Always Get It in Writing

By Liz Ryan, Business Week

Job-seekers shouldn't hesitate to insist on seeing what is being offered in black and white. Here's the right way to handle it

Job-seekers call me to inquire: "How much time can I ask for to evaluate a job offer?" Well, how much time do you want? I'd say two or three days is standard, unless the weekend is coming, in which case you can ask for the weekend, too. "Oh my goodness," said one young man. "The recruiter balked when I asked for 24 hours." That sounded so crazy that I had to probe. Once I got the whole story, I realized the young man wasn't asking how much time he could take to review his offer letter. He didn't have one. The recruiter, in fact, was phoning to collect his acceptance first. This is really silly.

DODGING PAPERWORK. When you're evaluating an offer, you need to look it over, all the parts together. You can't be expected to say "yes!" on the phone when the recruiter tells you, "We'd like to hire you as a program analyst at X salary, Y bonus, Z amount of travel, and with our standard benefits package." Whaaa? To see the entire picture, you need the offer letter.

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