With competition rising by the day and jobs becoming hard to come by, many have started treating receiving a job offer from a company to be the ultimate success. However, getting a job offer is just the start and there is a lot that happens between you receiving a job offer and the final joining. And most often than not, freshers joining a company and at times even young experienced professionals are clueless as to what are the next steps one should perform after receiving the job offer.
While every industry and every job profile might have their own specific things that professionals must do after receiving their job offers; below we have listed down the basic one’s that are application to almost all job profiles. Be it understanding the role and your title or the nature of the job that is being offered; here are a few things that everyone should do after receiving their dream job offer.
1. Study the Job Offer Thoroughly 
Job offer in literal sense of a term is ‘an offer of employment’, the key word in that being offer. It is an offer being made by your future employer on the basis of your knowledge, skill-set, experience and many other factors combined. But still, it is an offer which is open to negotiations and change. Therefore, it is very important that you study the job offer thoroughly before accepting it.
There might be several different factors which might have been highlighted or promised to you during your interview process. However, not all of those will make it to the offer letter. For instance, you might have been promised several health benefits or an exceptional pension plan during your HR round, but it is very important to note that all the aspects discussed in the HR round have made it to the offer letter. Therefore, it is very important to study the offer letter in detail and understand all the aspects related to the job profile, responsibilities, designation, remuneration and others before accepting the offer.
2. Understand Your Role & Designation
More often than not, the role and designations for which you had applied to and interviewed for are modified or changed keeping in mind your skill-set and experience. Often two job profiles are merged to create a profile which is more suited to your skill-set, or HRs dilute the designation to ensure internal team hierarchy and organizational structure. For instance, you might have applied for a position of a Manager but are often cases where a candidate who has applied for the position of Manager would be made an offer of Assistant Manager, while retaining the same job responsibilities. Many candidates often end up ignoring the designation / position mentioned on the letter and end up accepting the wrong job offers.
This could spell disaster for your career, because as a professional you always want to move ahead. So, to avoid this, you must always cross check and verify the position, role and responsibilities that are being offered to you as part of a job offer. In case of any confusion or challenge, you can always reconnect with the HR and get clarify regarding it. But, make sure you sign the dotted line only once you are satisfied with this.
3. Document Everything 
Ask any experienced professional one thing that they consider super important as far as professional life is concerned, and majority of them would reiterate ‘Documentation’ as the single most pivotal trait. Documentation is a very important part of one’s professional life and you will realize its important right from the day when you receive your offer letter.
As discussed above, an offer letter is what it says it is i.e. an offer and it is subject to change and modifications on both the ends. Therefore, it is very important to document each and everything that has been discussed verbally as part of the either official offer letter or the e-mail from the HR. Without documentation, you would lose the battle even before wield the sword. Therefore, ensure that you document each and every minor detail right from the salary details, designation, medical and insurance benefits and all other aspects in clear and easy to understand terms. It is very important for you to get those things documented as without it, you will not be able to highlight the same demands on your service agreement which you will sign as per your joining formalities.
4. SalaryPackage / Remuneration Details
Now, coming to the most important aspect related to Job Offer, the Salary Package or remuneration details. This is one aspect that almost everyone examines and understands in detail, even if that means ignoring everything else. But, still it is important to know and evaluate certain latent aspects of the salary package mentioned in your offer letter.
This includes understanding the exact break-up of the salary offered including all the different types of deductions, starting from pension, provident fund, insurance amount and any others. As far as PF is concerned, you must understand that PF comprises of contribution from both employee as well as employer. So, while both the components are taken into account for your CTC, the both of them are not part of your in-hand salary. Therefore, you must very clearly ask your employer or HR to write down the exact gross salary which you would receive at the end of every month, excluding PF from both employee and employer.
Image Source: Speller International
The second most important head you must evaluate and understand in your remuneration package would be variable pay. Variable Pay is essentially the performance bonus that would be offered to you on the basis of your performance. Therefore, never mistake it to be part of the CTC, irrespective of what the HR professional or your to-be manager tells you about.
While these two aspects are very much known among professionals, one thing which is job aspirants often fail to check is their tax liability. Your recruiter would always offer you salary details in terms of CTC / Cost To Company. However, it is upto you to actually understand your tax-liability as per the salary being offered under different heads. There are many different heads under which your remuneration can be broken down to reduce your tax liability; for instance health benefits or conveyance remuneration is often not counted as part of your taxable income. If you can negotiate with your employer / HR to increase the amount offered under these heads your tax liability would reduce drastically. So, make sure you understand your tax liability as per your salary and take the necessary steps to minimize it.
5. Show your Interest & Enthusiasm
While all the points mentioned above lay a lot of emphasis upon discussion and clarifying things with HR, you must also remember that there are a thousand other people who are ready to accept the job offer as offered to them, without any changes. This doesn’t mean that you need to ignore important aspects just to ensure that you get the job, what it means that you need to highlight these concerns in a way that they understand them in the right way.
The best approach in this regard would be to show your interest and enthusiasm in the offer made and your willingness to join the organization. This would showcase your personal commitment to the HR regarding the role and the responsibilities on offer strengthening your case further. However, one must also not go overboard while displaying their enthusiasm that it may start looking like desperation. You will have to balance this fine line very carefully to have the maximum impact.
These are just the basic-few aspects that every professional must take care of after receiving a job offer. They might look quite serious and daunting at first, but they will surely help you in long run. But, before you get too worried about these nuances, do remember that getting a job offer is an achievement in itself and taking care of the above mentioned would only further strengthen your case in front of the employer.
