Should you wait for a second job offer?

The economic problems that have affected us over the last few years have had a massive impact upon the psyche of those candidates that are job hunting and especially those that have been out of work through no fault of their own. Redundancy can have a massive impact upon self-confidence and there is only so much ‘down time’ that you can have between jobs before you start to become stir crazy as well as getting under your partners feet having done all the decorating that any house could possibly need!

Interviews can be stressful and it’s a relief to get through the process and to be advised that the company will be making an offer. What happens though if you’re concluding one but still interviewing with another company?

Job offers can be like London buses, you wait ages for one and then fortuitously (or not) a couple arrive at once. Over the years we are consistently asked by candidates how they should address this issue and whilst there is no perfect catch all answer, there are a number of issues that you need to think about before making a decision.

The first thing you need to be clear about in your own mind is how the two companies stack up in relation to each other and how that affects whatever time constraints are being placed upon you. The company that has already offered you a role won’t be expecting an instant acceptance but neither will they be prepared to let you drag the process out longer than is reasonable. They have a business to run and need to make plans too. The fundamental questions about the offer that you should be asking yourself are (a) does the role offer me the challenges that I’m looking for? (b) can the company offer me the long term career opportunities that I’m after? (c) can I work with this person as my new boss? (d) does the salary match up to my expectations? If you answer ‘yes’ to all four, then you should seriously be considering accepting the offer!

If you want to pursue the second company then you need to talk (urgently) either with them or the recruitment firm about the time frames that the current and next interview steps will take. If they’re talking several weeks for second and/or third interviews, then it’s decision time for you. If you drag out the first company and don’t get the second offer there is a very high risk that the first offer will be withdrawn and you ‘ll be back to square one. If the second company expect it to be wrapped up within the next week, then you have the opportunity to run with it, but you need to make sure that the first company knows that you will make a decision by a fixed date.

Professionalism is the key to this. You need to manage this well because you never know when you might bump into either party again or whether quite by chance one of them might actually end up your boss one day in the future!

If fortune has smiled upon you, you might now have two offers sitting on your desk, in which case you go back to the four questions that you asked after the first offer. With those out of the way, you should have a much clearer idea of which offer you are going to accept.

If you are in gainful employment you now come to the day when you have to hand in your resignation. A word of warning; as for your current company giving you a counter offer? Forget it. Counteroffers generally end badly; you went out looking for a new job because of problems with your current one. A bigger salary doesn't solve any of those problems and from now on they’ll be keeping an eye on you as they know that you’ve tried to leave once. Say nice things about them in your exit interview and walk away with (hopefully) glowing references.

If you are currently in the job market, then good luck and I hope that everything slots into place for you.

As ever we’re keen to hear from you, let us know your thoughts at blog@chestertongray.com or tweet us at @chestertongray

Loving your employees.

Whilst it’s hard to escape the news that Europe, or at least several parts of it, are in a downturn/recession/double-dip recession/in stagnation (please delete which option you feel isn’t applicable), the fact remains that there are successful businesses across the continent that are trading profitably, show growth signs and have cash in the bank. Invariably they don’t have a monopoly and as a consequence they have competitors which would like to steal (a) some of their market share and (b) quite possibly a number of their key employees.


That means that you run the risk of one of your staff handing you an envelope on a Monday or Friday with their resignation in it; so how are companies making sure that that doesn’t happen?

I'm talking about the things that the best companies do to engender the dedication, loyalty and, yes, even the love of the people who work for them.

Everyone knows that the days of the one-company career are long gone. Depending on what data you choose to believe, the average person will change jobs between five and seven times in a lifetime. So if you run a business, it is virtually certain you will lose every employee you have (hopefully not all at once).

It's a reality that hurts, because enlightened companies know that employees are every bit as important as customers and other stakeholders, and great employees are hard to find and painful to lose. Whilst you may have to accept that your employees won't stay forever, you should never stop working at making your company the kind of place that's hard to leave.

Companies with the happiest and most productive employees, and the lowest turnover, tend to have key people-priorities in common.


Trust. In both directions. Your employees need to trust you, know where they stand with you, and feel safe with you. And you must show that you trust them, whether it's with projects, decisions, time or money. The miserable and destructive phenomenon of "office politics," as clichéd as it may be, really boils down to nothing more than issues of trust.

Responsibility. Give your people as much as they can handle, maybe even a little more. It tells them that they and their jobs are valuable and gives them a chance to shine (or fail). It helps you identify star performers, it discourages logjams and gets more done, and it's good for your business.

Culture. Your company culture is its heart and soul, the glue that holds it together. Great employees don't stick around in companies with lousy cultures, and all other things being equal, employees perform better within a great culture. And this is usually an area where smaller businesses can almost always have an edge.

Opportunity. People naturally want to keep moving, preferably upward. And they will naturally stay with an employer longer if they know they can earn the chance to do more or different things, climb the proverbial ladder, and earn more money. This can be challenging for small companies, as with only a handful of jobs there just might not be a ladder to climb. You should seek and create opportunities for people wherever and however you can.

Recognition. Some people love getting awards, plaques and employee-of-the-month certificates. But what really matters over the long term is ongoing, straightforward, day-to-day appreciation and recognition. Give genuine praise, both publicly and privately, for work well done. Never take even tacit credit for someone else's work (and in general give much more credit than you take). Say thank you, often. There are few things that will get an employee to start polishing up their CV faster than feeling unappreciated.

Salary. Of everything on this list it's the one over which most small businesses have the least control. Clearly a good employer must do its best to pay good people what they're worth, but small companies often can't compete with big ones when it comes to compensation or "packages." So while pay is obviously a critical issue, the limited resources of a small business make the other five elements all the more important.

