Accepting a new job is as much your choice as it is your significant other’s. The amount of job offers that have gone completely sideways due to a significant other not being involved in the process is higher than anybody wants . In my experience, the core issue is not bringing the significant other into the process at the very beginning. In conjunction with that, there are a number of conflict areas that need to be resolved before a job can truly be accepted.
New Job Conflict Areas
Here are a couple of areas where a new job will directly or indirectly affect a spouse:
- Work/Life Balance: depending on where one is in their career, this may not be as big an issue as happiness gurus make it out to be. For those that have obligations like young children or an aging parent requiring caregiving, this is likely to be a top priority for your significant other. Those who are single or not planning on having kids are likely to de-prioritize this area.
- Benefits: Salary is one thing, but more weight is given to healthcare and 401(k) than just the base salary. Certain job seekers prefer to stay on their current healthcare plan and will turn down a job if their current plan is not offered. This is way many job seekers clamor to get into a state or federal job, as the benefits far outweigh the salary.
- Bringing work home/Stress: How much work after work is going to be required? For example, a new business development rep is likely going to spend an entire year building there book of business and network. This can require 50-60 hours a week of work to become successful. A spouse will need to weigh how this will effect the home life with their partner being unavailable for longer periods of time. Similarly, is this the type of job that ends after 5pm, or does the workplace drama follow you home?
- Relocation: This is a conflict area that surprisingly causes a high amount of job offer declines and upset companies. I have personally had a job offer declined at the last moment due to a significant other that “suddenly” came into the picture. In addition to making sure their spouse is OK with relocation, candidates need to assure themselves that they are OK with relocation. All too often the “are you OK with relocating for this position?” question is quickly glossed over without any real thought.
The very simple and straightforward advice is to keep your significant other in the loop when you’re interviewing, and get a temperature check if it looks like an offer is going to be made.
I know life is more complicated than 4 bullet points, but these are the most prevalent ones I’ve seen. Please let me know what you have experienced in your job hunt and message me directly.
To message me directly, find me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-arrigo/