Compare Job Offers to Your Personal Profile

Summary: Get some sound advice about how to pick the right job from a number of offers.

Question: I completed the first semester of my senior year and landed three offers: a consulting position, a real-estate investment feasibility post, and a real-estate lending job at a bank. Two of the offers are from companies in California and one is from a company in New York, where most of my family and friends are. How do I know which position is right for me, or if I should keep searching?

Answer: Try backing into the decision to get a more complete view of the best match for you as you launch your career. Give yourself a tiny bit of breathing space and create a profile of your ideal position based on your interests, values, and priorities. Map out all of your “must haves” and “don’t wants” in a job, boss, work environment and geographic location. Use this profile as a measuring stick and see how each one of your offers stacks up.

To do justice to the decision-making process, talk to someone in each of the locations from which you received an offer. This information will help you to decide on the location. Friends and family are legitimate considerations, but be sure to consider all of the variables to settle on a decision that will best suit your personal and professional priorities.