Trust, responsibility, culture, opportunity and recognition are entirely within the means and resources of any company, and it has been proven time and time again that employees will, within reason, make salary compromises for the most appealing overall opportunity.

The employer/employee relationship is much the same as any other relationship: what you get largely reflects what you give.

For more on Chesterton Gray then please visit our web site www.chestertongray.com

How burnt out are you??

Here we are in the middle of the last week in July, the schools have broken up, the sun is temporarily shining and across Europe our counterparts will be shutting up shop and decamping to their holiday homes. In Britain we don’t have that culture but in my world August is a dead month as the decision makers tend to have children and to use this time to take also go away.

Everyone that I seem to speak with mentions how much they are looking forward to the break and blames fatigue as one of the reasons that they’re in the state that they are.

Whether it’s due to the lingering recession, job insecurity, increased workload or other factors entirely, fatigue or job burnout is on the rise around the world.
Neither symptom is simply about being bored or disenchanted with your work. Instead it appears to be the result of prolonged work stress and is characterised by exhaustion, cynicism, a lower sense of accomplishment and severely reduced productivity. It is a widely accepted fact that burnout can also lead to increases in stress hormones, heart disease, and mental health issues like depression. There are plenty of studies on the web about the condition which have found that there are generally three types of burnout: frenetic, under-challenged, and worn-out.

In a recent study in the journal BMC Psychiatry, researchers identified the factors which can contribute to each type of burnout and suggested possible “cures.”

Frenetic burnout
• You work increasingly harder to the point of exhaustion and border on being a workaholic.
• The more hours you work, the more at risk you are of burnout.
• You are extremely involved and ambitious, and overload yourself to fulfil the demands of your job.
• You feel guilt about the idea of not achieving your ambitious goals and are often driven by this guilt.
• The Fix: Work on understanding the cause of your excessive ambition and your guilt, while reducing your personal involvement in work to satisfy personal needs.

Under-challenged burnout
• You have little to motivate you at work, and have to cope with monotonous and unstimulating conditions.
• This type of burnout is more common in men than women and in fields like administration and service personnel.
• You feel indifferent and bored and don’t experience any personal development in your job.
• You feel cynical, because you’ve lost interest in their work.
• The fix: Understand the disenchantment caused by feeling trapped in a job that bores you. Look for ways to renew your interest in your personal development at work.

Worn-out burnout
• You have been in the same organisation for many years – the more you’re there, the greater your risk, but being in one place more than four years can trigger it.
• You give up when faced with stress or lack of gratification.
• You don’t have any control over the results of your work and no recognition, which leads you to neglect your responsibilities.
• You have a somewhat passive coping style and may become less productive, which can lead to feelings of guilt.
• This type of burnout can be buffered if you have a college degree, a stable relationship and children.
• The Fix: Work through your feelings of despair and your passive coping style, and seek out a social support network at work to help you become more motivated.

The summer holiday always acts as a catalyst for individuals to get away from those stresses and strains and to re-evaluate what they want from their career and work life balance. We inevitably see an increase in assignments in the post summer holiday, matched by candidates who are more eager to discuss opportunities than they might have been earlier in the year.

If you’re away over the next few weeks, then I’ll take this opportunity to wish you a happy and relaxing holiday and hope that you return ready to face the autumn with renewed vigour.

However, if you are one of those who has re-evaluated their career options whilst lying on a beach somewhere, then please feel free to contact one of the Directors at http://www.chestertongray.com

Should I resign?

Most of the time when we meet candidates it is for a specific assignment that we have approached them about, rather than for a “chat” and yet although the majority would ostensibly claim that they are happy in their roles we are surprisingly frequently asked this question. After a little probing it tends to transpire that in fact they’re not very happy in their current job because it doesn't seem like there is much opportunity for movement or promotion at the company.

Whatever you do don't start clearing your desk just yet – at least not before you've fully evaluated your current situation. You should determine if the problem is really with the job and the company or whether there's something else at play such as your energy level or dissatisfaction with other areas of your life.

Changing companies or roles may not be enough to make you happy. There are a number of important questions you'll want to ask yourself. For example: Have you explored all of your options at the company? Have you taken the time to fully evaluate your development and career path with your manager? Could there be other non-work areas affecting your level of engagement and fulfilment? What do you like and not like about your current situation? What do you want in your career moving forward?

Even if you already know the answers to these questions and still feel like you're ready for a move, there's no need to rush. Start by contacting people in your various networks to explore what opportunities exist and consider making a strategic move. If you want to explore another kind of work, it may be wise to stay put for a time while you evaluate your next steps.

It is equally important to evaluate what you can offer a new company. Take a hard look at your “brand”, professional reputation and any other qualities and skills you bring to the job. If you can, forget for a moment that you are a company employee and instead picture yourself as a "business-of-one,” Businesses who decide to 'fire' a client that gives them the majority of their income must make sure they have a strong brand or reputation they can market, know their ideal target audience and the best way to reach them, and be certain there is enough of a demand for their services.

Now you should identify at least 25 companies where you would want to work and ensure that they employ people with your types of skills. Then you should try to network with individuals who have been hired at these companies to see if they can shed some light on what is valued by the organisation and the best way to get considered for a position. Networking often leads to learning about 'unpublished' jobs. If you can't or are unwilling to do these steps, then you're not ready to move on. Over the years most of us here have seen too many people jump out of a bad job and into a worse one.

Naturally we would very seldom advise any candidate to resign without having a new role to go to, unless there were significant mitigating circumstances.

If you would like to chat over your career options then please feel free to contact one of the team at www.chestertongray.com