Being nervous when starting a new job is completely natural. Everyone goes through it. Being new in general is always difficult, whether you are starting a new job, moving to a new town, going to a new school, or even entering a new relationship.

Of course, in the workplace it can be even more nerve-racking, because your livelihood depends on it.

A lot of people are confused about what they should do, say and act like when they are new in the office. They wonder whether they should work really hard to try and get ahead, or whether they should stay back and blend in with the crowd. They do not know whether they should approach people and try to make friends, or wait until they are invited into a clique to make contact.

Starting at a new job can be a very stressful thing, and of course, there are dos and don’ts that you need to be aware of if you are interested in making a good impression right off the bat. Some are obvious, and some are a little more subtle. Here are some of the things that you need to take into consideration when you are starting a new job and looking to both impress and fit in as soon as possible.

Good attendance is vital

There is nothing that will get you in the doghouse faster, both with bosses and coworkers, than not arriving to work on time. There really are no excuses either. While you are making breakfast or coffee, you need to be following traffic reports and you must know if there are going to be delays on your way to work and then plan accordingly. If you know that traffic is rough in the morning, leave early and get to work when you are supposed to. A good idea is to show up to work early. Waking up and leaving your home ten or fifteen minutes earlier than usual is not very hard to do, but the impression that you will leave by doing so will be substantial.

If you see that there are some people coming in later than they should, that is really not your concern. Maybe they have earned the right, or maybe they are treading on thin ice because of it. You really do not know, because you are still the new guy or gal at work. You should only be concerned about yourself at this point and you should be doing everything within your power to arrive to your office on time.

However, there are instances in which you do need to pay attention to the rest of your coworkers. If you notice that it is a normal occurrence that many of your colleagues are staying late and working an extra half hour, you need to do the same. Just because you have a nine-to-five job on paper doesn’t mean that you will be able to leave exactly at five every day. Leave when most of your coworkers leave. You need to show them that you are both dedicated to the job and flexible with your time.

Of course, emergencies and sicknesses are things that will happen, but if you can avoid taking days off during the first several weeks or months of your employment, try to do that. Taking days off for a three-day vacation trip to the country or calling out on a Monday to take your dog to the groomers is not a good idea.

Dress appropriately

Dressing like a professional is a very important part of your first impression. Of course, you should not overdress either. However, on your first day, you need to be in a full suit and tie for most all office jobs. If you noticed during the course of your first week that a jacket might not be mandatory, coming into work in just a shirt and tie is fine, but if there are people wearing full suits regularly, you should be doing that as well for the first couple of weeks, because you never know when you might get called into a meeting with upper management.

What you wear is only half of it, however, you also need to know how to wear it. Grooming is a very important part of first impressions. Even though there are many cases in which people who have wrinkled and stained clothes end up being good workers, as far as first impressions are concerned, the way you look could define your work habits in the eyes of many people in your office. Most people equate well-groomed and neat people with being organized individuals who meet deadlines, and usually think that disheveled and poorly groomed people will end up being disorganized and confused. Pay special attention to your grooming and the way you dress during the first several months, while showing people what kind of worker you are going to be for the company.

Don’t be a brownnoser

Trying to get in good with the boss is one thing, and there are ways to do that without making enemies in the office. Even though you want to get on your boss’ good side, there is nothing worse in the office than a new worker who is a brownnoser. Most of the time, your boss will not even respond well to transparent compliments and cheap efforts to get his or her attention, however, you can be certain that your coworkers will notice. Making enemies before you have even made any friends in the office is obviously not the way to go. However, some people think that getting in good with the higher-ups is in the best interest of their careers, and sometimes it is, but not at the risk of alienating your coworkers and the people who you have to be around for the large majority of your time spent in the office.

Get acquainted with coworkers

You need to be trying to fit in with your coworkers instead of pushing them away. Of course, there are people who try too hard to make new buddies in the office, but there are ways to do so without coming off as annoying or desperate. In order to show them that you are genuinely interested in befriending them, you need to try and learn the names of your coworkers quickly. The faster you are able to remember everyone’s names, the better off you will be, because it shows that you are someone who wants to be part of the team.

