So you’ve got a job offer… now what?

When I started my career 12 years ago, I enthusiastically accepted whatever job offers came my way. I worked 20 hour days, 7 days a week in the restaurant industry for next to nothing. I happily said yes to entry-level titles even when I became quite skilled. My answer was always: “yes, yes, yes!” Perhaps that was the right thing to do early on, before I had really built out my professional skill set or reputation; however, I reflect on how I wished I had known the questions to ask when I had that job offer in hand. This would have helped me advocate for better roles, promotions, and significantly better pay!

These days, I often coach individuals as they weigh the pros and cons of an offer. This post lays out some of the advice I give and the questions I encourage others to ask when considering a new job. For this post, I’m going to focus on aspects that would be relevant in joining any company, though most of my career has been spent in tech and you’ll likely see questions that skew towards the tech industry and product management jobs.

You shouldn’t actually wait until you have an offer to ask these questions, though. While you’re going through the interview process, remember that you’re learning as much about a company and a role as they are about you. You owe it to yourself to ask these questions and get the facts. You may see this list and think: these aren’t relevant to me right now. You may be early in your career and you’re not yet thinking about leadership roles; you may not be in a relationship, so aren’t thinking about benefits for your partner. You may not be in a place where you’re thinking about having kids.

A good job can turn into a great career — you’ll thank yourself years down the line for having asked these questions.

Some guiding principles

Job perks like ping pong or free beer are nice, but at the end of the day, you need to know if you’re joining a company that has good benefits, fair pay, will help support your personal and professional growth, and cares deeply about your wellbeing and happiness.

Look for fair and equitable processes — are there systems or policies in place, or do certain people get special treatment? If a company does not have these types of policies in place, or they don’t value this as a concept, you may find yourself struggling to get raises or promotions down the road, or being frustrated when you can’t figure out how to get what you deserve. No company is going to be perfect, but knowing they value equitable systems is critical to your future success.

Before accepting an offer, ask to speak to someone at the company like you. You’ll likely get a lot of great information from the recruiter or hiring manager, but it is important to learn more about what your life could be like in the new role, coming from someone who is living it! If you’re a new parent, ask to speak to one. If you’re early in your career, seek out those who are in a similar place, or perhaps even someone who recently was early in their career but has been promoted. Seek to get a sense of what your actual day to day will look like.

Finally: if the interview process does not include a trip into the office, ask to visit. This gives you a chance to see so many little things that may not be covered explicitly, but could be important. Before you go, write down a list of things that may be important to you. When you get there, take notes on these items. For example, what types of computers do they use? How are the desks or offices set up? Is it easy to book conference rooms? Do the leaders sit in offices or with teams? Are people smiling, collaborating? You can pick up so many cues from the physical space. This is obviously tougher in more recent times as we work from home, but you can always still ask to see pictures!

Career paths

Start by understanding the level for the job you’re being offered. Are there levels above and below that one? Are there options for new roles and responsibilities for you to take on as you grow? What’s the process for getting a new role? Does it happen on a schedule? Who is responsible for helping coach you and for giving you feedback to grow to those new roles? How do you find out if there are new roles available?

I recommend asking the hiring manager (the person ultimately responsible for hiring for the role): “let’s imagine there’s someone at the company with this role who is really excelling — what do the next steps in their career at the company look like?” This can help you get a sense for if this is something the company values and promotes. If no one has stepped into new roles or leadership in years, that could be a warning sign. A career path conversation does not only mean how you earn more money over time — ensure that they can demonstrate examples of this type of growth and movement for individuals.

Make sure you understand if there are career path options, but also ensure there’s a fair process in place. I recommend asking questions about the path certain leaders have had in the company: did they get hired from outside? Did they get tapped on the shoulder for a promotion, or was there an open call process, in which anyone could apply? This will help you ensure there’s a culture of promoting the many instead of an elite few.

Company values

Many companies have a set of shared values, but not all companies live up to them. It is important to understand what these are, and to see if these resonate with your own personal values. You will be more motivated at work if these align. I can’t stress this enough, though: find ways to have the recruiter, hiring managers, and interviewers demonstrate examples of times where they’ve lived up to these values. For example, if the company has continuous improvement as a core value, ask for recent examples where they iterated on a process and what the result was; if the company values transparency, you could ask: “when was the last time you felt that your team did not live up to that?” You need to ensure these are more than words or phrases they hang on the walls — these can become the backbone of how you work every day.

Compensation

Pay

Spend time doing research on the salary offer. You can research online how the offer compares to others at the company, or you can talk to others with similar jobs at different companies to see how it stacks up. While this is an extremely important factor to your decision, you should weigh it against the other items mentioned in this post. If the number is not what you were expecting or feel it should be based on your research, try to negotiate. While you may not always get the number there, it never hurts to try, within reason.

You should also ask more questions about the process for raises. Do employees get reviewed once a year, or can it happen at any time? How does the company determine equitability amongst men and women? How do they determine their pay bands; how do they feel they are in relation to the industry? Can they tell you more about where in the band you’re coming in? Who at the company will be responsible for advocating for your pay changes?

