The Career Suite

Podcast, “The Career Suite”
S1 E9
Title: The Right (Write) Job Offer!
Host: Helen G. Sneed
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Let's step inside the Career Suite, where Career conversations begin with you!
This week, the week of October 15th; The Career Suite Podcast hit a milestone, 100 days of podcasting! Making todays thank you – very special, I appreciate you whether you listen to one or all of my podcast and virtual hugs to everyone who has shared a podcast! Thank you!

You probably noticed my play on words with episode 9’s title The Right (Write) Job Offer! I wanted to make a point very quickly. The right job offer means you received a written job offer. This is true regardless of the industry, level of position or rate of pay, the right job offer means you received a written job offer.

Before we look at five basic reasons why a written job offer is so important think about your last shopping experience. Amazon, Etsy, a luxury brand store, a car or grocery store. Were you provided with a receipt of purchase? Look at your receipt, does it have the vendor’s name, contact information, date, amount, method of payment, approval code, a description (even brief) of what you purchased? If the item you purchased doesn’t live up to your expectations, can you return if without proof of purchase? Does the store’s volume determine whether or not you get a receipt? It doesn’t.
What would be your reaction if you went to Target or Tiffany’s, made a $200.00 purchase and they told we don’t provide receipts after 2pm or you didn’t spend at least $250.00 or you were customer 101 today, so no receipt for you.

When you take the time to interview for a job, the company has spent at least $200.00 in resources and you’re worth at least $200.00 so don’t you think you deserve a written receipt of the terms and conditions of the job offer? The answer is any industry or language is YES!

Let’s look at five basic reasons why a written job offer is so important.
1. A written job offer is a firm job offer and it’s more difficult to rescind it than a verbal offer.
2. The details are in writing and you have something to provide to a landlord, business partner, an attorney, a lender, even the court system and refer back to if your first check, hire date or any other basic details differ from what you agreed to.
3. Seeing those details in writing will allow you to decide what parts of the offer you’re happy with, and what you may want to negotiate, along with what questions you want answered before you commit. If something is in writing and it differs from your verbal conversation, it’s better to clear it up before you start working.
4. Something so important as a job, why wouldn’t you want your employer to take the time to put it in writing. They’ll have a document for their records and you’ll have a document for yours. a record of the terms and conditions you both agreed to – it makes good business sense and that’s important to you the employee that you are going to work for an employer that makes good business decisions. It serves as a written record of what you agreed to and that’s your first step in protecting yourself and holding your future employer accountable. They in turn will hold you accountable to provide the service you agreed to at the rate of pay you agreed to.
5. Set expectations, reduce misunderstandings, and helps to eliminate future disputes.

The question today inside the suite…How will you know it’s the right job offer?
Category 1 – Employer specific – who are they, where are they, what are their hours
Category 2 – Job specific – title, supervisor, tools of the industry
Category 3 – Pay and benefits how much, when, details
Category 4 – The whole package as described during the interview process
Let’s look at the key elements of a job offer. It’s a long list. You can always revisit this episode or retrieve a copy of the transcript.

1)Company letterhead
2)Current date
3)Addressed to you using your legal name.
4) Your position or title this includes an internal promotion, your new title.
5) Start date which is your first physical day of employment or when the employer is asking you to conduct business on their behalf, that’s your start date. By the way, employers that require training, are expected to pay you for the training.
6) Name of your supervisor and their title.
7) Full time and it’s definition (40/37.5/35) part time w/a minimum number of hours per week, temp, per diem, seasonal or grant funded?
8) On-site, remote, road warrior, hybrid and what if any specific on-site office days.
9) Exempt from overtime, non-exempt from overtime and when do you earn overtime?
10) Base pay, hourly pay, or biweekly pay annualized (do the math) to ensure the company doesn’t “round down” your salary.
11) Shift differential if any.
12) Bonus/Commissions/Stipends (cell phone, internet connection requirement i.e., fiber cable wireless)
13) Agree to sign on bonus after x number of calendar days put the date in the letter.
14) When do your benefits begin 1st of the month after 30/60/90 days or something else?
15) Does health insurance include medical, dental and life insurance?
16) Time off; PTO, flex time or buckets of time. If you agreed on an extra week of time off as part of your negotiations – if that’s not in writing and your supervisor changes, who’s going to keep that going especially if it’s not in the payroll system or employee handbook. An extra week isn’t the same as a third week.
17) Did you agree to a pay increase after 90 days? You want it in writing and the date included in the offer letter.
18) At will employment or contract?
19) Grant funded position, what happens when the grant is no longer funded?
20) Background check or pre-employment physical requirement?
21) Tools of the trade; included or you bring them to the table such as steel toed boots or a laptop?
22) Parking pass?
23) Pets are not the same as service animals. Are pets allowed?
24) Anything specific to your industry that impacts your pay such as a minimum number of tax returns processed or audits completed.
25) Signatures and your copy.

All of these details should be reviewed and considered part of the Right Job Offer and in Writing!

In Episode number 10, we'll discuss, Value creation in negotiations.

I'm Helen G. Sneed; join me again in “The Career Suite”, where I promise to save you a seat! If you need help with any of these items, email me and include your name to CEO@thecareersuite. Join me again in two weeks, you'll be glad you did!