Maintain a positive attitude at work and don’t let things that are happening outside of the office affect you. If you had a fight with your spouse, leave that at home. Don’t let it show in the office, and more importantly, don’t introduce it into the office. These means that you need to keep these personal things out of the office entirely. Do not spend too much time during business hours on the phone talking about personal problems and do not let these things affect your work or your attitude. Having a positive attitude is very important if you want people to gravitate towards you and get to know you better.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions when you do not know something. Asking questions not only shows that you are not arrogant or stuck-up, it also shows that you are genuinely interested in the job and in doing it well. It also shows that you have a desire to be a part of a successful team. Showing interest in what the company is doing and interest in being able to contribute to these things the best that you can is a good way to get your coworkers to like and respect you right off the bat.

Avoid office gossip

A lot of people think that getting into office gossip is a way in which you will be able to make friends, but it’s not. There is nothing more off-putting than a new colleague who is constantly trying to catch on to what their coworkers are gossiping about every day. You cannot avoid hearing these types of things, but you need to keep out of them completely.

Participating in office gossip is never good, but it something that is often unavoidable. Thankfully, as the new guy or girl at work, you have a better chance of avoiding it, so make sure you stay out of these types of things while you still can.

Engage in after-hours activities responsibly  

Building relationships within the company and showing your team spirit can be achieved by participating in various after-work activities that your colleagues might enjoy together. However, you need to show restraint and responsibility when participating yourself. If you are going out for a drink with some coworkers after work, stay at one or two drinks at the most. Even if you see one of your coworkers who you find interesting getting sloshed and throwing back drink after drink, don’t join them. Gaining the respect of everyone in the office is a lot more important than making one new friend. Have a drink or two and then excuse yourself politely, of course, thanking them for inviting you out and stating that you would love to do it again next week.

If your company has its own softball or basketball team and you are the type who likes playing sports, be sure to take advantage of that. Even if there is no room on the roster this year, go to the events and cheer for your company players. Get involved and participate in these activities in any capacity you want, because they are good ways to bond with your coworkers. Remember to always keep it fun, especially if you are a competitive person, because being too competitive or taking these things too seriously is not an appealing trait to have in these events that are supposed to be fun team-building activities, not cut-throat sporting competitions.

These are some good tips to not only make a good impression at your new job, but to also avoid making any negative ones during these most crucial first weeks and months of your employment.

David Lazar is a blogger at CometDocs.com. With a background in journalism, he enjoys writing about and following a variety of topics, including careers, technology and new media. 

Yippee! A job offer...but should you take it?

Before you accept a job offer though, there are a few things you should do to ensure you’re making the right decision especially if taking the job means you’ll have to resign and quit the current job you’re with.

Does the new job solve your problem? Presumably you started looking for a new job for a reason. Perhaps you weren’t making enough money at your current job. Maybe you were tired of your boss/company/industry/commute or something else that needed to be changed. Whatever the problem or issue, does your new job actually resolve this issue without creating a new one(s)? In other words does the new job actually make sense for you?

Is the job right for your future or right for now? Is your new job and company one you could see yourself having for a few years or is it simply one that seems better than the one you have now? Having a long term perspective is ideal but of course since you’re working for someone else (your employer) you’re kind of reliant upon them to deliver on certain things that you can’t always control. In that regard, does your new job/company offer you a better long term plan than your current one? The last thing you want to do is leave one situation for one that isn’t much better than what you have now.

Are you jumping for the money? In recruitment we were always told that we don’t want to be dealing with job searchers who were money-motivated and were only looking for a new job because they wanted more money. The thought was that if you really just wanted more money why not just ask your current employer for a raise and save everyone the headache of a job search? Easier said than done of course but in my experience there are always people who will change jobs for an extra dollar (or two) and the fear is that if they find yet another job for a few more dollars than that, they’ll jump for that too. No one is a charity and we all have a job in part because we need the money but as mentioned above a long-term perspective is best here because sometimes the job that pays more money but not really end up delivering more money if another job has a better bonus plan, better upward mobility, a shorter commute (can you really put a value on that?), less stress, more vacation or a combination of the above?

Sometimes you have to read beyond the headlines especially when it comes to a job offer.

Bullseye! New job achieved.

Here’s an update on my unemployed friend who I’d referred to late last year in several posts and how his story ties into another post that I wrote recently where I talked about the likelihood of getting a job offer on the spot at the end of a job interview.

If you want to first read some background info about my friend’s story and how he’s been handling unemployment, you can can check out my When Your Job Search Starts To Drag On post.

If you’d like to read more about my post on getting a job offer at the end of an interview, you can check out my Getting Hired On The Spot post.

