how that company treats their employees. These reviews are usually very comprehensive, and you may even find one for the position you are interested in. To fully access all of them, you may need to make an account. In addition to acting as a search engine, Google also maintains business listings for most companies. These listings include a lot of information on the company such as address, phone number, and website. They also fortunately include reviews. Typically these reviews are from customers. Looking at these reviews shows you the type of relationship your company has with them. This is especially helpful to know if you are going into customer service. Getting the customers perspective shows a side of the company you may not see through the hiring process. 3. Drive the Commute at Rush Hour If you wind up accepting a job offer, you will probably be driving there every day from your home. You also will probably drive there for an interview, but thats not always the case. Driving it during rush hour will give you an idea of what you will be dealing with every day. A 20 minute commute can easily turn into 1 hour with the addition of rush hour traffic into the equation. If youre not able to drive it yourself, Google Maps has an option to plot a course and guesstimate the time by plugging in your course and time of departure. Your commute will play a role in every day once you start working at a company, so its not a bad idea to know what to expect. 4. Research The Cost of Living This tip is most valuable if you would be relocating for a job. However, cost of living can even vary within a small area. For example, if youre moving from Albany, NY to New York, NY, the cost of living will be extremely different. Thankfully there are a few resources available to you to determine that difference. CNN Money has a great Cost of Living Calculator that takes into account your old and new location, and current salary. It also breaks down a comparison of the cost of specific items, like groceries, housing, and utilities. Payscale also offers their own Cost of Living Calculator. It also looks at where you are moving to and from, as well as your salary. PayScale however additionally looks at your job title for further comparison. Both tools will allow you to take a good glimpse into the monetary difference in living in a new place. 5. Ask Your Interviewer What They Like This last tactic is more commonly used than the others, but it may still be new to you! The best way to get a true glimpse into what its like to work at company is to ask a current employee. Thankfully, you have a perfect opportunity to do this. If you are brought in for an interview, What do you like most about working here? should be one of your closing questions presented towards the end of the interview. Most employees will speak honestly about something they like. Its when they struggle to answer your question quickly that you might need to worry. If it takes them a long time to come up with something positive, its usually indicative of a negative work environment. Thats it for our 5 tactics you can use to evaluate a job opportunity! Theyre certainly outside the box, but they will all provide valuable insight and information that will help you evaluate a job offer should receive one. You career isnt something to be taken lightly, and this potential job is a part of that. Make sure you always consider all angles when evaluating a new job opportunity!