A company should not be asking you what you make now; they will likely ask you what your target number will be to help ensure they can meet that with the role, but it is a red flag if they are basing your offer on your past pay.

Variable compensation

Not all roles will have variable compensation; but if yours does, seek to understand if it bonus or commission-based. What is the ratio of base to variable? How does the company define success in achieving this bonus; in other words, are there metrics or goals you need to hit in order to get paid? Who determines these goals, and when? What happens if you don’t hit them fully, is there a lower cliff? How much control do you have in your role to affect these metrics? Are the individual or team based goals?

Determine how frequently the variable portion is paid out. This could range from every paycheck to once a year, so be sure you ask. Think about it… if its a huge percentage of your pay, and yet you’re only getting it once a year, it will be a long time before you see any of that money.

There may also be bigger company goals (ie, hitting revenue or growth numbers) that are factored into this pay out. For example, you may only get paid a portion of your bonus if the company doesn’t hit their overall revenue number. I recommend asking for as many specifics as possible on this was recently paid out for others in your role.

Equity

Equity can be a very confusing topic, especially if this hasn’t been part of your compensation package before. Learn more about what types are available to you: non-qualified stock options (NQSO), employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs), restricted stock units (RSUs), something else? How did they arrive at the amount you’re being offered: is this competitive with your job title and peers? When do you get the grant? What is the vesting schedule, is there a cliff? If you aren’t being offered any equity, why not? There’s far too much to cover in this one article, but there are a lot of great resources online to learn more — get informed!

Benefits

The recruiter will likely share information about company benefits at a high level, but you should feel free to ask more questions. What insurance plans do they offer? How much does the company cover? Does it include dental and vision? Do you get coverage day one, or is there a waiting period? Are there special enrollment periods? Will they cover your partner and children? If the recruiter doesn’t have the level of detail you’re looking for, you can always ask if there is an HR or benefits team member to chat with in more detail.

Vacation, sick days, and other time off

Everyone loves a vacation! But what policies does this company have for taking time off? While there are a number of questions you should ask about these policies below, if you do only one thing: understand the company’s philosophy regarding taking time off. While most companies will tell you they value employees taking time off, you can ask questions to learn how this plays out in actuality. Find out about the last time people took time off: were they checking their email? Were they asked to be on call? Do they bring their laptops on foreign adventures with them? Consider what type of answers you’d want to hear and what type of philosophy makes the most sense for you.

Learn if the company has an accrued or non-accrued vacation policy. These are very different, and both have their benefits depending on how you like to take time off: for an accrued policy, the employee earns days off based on their time at the company. For a non-accrued policy, you do not earn days off, but rather often work with your manager to get approval for time off.

In the former, it is usually very clear about how many days an employee gets. Learn more if this number increases year over year, or if there’s a policy to take additional days beyond what you’re allotted. Learn more about if you need to request the days, or how you let others know when you’ll be gone. Ask if you’re paid out at the end of the year for days you do not take.

For companies where there are no set days, or often pitched as “unlimited,” you must ask more questions. What is the process for asking for time off? How far in advance do you need to request? If they can’t give you a fixed number of days, ask what a typical number of days off looks like for most employees. Do different teams or groups inside the company have different philosophies for how they approve time?

Sick time is typically a little more straightforward: how many days are you allotted? What types of things fall under the category of sick? What happens if your child or loved one is sick? If you need surgery or need to be out for a longer period of sick leave, what happens?

You should also learn more about the parental leave policy — again, even if you don’t have kids now, you might at some point in your career there. How much time off do they cover? Is it the same for both parents? If you want to take more than they cover, will they support you? Is the policy the same if you adopt a child? These policies can be dramatically different and can also mean a very different quality of life later.

Professional Development

Many companies offer professional development or continuing education benefits. This can be an excellent way to learn new skills that you may not acquire as quickly on the job. Learn more about if the company has these types of benefits, and if so, how much do they cover? Can you take advantage of this benefit immediately, or does it come with tenure? Have other employees used this benefit, and if so, what types of activities have they used it for? Is it specifically for helping you with your current role, or can you use it to acquire skills that could help you up-skill to other roles in the future?

Working expectations

Learn about the typical working hours for someone in your role, and seek to understand if there are expectations that you will often or sometimes work outside of these hours. Ask questions about if the company supports remote work. Ask how frequently you will be asked to travel, and if that travel will be flexible (can be done when it works for your schedule) or if you have to do it on specific schedules.

Your new colleagues

Wherever possible throughout the interview process, ask to meet other employees or your future teammates. These are the people you’re going to spend every day with! I find it super helpful to learn more about the average tenure for employees at the company: are most people new hires because the company has grown a lot recently, or do people stick around for many years at a time? Seek to learn more about the diversity of the company and leadership (some companies publish this data).

Conclusion

This may seem like a lot to ask, especially when you’re trying to get into that new job as quickly as possible. And this isn’t even an exhaustive list! Even if a company is a well established, with known good benefits, it never hurts to ask. Taking a new job is a big step in your life and career, and it is always good to make decisions with the most available information at that time. Good luck!