So an interesting thing happened while my friend was searching for a job after 5 months of unemployment after he’d been laid off last fall. He has found it difficult to not only find a new job but even get job interviews. He’s started looking at jobs out of the country and in fact out of the continent.

About two weeks ago he received a job interview for a job he was interested in and low and behold, he not only got a job offer but he got the job offer on the spot right at the end of the interview. So forget everything I said last week and you probably not getting a job offer on the spot…clearly I was wrong.

In all likelihood job offers tend not to be produced right at the end of an interview but sometimes a company needs to hire someone quickly and is willing to make a move on a person right away.

Further, sometimes the person they are interviewing for the job is someone who is known to the company and already has a leg up on the others interviewing for the job….

That’s exactly what happened in the case of my friend: One of the hiring managers at this company immediately recognized his name and upon seeing my friend’s resume and learning that he was looking for a new job, he decided that my friend was not only getting an interview but that barring some sort of issue, would hire my friend.

And that’s what happened.

It turns out that my friend and the hiring manager had met in the past few years at an event and had hit it off and since they had a mutual friend who had also vouched for my friend, the hiring manager felt very comfortable trusting his gut and hiring my friend on the spot following their first (and only) interview.

So What Did My Friend Do Right?

My friend did a few things right that helped him get the job:

1. He kept applying for suitable jobs and didn’t let his unemployment get him down: He did get a bit disappointed from time to time but for the most part he kept his head up and kept looking for work.

2. He kept his options open: He applied for local jobs, jobs that would require relocating and applied to companies that he felt might be in need of someone with his experience regardless of whether they had an advertised job or not.

3. He left a good impression on people: The hiring manager had only met my friend once several years ago and yet he remembered my friend and was willing to not only give him a job interview based on this meeting but also offered him the job.

4. He networked: As it turns out, both my friend and the hiring manager have a mutual acquaintance who had put the good word in for my friend which also helped him get both the interview and the job. My friend had let this mutual acquaintance know he was looking for a job and this person then let the hiring manager know that my friend would be a good fit. Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone in your corner when you are looking for a new job?

So with a bit of luck (if you believe in such a thing), a bit of networking, a bit of being in the right place at the right time and a good impression in the job interview, my friend is has once again joined the ranks of the employed.

Who has a great story to tell? I’d love to hear your stories about examples of how you got a new job when the chips were down.

Make me an offer!

Is it possible to get a job offer on the spot is one question they’ll ask.

Another question is do most hiring managers hire on the spot?

I suspect the reason for the questions is that not surprisingly people look for any cue or hint that they’ll be the person that gets the job offer and they want to know as soon as possible. Trying to figure out if you’re going to get the job offer can be a frustrating task if you think you can figure a hiring manager out and read their mind especially if you’re hoping to get a quick (and positive) answer from them.

I think the issue is that sometimes people attend an interview and feel like they make a connection with the interviewer(s), answer all the questions asked of them and leave the interview thinking “I’m getting this job.”

I’ve lost count of the number of candidates who called me after an interview and told me in various ways that they were certain they were getting a job offer.

The interesting part of course is that unless you sat in to all the other interviews and know the other candidates being considered, how could you possibly assume you’re getting the job unless you were expressly told that by the hiring manager?

In my experience most job offers are not received on the spot so if you leave the interview without getting one, don’t be disappointed. You still might not get the job of course but generally speaking companies haven’t done reference checks before the interview so receiving a job offer on the spot tends to be a rare experience unless the company really needs to hire someone quickly, has already interviewed and turned down other people and unless they’ve already done reference checks on you beforehand and can make such a decision on the spot.

Another possible reason you could get a job offer on the spot is if the hiring manager knows going in to the interview that you are considering another job offer(s) and that they are competing with other employers for your services

Can You Speed Up The Process?

Whether or not you can speed up the decision-making process and get the job offer on the spot depends on a number of things – several of which were mentioned above – but generally speaking there may not be much you can do unless you have a legitimate job offer(s) in hand and can use it as leverage against the other employer(s) you’re interview with. Not all hiring manages will appreciate having the feeling of being coerced to hire because you have a job offer elsewhere so this tactic doesn’t always work and some might be turned off by it.

