5 Things to Discuss With HR Before Accepting a New Job Offer

5 Things to Discuss: You have been applying for a job online for quite a while now and that opportunity is right here. Some mistakes some people make is mostly when it is time to talk with their HR.

But you don’t just discuss anything with your HR before grabbing a job. I will tell you you should discuss it with your HR.

Today, people are becoming choosier about their career paths, and they know that they are deserving of more than the bare minimum. In our job seeker-driven labor market, people aren’t content to take anything that is being offered, and they know that they need to ask certain questions to make sure that they are going to be treated like a valued employee and not just a number. 

If you are offered a new position, here are important things that you need to talk with HR about before you accept the offer.

1. Compensation Plan

In many jobs, you’ll receive a base salary as well as additional incentive compensation—that is, extra pay based on performance. If you will receive any form of incentive compensation be it commission or bonus—ask how that pay is determined. Is it based on a formula or objective criteria?

What will it typically be as a percentage of your base salary, and what are the past high, low, and median levels for someone at your level? The more you know about incentive compensation, the easier it will be to structure your performance to maximize it.

Although each of these amounts is often highly negotiated by senior hires, junior employees usually don’t have much leverage. That said if your potential employer offers you less than you had anticipated and it won’t move off that number, ask if you can receive a salary review before the standard review period.

Large companies often can’t diverge from specified salary levels, but might see an earlier review as a way to reward you without breaking rules.

2. Employee Education

Even if you can’t imagine returning to school, find out about your prospective employer’s continuing education and tuition reimbursement program. A few years down the road, you may realize you need an additional degree or even just a few courses to position yourself best for advancement.

In addition to finding out how much your company will reimburse you for further education, also ask questions to uncover how easy they will make it for you to receive it.

The most generous companies will not only pay for your education but also allow you time off to complete a degree. But, as with moving reimbursement, find out if there is a required payback in time with the company if you use a corporate reimbursement program for your education.

3. Vacation Plan

You probably didn’t feel it wise to ask about vacation or sabbaticals when you were trying to land the job, but now’s your opportunity to learn about the company’s policies.

How many days does the company offer each year? Are you allowed to roll over days from one calendar year to the next? Will you be compensated for the days off, or not?

Today, some of the more creative companies are offering flexible vacation trade-offs. One 2009 college graduate working for a defense contractor told me she took advantage of a company policy that allowed her to convert her overtime hours to vacation days and extend her vacation abroad with her boyfriend.

4. Moving Expenses

When I graduated from business school, I worried about how I would transport my car to my new job, since I planned to fly rather than drive all the way from Boston to Washington.

Then I read the small print in my HR packet. The company would transport my car to me at its expense! I’m not going to lie, I felt a little guilty watching my rusty 15-year-old compact being lifted onto the vehicle carrier—but it definitely saved me hassle and time.

Even if you’re moving from a dorm room to an apartment via your parents’ minivan, you do have moving expenses, and it’s worth asking whether gasoline and mileage are covered. Also ask about reimbursement for apartment-seeking expenses—even day trips to a new city result in the subway, train, cab, meals, and tipping costs.

If you’re more established, you may also need to think about selling your home and buying a new one. Some companies will agree to compensate new hires for a loss on their home or pick up the financing fees or closing costs on a new home.

All this said, make sure to ask about any contingencies tied to moving reimbursement. When I moved on to a new job 11 months later, I received a formal letter from my previous employer informing me I had to pay the company back for prior moving expenses, since I left before a year. Fortunately, my former manager was able to intervene—but make sure you figure out beforehand if there’s a “clawback” of moving expenses.

5. Work-Life Balance

As a single young professional in my 20s at Merrill Lynch, I never considered reviewing the policies that would affect my work-life balance, such as parental leave, flex time, telecommuting policies, or retirement benefits.

But before I left the firm 10 years later, I was married, had two children, worked from home one day a week, and had contributed to my children’s college fund.

You may be far from building a family, but it’s worthwhile to check out how your company will treat you if you do. In the U.S., anyone male or female employed for at least 12 months by a business with a payroll of at least 50 people may take 12 unpaid weeks off and not lose his or her job under the Family Medical Leave Act.

But the structure of these policies can differ: For example, some companies offer more than 12 weeks. And some companies compensate the parent for the time they are home, while others don’t.

Similarly, flex time, telecommuting guidelines, and savings plans although possibly unimportant to you now—might later make the difference between maintaining your job with your employer and quitting down the line. Moreover, these policies can be a revealing measure of your prospective company’s attitudes toward its employees—especially its female employees.

Although a discussion with your prospective employer’s HR department may not seem important when you receive an offer for your dream job, these are worthwhile conversations to have.

Not only will you reduce the possibility of surprises down the road, but you may also be able to adjust the offer in your favor. Remember, you never have more leverage than when you’re holding an offer you haven’t accepted.

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Note Here: Asking the right questions before accepting a job offer helps you ensure you know exactly what your new role will entail, what the company’s expectations of you are, and what your expectations of the company should be.

During the job interview, the interviewer likely spent most of the time asking you questions to make sure you’re the right fit for the position, and you may have ended the interview with some questions of your own.

Once you receive an official job offer, there are some useful questions to ask to make sure this position meets your expectations and professional goals.

Your friends might be ignorant of what to discuss with their HR before accepting a new job offer. Reach out to them too on social media platforms to share this with them.

StudentsandScholarship Team.