I do a lot of career counseling. I’ve never really understood why – working with one company for more than 35 years severely limits my real world experience. Often, the questions I receive revolve around finding a job. That’s not the question I’ll address today. Today’s Challenge: Should I take the job?
Again, I feel the need to cite my limited experience here. All my job and career changes have been at the discretion of my organization. I’ve never had a choice – unless I had decided to leave. However, after having scores, if not hundreds, of conversations about these issues with folks inside and outside our company, I do have three thoughts for your consideration if you’re trying to decide if a potential job is right for you.
Consider the Organization - Is this an organization you’d be proud to work for? Do your personal values align with the organization’s values? Do they have a track record of success? What’s their retention rate?
Consider the Work - Although you can probably do many things well, what were you born to do? Does this potential job give you the opportunity to do that one thing on a regular basis? Do you believe you’ll go home at the end of the day energized or zapped?
Consider your Boss - This may not be on your current consideration list, but perhaps it should be. Jimmy Collins, the former President of Chick-fil-A, just released a book entitled Creative Followership. In it, he addresses this topic by sharing what he was looking for when he accepted a job offer from Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A. Here are some of the questions he suggests:

• Is your potential boss someone you can respect?
• Is he/she someone you can learn from?
• Will your new boss value your input?
• Will you be allowed to make independent decisions?

Notice, I didn’t suggest compensation as one of my top three considerations. Certainly, the money matters - my caution is to not overvalue the compensation package. I’ve known men and women who were extremely well compensated who struggled with job satisfaction. Their issues almost ALWAYS revolve around the items above.
My final thought and I guess the best advice I’ve got on today's question is from Truett Cathy…

Fall in love with your work, and you’ll never work another day in your life.

Is the job you’re considering something you can fall in love with? If so, you may be closer to a decision than you think.[GLS_Shield]