But in terms of what you can do to make a hiring manager’s decision easy for them, here a few things to focus on:

The Interview itself: Come prepared to the interview with everything you need to show them you’re the best person for the job certainly helps. Not only does this mean answering all their questions in full and to their satisfaction but it could also mean bringing a nicely typed page with your references on it, showing them the following information:

• The name of your references
• Their phone number and email address
• The company where you worked with that person
• The role that person held and their relationship to you i.e. were they your manager, a peer, colleague, etc?

Your references: Other than providing the hiring company with a detailed reference list including the info mentioned above, the next important step is to ensure you have already contacted your references ahead of time to let them know they might be called for a reference for you. You should also prepare your references and give them information they need to properly represent you, namely:

• Letting them know what company you’re interviewing with
• Telling them what job you’re interviewing for
• Describing to them what skills and experience are in demand for this job so that the reference can understand what skills and experience you have that the hiring manager might like to know about.

Doing the above may not speed up the hiring process or get you a job offer on the spot but it can help to ensure that things aren’t slowed down while you wait to hear back from references or while you run around trying to get other things done that you probably should have done earlier.

Having all your ducks in a row and having everything ready might however help to show the hiring manager that you are serious about the job and might help you get a leg up on the other candidates who aren’t as organized.

Is getting a lawyer to look over your job offer a good idea? Certainly as the job offer gets longer and more detailed, getting an experienced employment lawyer can be a good idea so that you’re not signing anything you might regret.

Unless you’re a lawyer yourself, sometimes it can be difficult to figure out some of the wording of work contracts especially when they include a no-compete clause and other legalese that you might not be sure about.

I’ve seen job offers that consist of 2 pages and I’ve also helped people work through and accept job offers that are often 10 pages or more when you add in the various attachments and inclusions.

In that regard, getting an employment lawyer to look over your job offer before signing it can be a good idea to ensure that you properly understand everything you’re signing, get the things you don’t quite understand clarified and are made aware of certain things that you might want to ask your future employer about before autographing it and sending it back to them.

It’s often hard to sign a job offer and think about all the possible outcomes that might not occur until you’ve left that job! You’re just about to join the company, and aren’t worried about what happens when you leave!

To give you an idea why this isn’t a good strategy, I’m reminded of a situation with a guy I knew when I was helping him look for a new job. He held a good job in a management position and left the company to join another firm that could reasonably be considered a competitor. His former employer found out that he’d joined a competitor and threatened to take him to court for violating his work contract with them which specified that he wasn’t allowed to work for a competitor for a period of time.

He ended up quitting the job a few months after he’d started, to avoid the lawsuit and the grief that it was going to also give his new employer who clearly weren’t at fault in any way. That’s why he had started working with me…to find a new job to replace the one he’d just been forced to quit.

Having multiple job offers to choose from is one of the best situations you can be in during your career. Mind you these days, just getting one job offer is probably something most people searching for a job would be happy with.

Sometimes, things work out where you have several job options to choose from and it can actually become quite difficult to figure out which job offer is best for you. I’ve seen plenty of cases where a person can’t find a new job, gets frustrated and having been looking for a job for a period of time, suddenly find themselves working through two or more job opportunities that end up resulting in them receiving more than one job offer.

These days, companies can take a lot longer to make a decision and can drag out the hiring process to the point where the start align and two or more companies make you a job offer around the same time.

If you have multiple job offers to choose from, here are some suggestions to figure out which one is best:

1. Get all job offers in writing. A job offer isn’t a job offer until you have a hard copy in your hands. You need everything that was promised in writing and shouldn’t accept verbal promises made by someone who might not be in the position (or even with the company) to live up to the promise in the future.

2. Look beyond the money when making your decision. If the job offers you are considering are different in terms of the compensation, remember to consider all aspects of the two job offers. Picking the highest paying position isn’t always best in the long term. Sometimes, other perks (ie. more vacation, better bonus, shorter commute, stock options, benefits) can more than make up for another company offering a higher salary.

3. Compare the pros and cons of each offer and each job opportunity. Sometimes it might be difficult to compare two job offers exactly since some components might not appear on each offer but do your best to remember which job will fulfill most if not all of your requirements.

4. Don’t string along the companies whose offers you are considering. In most cases you’ll be given a period of time to accept a job offer and while you want to take the necessary time to consider the offer, don’t wait so long that one of the companies pulls their offer, assuming you aren’t interested. I’ve seen this happen.

5. Be careful about playing one company against. With multiple job offers, the first thought might be to see if one company will increase their offer if you tell them that you are considering another offer and sometimes, this can result in you getting an improved offer from one or more companies. Or it could result in an offer being pulled away from you by a company who isn’t happy that you are trying to use them this way. Use discretion and common sense.

