It is in one’s nature to feel doubtful when we are offered a new job. Who likes to feel regret after signing a new job offer? I have learned through my corporate experiences several tips to take during the job search and decision process to avoid feeling that you’ve made a career misstep.

By Emile Fakhoury
To accelerate this procedure and walk through it without doubt and regret, I formulated the following steps. Not as a must but as a guideline to get you through it.

1. Structure your decision process:

Identify and list the pros and cons of existing and new job offers before deciding. Outline your career goals to choose whether to accept an assignment.

Start to outline your career goals and prepare a plan to check these boxes for your purposes. Assess objectively and weigh all parameters such as the new role's benefits, advantages, and disadvantages. Also, you can check my article ‘’How to make a Great Decision.’’

2. Ask about the future of the role:

It will help you understand the challenges, growth potentials, and expectations to build your self-confidence. Ask about the senior management and their opennto for new ideas, succession planning, and individual growth and retention planning. Understand the company structure if possible and observe the average tenure of the staff. Use LinkedIn, the company website, and various platforms to collect your data and assess.

3. Seek an insider's perspective:

Be careful how and whom to ask someone who works for the company you’re interested in joining, and get their feedback, pros, and cons for the career life inside the organization. They would share exciting advice you will use and live with during your new career experience. This could also help integrate your new role smoothly as you learn the new system, get to know the people, and earn their trust as you listen to them.

4. Seek an outsider's perspective:

Look for individuals in both senior and junior roles who worked at this organization and can share their experiences about employee value, appreciation, and interactions. Listen to their feedback as they can provide valuable experiences, but don’t rely on a single opinion and try to be objective in selecting various profiles to be balanced.

You must discuss your decision with both types of people you know that will challenge your assumptions and those who share your views to help you be balanced and objective in your decision. It will help you be more accurate and analyze your positive and negative sides. This important decision you should take will define your career and influence your life.

Another essential aspect of feeling comfortable in your new role is to consider your new company as your new employer, where you develop trust and confidence and start feeling belonging to it even before you start on your first day.

Always remember to take all the maximum time allowed and needed to assess your new situation and understand your new role, challenges, and responsibilities that will make you avoid a painful career misstep and integrate smoothly and efficiently your new role and organization.