Congratulations, you have made it to week nine of Spring Quarter 2012! Graduation is looming, and unless you’re struggling to find extra commencement tickets, your priorities have most likely shifted from finishing school to starting your career. If you have been following the Internship and Career Center’s (ICC) Countdown to Graduation series hopefully you have landed some job interviews. You may even find yourself struggling to choose between three amazing job offers. From determining the cost of living for the city you might be moving to, to negotiating for a higher salary, the ICC is here to help you through this new and exciting process. We’re also here for continuing students.
Once you receive your first job offer, there are some important things to consider before accepting it. Be up-front, yet professional with potential employers. Recruiters speak with one another and career karma exists. Don’t jeopardize your fledgling professional reputation. If you’ve been offered a position and you need more time to assess your options, express your interest in the job then ask if you can have time to evaluate. Mention the elements of the offer that appeal to you: salary, location, tasks, population served. Be sincere. It is far better to ask for additional time (within reason, no more than a few weeks) than to accept a position only to later decline. If you have been extended an offer, you have confirmation the company is interested in having you work for them. They want you to know it is where you want to be. They fully expect that you have been interviewing elsewhere. Most organizations prefer to hire people that will stay with them long enough for the organization to see a return on the investment they make in training. If you need help deciding between two offers, don’t grab for a quarter to flip. Use the ICC website search bar to find the “Factors in Accepting a Job Offer” checklist. Better yet, come see us in South Hall.
Salary is one of the obvious, but not the only, factor in choosing whether or not to accept an offer. Use the NACE salary calculator on the ICC website to compare the salary offered for your position to similar positions in the same industry. If you will be moving to a new city and want to make sure that your new job will pay the bills, use the ICC webpage search bar to look up “salary” and you will be greeted with a plethora of tools as well as salary negotiation tips and a cost-of-living index. Negotiating with employers after a job offer can be a stressful and unfamiliar situation; get help by scheduling an appointment with a program coordinator at the ICC.
It is important to remember that a job offer is not the final process during the job search. Keep a level head and think critically about decisions you will be making and the impact on your future. The first job you are offered will not always be the best and certainly will not be your last. Remember to be polite and straightforward with recruiters; they are a tight-knit network and one that you want available to you in the future.
Brian Barnett is a peer advisor with the ICC. He recently negotiated his starting salary with Union Bank of California and looks forward to beginning his career in their Commercial Credit Training Program in early July. He does, however, need a few additional tickets for commencement ceremonies. The UC Davis Internship and Career Center (ICC), located on the second and third floors of South Hall and online at iccweb.ucdavis.edu, has decades of success helping to launch Aggies on their professional paths, and its services are FREE to currently enrolled UC Davis students.