6. Make it official before resigning. Don’t reject any job offers until you have returned a signed copy of the job offer you are accepting and have confirmation from your new employer that they have received the signed offer in their hands. Job offers get rescinded…I know a woman who verbally committed to a job, told her current employer she was resigning only to have her new employer change their mind and rescind the job offer before she’d returned the signed copy.

One of the hardest things to do during a job search can be when you’re walking out of an interview and are trying to figure out if it went well. Often – most of the time in my experience – hiring managers don’t really give you any indication of how well you did so it’s usually hard to figure out.

In rare instances while working as a recruiter, I can recall times when a hiring manager called me following an interview with one of my candidates where the hiring manager all but said “I’m going to hire this person” but by the way they spoke about the person, I knew that’s exactly what was going to happen. Sometimes, you just click with a hiring manager and it becomes obvious to both parties that you want the job and they want to hire you.

I recall one case where the hiring manager called me right after the interview with my candidate to tell me that they’d made a job offer to the person right on the spot.

Most of the time though, it’s hard to figure things out and you have to wait until you either get the thumbs up or down from the hiring authority that you’re dealing with.

While it’s difficult to look for signs that 100% guarantee you are either getting the job or not, there are some things to look for that can help to give you an idea if you should keep moving ahead with your job search or if you might be receiving an offer soon:

Look for “buy signs” from the interviewer: Look for signs from the hiring authority or whoever is interviewing you that indicate interest in you. They are typically in the form of questions that help the interviewer gauge your interest in the job. Buy signs include asking you your salary requirements, the date you can start the job, what other companies you’re interviewing with, if you’re currently considering any other job offers and asking you for references. Strong buy signs could include showing you around the office or where you’d be sitting or when the interviewer unexpectedly brings in other people to interview you which might indicate they want a second opinion or that they want to save the time of having you come back for a second interview if they want to speed things up.

Consider the length of the interview: Certainly, if you’re in and out of an interview in less than 30 minutes, this often isn’t a good sign. Other times, it might not necessarily mean anything but more often than not, when I know a candidate is in for an interview at say 9:00am and my phone rings at 9:30am and the candidate’s name is showing up on the caller ID and they tell me they just finished the interview, I generally assume the interview didn’t go well and usually it didn’t. Conversely I’ve had candidates interview for upwards of 1.5 hours and then get invited back for a second interview of a similar length and then they don’t get the job either so sometimes it’s hard to tell.

Pay attention to how the interview ends: Do you leave the interview and suddenly realize there was no discussion as to what happens next or when you’ll hear from the hiring manager regarding your candidacy? This is often not a good sign but then again, I’ve attended interviews where there was no discussion of when I’ll get a response and then a week later, I got a job offer. If the hiring manager expects to have an answer in say 2 days and one week later you still haven’t heard anything typically something has happened behind the scenes. Perhaps they’re still interviewing other people, maybe they’ve found another person they like more and are trying to wrap things up with them, maybe an internal candidate arose that they are planning to hire.

Again, none of the things mentioned above guarantee anything but they can certainly help to indicate but they might help to give you hints as to which way the hiring manager is thinking with regards to whether or not they should hire you.

I specifically didn’t mention any signs that people often look for from hiring managers that they believe indicate something one way or the other. Having a hiring manager smile at you as you’re leaving the interview or feeling that you made a “connection” with the interviewer doesn’t really mean much to me because often it might be a case of the interviewer simply being polite or where you simply misinterpreted the signals being offered.

One of the areas that people often ask about when they get a job offer is the probation period and what it means to them.

Companies can differ in terms of what the probationary period means and your local labor laws might have some input too but typically a 3-month probation period is fairly common.

This normally means that for the first 3 months on the job you’re essentially being observed and monitored by the company to ensure you’re the person they really want for the job. It often means that they can dismiss you without cause during this period and they may not have to give you notice (ie. 2 weeks) to terminate you. It’s typically the time when you don’t yet qualify for perks like company health insurance, too.

If your new job has a probation period, you might enquire to see if it can be waived but typically companies use the probationary period just to make sure they’re making the right hiring decision.

In my time as a recruiter, I’ve had a few cases where a person didn’t quite turn out and were dismissed within the 3 month probation period. This does happen from time to time unfortunately. Sometimes, things just don’t work out as planned and the first few months on the job is often when it becomes clear to the employer that they hired the wrong person.

