With the economy in turmoil, many MBA graduates are finding the job search tough going. To give readers some insight into the strategies they’re pursuing and the difficulties they face, BusinessWeek has recruited four out-of-work MBAs to write about their experiences for a new feature called “The Hunt” that will appear periodically on the Getting In blog. Comments, as always, are welcome.
By Bryan Glover
In an interesting turn of events, I was offered two different jobs this past week. Both of these offers came with tight deadlines for accepting or declining, which added a bit of stress — the good kind, fortunately — to my weekend. In trying to decide which of the two positions to accept, I realized that this situation might come up for other job seekers and so it would be good to cover as a topic for a blog. I don’t pretend to have all the answers or to be able to predict the future, but I believe I made a good decision based on the various factors that are important to me. Of course, I did a pro/con list, used a decision tree, and even went as far as doing an NPV analysis to weigh the financial benefits of both jobs before making my decision. Ultimately, the deciding factor had nothing to do with any of my analysis; I made my decision based on the limited information I had about the differences in cultures between the two organizations.
The first position I was offered requires a secret security clearance, which takes one to three months to process. For that reason, this job doesn’t start until August 17. It is a job within the D.O.D. and comes with a full line of benefits, etc. I have had a few different interactions with the man who will be my boss, and he has proved exceedingly, for lack of a better word, cool. This job pays less than the other position I was offered, but it is here in San Diego and that is typically what we refer to here as the “sun tax”. It makes up for the lower pay with a better education reimbursement package and a more formal OJT regimen. In addition, the people involved with the background check have been very nice in answering questions and helping me try to make a decision.
Read the full article: How to Decide Between Two Job Offers