As a hiring manager for a large multi national bank, Director in several small and mid-sized companies, and as a University professor, I am asked the same question time and time again by students trying to choose between jobs...."If I have a few offers on the table, how do I select which job to take?" Well, rather than repeat myself over and over again, I have put together an example hypothetical rubric that I think could help guide a robust decision-making process.

1. HOW TO CHOOSE
BETWEEN TWO JOBS?
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advice for grads

2. As a hiring manager for a large multi national bank, Director in several small
and mid-sized companies, and as a University professor, I am asked the
same question time and time again by students trying to choose between
jobs...."If I have a few offers on the table, how do I select which job to take?"
Well, rather than repeat myself over and over again, I have put together an
example hypothetical rubric that I think could help guide a robust decision-
making process.
The key to the rubric is that it tries to balance career aspirations against life
goals and provide a semi-quantitative gauge to make the process of
choosing more explicit and less guesswork.
What you need to do is to fill out the qualitative text in the Job A and Job B
columns. Next, use a simple coding mechanism to evaluate the strengths
versus weaknesses of each job for each category. At the bottom, you sum
up the scores to give yourself a good recommendation.
After you’ve completed one round, erase the data and ask someone trusted
to complete it for you, and compare the results

3. JOB A JOB B
IT'S GOOD FOR
MY CAREER
Will I succeed?
The role seems to have organizational support which means I will get
the support I need in terms of budget, air cover, partners, and
political clout, but I am worried that my skill set is fairly weak, so
there is a real chance that my delivery will not be enough to really
kick butt. More importantly, this is a job that does not really fit well
with my personality. It does not leverage my personality strengths
and it seems to depend on areas where I am actually weak.
Yes, there is a great fit between my skills as well as my
personality type. In fact, it seems to leverage what I have
previously done with synergy. In addition, the role has a
reasonable amount of organizational support.
Will I be recognized?
Unsure, it is not clear that my boss is the kind of boss that will get
me public recognition. He may want some of the glory for himself…..
Yes. Based on what I know from his previous actions, the boss
will recognize my accomplishments to me and to the larger
community
Will I develop my career?
While this is a good role in and of itself, it is actually a step down in
the hierarchy. I need to be careful of perception.
Yes, from a CV perspective, this will be seen as a nice addition,
helping to build a picture of me as a well-rounded manager with
both depth and breadth
Will the role get targeted in the next
economic downturn?
Not likely, the org needs this role in good times and bad. My job will
be secure if I do a good job
Maybe. It is a new role for the org and it is yet to be seen if it
will stick
Will damage of failure be mitigated?
This is a high profile role and it is an easy to be targeted by my
seniors as the one to "take the fall".
The hiring manager would likely be the one to take the brunt of
failure. I'd actually be fairly protected
Will I be compensated?
I don't know how well this manager comps his people, but this
division makes a lot of revenue for the firm, so it seems likely that
comp would be larger for this division, relative to other roles in the
firm. Whatever the case, the base salary is OK
Yes. Research with friends shows that this manager comps her
people well. This is shown in the fact that the base salary is
actually more than the other option
Will I be promoted?
Hard to see where I can go from the role. The one-up seems very
stationary and I don't see that they will move in order to open up
career growth for me. Also, there are lots of candidates for the nice
roles that I would have to compete against.
Yes. The hiring manager plans to go back to the US in 2 years.
This gives me enough time to prove myself and then position
myself as a successor.
I'LL HAVE FUN
I'll learn and grow
I am really excited about the learning potential here. I feel that I will
learn a great deal about the business, the actual job role itself, and
about leading a team. There seems to be a budget for training and
the organizational culture seems to support it.
There are certainly things to learn, but I have a feeling that I'll
be focussed more on business-as-usual work, than innovation. I
like the manager, but not sure they would be a good mentor for
me in my career.
I'll be passionate about the job
Some. There is an entrepreneurial component to the job as this is
setting up the function from scratch.
I like the domain. I like what we are trying to accomplish, but it
feels slightly business-as-usual
I'll have an enjoyable work-life
balance and workplace
policy/culture/environment
There is going to be a lot of work and a lot of pressure to deliver! The
culture looks to be very competitive and this is an important-high
profile year for the group. Eyes are watching!
There will clearly be a lot of work but at the interview the hiring
manager said that she is very protective of balance and it will be
a priority to create a sustainable work environment.
I'll like the people I work with
(manager, peers, reports)
I really like the hiring manager and the people who would report to
me, but the peer groups seems highly political and Machiavellian and
the key customer seems a nasty sort've fellow.
YES! Great team, great boss, good peers
SCORE -3 11
SCORING RULES (NO WEIGHTING FOR THIS EXAMPLE)
-2
-1
+1