When working with a recruiter, the recruitment firm typically offers the hiring company a guarantee period and it’s usually 3 months in length and maybe even longer ie. 6 months. This means that if you get hired by the company through a recruiter but you get terminated or quit within the guarantee period, the recruitment firm will replace you and find someone else to take the job at no extra charge to the client. In some cases, recruiters offer cash back which means that in the event you’re terminated within the probation period, the recruiter gives the money back that the company paid them to help get you hired.

Clearly, it’s not in the best interest of the recruiter to have to refill a job following a candidate getting terminated or quitting within the probation period – this is known in the recruitment industry as a fall off – so your recruiter will probably be touching base during this guarantee period to ensure you’re happy and aren’t planning on quitting (or getting fired!).

Waiting for a job offer – or waiting for an employer to give you some sort of response and feedback following a job interview – can be one of the most frustrating parts of the job search process.

In today’s economy, many companies might be thinking twice or three times before hiring a new staff member. It that regard, it might help to explain why you aren’t getting a quick response following an interview or why you’re waiting around for days or weeks for a job offer that you believed was coming your way.

Mind you, the hiring manager might just be lazy, incompetent or both. That happens too. Sometimes you’re dealing with someone who isn’t really that motivated and will get around to it when they get around it to.

Recruiters like to say that “time kills deals.” In other words, the longer it takes to get a job offer in the hands of a job candidate, the less likely that the “deal” – the job offer gets extended by the employer and accepted by the job searcher – will get closed.

Job searchers can lose interest in the job, they can find another job in the meantime, they can change their mind, lots of things can happen.

I can recall numerous times where a hiring authority tells me that a job candidate I’m working with has done well in an interview and they feel good about the person’s chances to get hired.

A few days pass by and nothing happens so when I call the manager for an update, I’m told there isn’t one.

A few more days pass by and nothing has happened. I follow up again and am again told that there is no update.

A few more days pass by and at this point, I’m fairly certain that no job offer is coming but I call the manager anyways to get some specifics.

Meanwhile, the job searcher thinks they’re getting a job offer because the hiring manager basically told them as much in the last interview so they’re excited and they’re calling me every day for an update.

When all is said and done, the person doesn’t get a job offer and typically they’ve soured on the company for screwing them around and maybe even on me because they think I had something to do with it even when I didn’t.

I faced this same issue early in my career when I was waiting for an interview with a company that I was told (I was working with a recruiter on this job) they wanted to interview me. In fact the recruiter told me I’d hear directly from the hiring manager on a specific day so I literally waited by the phone on the day for the call.

It never came. I never got a call that day and I was pretty upset because I figured they were no longer interested.

I called the recruiter several times for updates but he didn’t have any.
The recruiter told me not to worry, that the call would come.

Two more days passed by and by now, I figured the job must have been filled and they just never bothered to tell me. Instead, I get a call from the recruiter telling me he had spoken with the hiring manager and had scheduled the interview. So I was relieved, but I was still a bit angry that two days had passed by and no one had told me anything.

Fast forward to after the interview had taken place, I again was told that good news was coming from the company, that they wanted to hire me. Again, I was given a specific time frame when I’d get a call from the hiring manager with the specifics and again the call never came on time.

Another 2 days passed by and I was again following up with the recruiter to get an update but again he didn’t have one.

Finally, I got a call from not the hiring manager but one of his staff who had interviewed me and she told me they were hiring me.

Once I started with the company and I learned more about my manager, I realized why he had been so late with the interview and job offer and why he’d missed both deadlines, that he had in fact set himself.

He wasn’t a timely person.

He was late for meetings, was always rushing around trying to be on time, and this is simply who he was. He was not a person who was very good at being on time and to be honest, he didn’t seem to care much or notice. Others in our group often joked and complained about how unreliable he was in terms of timeliness. I recall group meetings when he’d show up 20 minutes late quite regularly.

Had I known about his lack of time management skills ahead of time, I probably wouldn’t have worried so much when he never contacted me at the previously mentioned times.

But I didn’t know. And chances are you don’t know much about the hiring manager(s) you’re dealing with when you’re waiting for them to do something ie. interview you, check your references, offer you the job, etc.

What can you do about it?

