Getting the job

Congratulations! You were offered the job! Now you can finally scouring job boards, filling out endless applications, hovering over your email, interviewing, and basically just stop worrying. What a relief!

An offer is a great step forward, but it isn’t the finish line. A lot can happen between “we’d like to hire you” and your first paycheck clearing the bank.

The problem with getting an offer: It’s only an offer. There may still be reasons you don’t have a new job.

Read the Offer Letter. Carefully.

Before you do anything else, you need to read the contract or offer letter they sent you. Every single word. What was discussed verbally in interviews doesn’t matter; what’s in writing is what counts.

You’re not just looking for the salary number. Check everything.

• Is the pay correct? Does it match what you agreed on? Is it listed as salary, or hourly?
• What about benefits? Is the vacation time what you expect? Does the letter mention health insurance, retirement plans, and other perks?
• Is the job title what you interviewed for? A different title can mean different responsibilities and a different career path.
• Are there surprising duties listed? Sometimes companies sneak in extra responsibilities that weren’t part of the original discussion.
• What does it say about intellectual property? Some agreements are broad enough to claim ownership over projects you do in your own free time. Be careful.
• Are you on the hook for expenses? The contract should be clear about whether you have to provide your own equipment, pay for travel, or cover other costs.

This isn’t a complete list. If anything seems odd or overly complicated, it might be worth having an attorney take a look.

Now They Dig Into Your Past

Once you’ve accepted the offer, the background check usually begins. The intensity of this check depends a lot on the company and the type of job.

Sometimes it’s simple. They’ll call your previous employers to verify you worked there and check for a criminal record. Easy enough.

Other times, they dig much deeper. This can include pulling your credit report, looking at driving records, and more extensive background searches. For some jobs, a drug test is a required step.

You can get through all the interviews with flying colors and still be disqualified at this stage. It’s a hurdle you don’t control.

The Offer Can Disappear

Even after you’ve signed the letter and passed the background check, the offer isn’t bulletproof. Companies can and do pull offers for reasons that have nothing to do with you.

• Budgets get cut.
• The department gets reorganized and the position is eliminated.
• The company has unexpected layoffs.
• The hiring manager quits.

They can pull the offer for pretty much any business reason, leaving you right back where you started.

In rare cases, you might even get ghosted. You sign the papers, get a start date, and then…radio silence. The company just stops responding. It’s not common, but it happens.

The Job Itself Might Not Last

Let’s say you make it through all that. You get the job, show up for your first day, and start working. You’re safe now, right?

Not necessarily. You could be hired and then laid off two weeks later if the company’s situation changes.

You might also discover that the job isn’t what you were sold.

• Toxic environments: The team might be great during the interview but terrible to work with day-to-day.
• Excessive work: That “9-to-5” job might turn into a 9-to-9 job with weekend work expected.
• A total bait-and-switch: The work you’re given could be completely different from what was described in the job description and interviews.

You may find that you’re the one who wants to leave after a few weeks.

Your Best Defense: Keep Looking

So what’s the takeaway from all this? Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. The single best piece of advice is to never stop looking out for yourself.

Don’t stop your job search until your first paycheck has cleared. An offer can vanish, but another interview in the pipeline is a good safety net.

Even after you’ve settled in, keep your resume updated and your network active. Situations change, companies change, and management changes. The stable job you have today could be gone tomorrow.

Don’t get complacent. Always keep an eye on what is going on in the rest of the working world.