I was able to follow up with the recruiter I was working with since he was working between me and the hiring manager. I could call the recruiter for updates. If you’re working with a recruiter, I would listen to their instructions and follow up with them for updates regarding a job you’re applying for.

But should you call a hiring manager directly for an update on your candidacy if you’re dealing directly with them and not a recruiter? If they’ve given you a time frame for a response and the time frame has passed and you have no response, it’s certainly reasonable that you might call them or email them for an update. I wouldn’t contact them the moment the deadline has passed but you might try to contact them the next day for an update if you still haven’t heard.

In some cases, you might have a situation where you are waiting for Company A to respond, and then get a job offer from Company B. In this case, you think about contacting Company A and asking them for an answer in case there is a chance that you end up with two job offers and get to choose between the two (wouldn’t that be great!?)

In this instance, I’d certainly contact Company A and let them know I need an answer but only if I really do have a job offer from Company B in hand. Some people think they can bluff and get Company A to speed up their decision by pretending they have another job offer from someone else but this is not a very good idea. If Company A calls your bluff, you’ve got nothing.

Sometimes, you’re on the hiring manager’s time frame – as I was with the example I gave above – and you need to figure out if you want to wait around for their response or not. When you have other job options from other employers, things might be a bit different since you’ve got some leverage.

Even then, sometimes you’re still on the company’s time frame.

How to accept a job offer tends to be defined by the company hiring you but it’s still a question that people have as they’re about to change jobs.

A few weeks ago we spoke about how to accept a job offer but we mostly discussed issues related to things you should think about when accepting a job offer.

But what about figuring out exactly how to accept a job offer?

In other words what is the exact process to accept the job?

Typically, the company does have some sort of a process that they have probably mentioned to you regarding what you officially need to do to accept the offer and make it final.

Here are the steps that typically happen as a job offer is being readied for you:

1. Presumably, successful reference checks that the employer is happy with – along with any background test, drug testing or other tests – have been completed. Typically, job offers aren’t tendered until references have been successfully completed.

2. Normally, a verbal acceptance or perhaps an email stating that you accept the company’s offer comes next. Some companies ask that you verbally agree to the job offer before they put it in writing so that they don’t waste the time of typing something up and then have you reject it. In this instance, you’d agree to the basic parts of the offer that are important – salary, vacation, job title, etc – and then the offer is put into writing.

3. You’re going to have something in writing to sign – the job offer, perhaps a non-compete clause or other paperwork – which will undoubtedly be part of the process.

4. You return the necessary paperwork to your new employer on or before the date they specify to the person specified. These days this is often in the form of a fax, email and/or sending the original documents in person or by mail/courier. I always like to follow up to ensure they received the paperwork and that all i’s are dotted and t’s crossed before the final step…

5. You hand in your resignation to your current employer. As mentioned, you shouldn’t resign until you have returned the job offer to your new employer and they have confirmed that they have it.

I’ve seen cases where people – I have no idea why they do this – resign before they have completed the process with their new employer. I’ve heard of people telling their current manager that they have a new job as they’re waiting for the job offer from the new employer! Why someone would do this, I have no idea.

A new job isn’t a new job until you have it in writing and have returned the job offer to your new employer and have confirmed that they have it.

Sometimes, people get antsy when getting a new job and want to tell their current employer as soon as possible perhaps because they feel a sense of loyalty and want to give them enough time to find a replacement.

Sometimes people agree to start a new job but can’t give their current employer the proper notice time so perhaps they decide to announce their resignation before getting the offer in order to give the proper notice period or to come as close as possible.

Again, unless you have the job offer in writing, what’s the point in resigning? I know of one case where a woman I knew had resigned from her current employer after getting a verbal job offer but the job offer was pulled (the hiring company changed their mind and decided not to hire her) so she ended up becoming unemployed.

If giving proper notice is going to be a problem when accepting a new job, you might have to do some negotiating. Typically 2-3 weeks notice is standard but your specific instance might be different. Some people have notice periods of 4 weeks or longer so if your new employer wants you to start in say 2 weeks, you’re going to have to do some talking with either your current employer (to get a shorter notice period), your new employer (to get a later start date) or both.

The last thing you want to do is burn bridges and quit your current employer without giving them the proper notice period against their wishes. I recall doing a reference check for one woman who had quit her old employer without giving the proper notice period and when I called her former manager to do a reference on her, the only thing he wanted to talk about was how she quit suddenly and “left me in the lurch” to use his words. Needless to say, it wasn’t a very good reference.