What To Do Once You Have A Job Offer

In this video, Debbie guides us through what steps to follow after receiving a job offer, such as going through your contract and knowing your notice period, so you can get the best start in your new nursing role.

Hi, my name is Debbie and I'm a Practice Nurse in London. Today, I'm going to be discussing what to do when you're offered a job.

I recently got a message from somebody asking a few questions about a job offer that she'd gotten, and I realized that not many people know, especially if you're leaving one role to go into another, just different situations like that. So, let's talk about it.

Go Through Your Contract Thoroughly

The first thing you want to do is read your contract. Read it. Read it like you mean it. Read it thoroughly, understand what the sick policy is, make sure that your pay reflects what is written on that contract pay-wise and reflects what you discussed at the interview, if it was mentioned, or what was on the job advert.

Just make sure it reflects who to answer to, who's your manager, who's your line manager, who is your mentor, who's going to be these people. Make sure you have these things in place as much as possible.

Sometimes, all of that isn't discussed until induction, but if it can be discussed with you before, then make sure all of that is on the contract, the offer letter, whatever it is that they send to you.

Know What Your Progression Could Look Like

Number two is to check what the progression prospects are like and if it's mentioned on the offer letter or contract.

Why do I say this? When I got my job, on my offer letter, it simply said: "You're a Practice Nurse. This is what's expected of you, this is your pay," and that was it. There was no mention of "In a few months’ time we can review your pay," or anything like that. And I didn't really think too much of it. I was just happy to be a Practice Nurse at the time.

But I realized only later that, you know what? There's been no mention of when my appraisal would be. These are things I just had to find out. There's just not been anything that indicates that there is a progression prospect.

And so, during my one-year appraisal, I mentioned that. I said, "You know what? When I was given my offer letter, my contract, when I first started here, there was no indication of what my pay would increase to or what the process is." They realized that "You know what, we haven't put this information in," and they apologized and readjusted my offer letter and were able to mention that yearly, you're allowed to have a pay review, and these are the targets, these are the things that you should be aiming for and that we will review it again in a year's time.

With things like that, don't be caught up in the moment of getting a job. Make sure you're checking these things, because when it comes to your appraisal or when you want pay rise, you're going to feel stuck, because it's like there was never a mention of it and now you have to bring it up yourself.

Pay Attention To Annual Leave

Number three is know your annual leave. Know how many hours you're getting, if you're getting bank holidays off or not, things like that, just so that you're not shocked by having less annual leave or just little things we tend to miss, such as can you carry over your annual leave or can you get the money's equivalent?

There are some places like that, that if you don't take your annual leave, if you're forced to take it, or you can carry it over to the next annual leave year or you can get the money equivalent to that annual leave. So little things like that, try and find that out.

When you do get your job offer, just make sure that you have all these various things in place... just so that it can be a smooth process. It can be quite stressful.

Find Out Your Notice Period

Another thing I would say is know what your notice period is. The reality is that you can start a role and you may not like it. That's just a reality, especially in nursing. You want to try a new thing, you want to try a new type of nursing, you want to just do something different, and you find out, you know what, this isn't for me. Just know what your notice period is, so that when you are moving on to the next place, you're able to give the appropriate notice.

One thing that's very important when giving notice, if you're leaving from one job to another job, is to make sure that you have your contract. Have your contract before you give your notice in is what I would personally say. The last thing you want is to give your notice, then you read your contract and think, "What is this?" And you feel like, "Oh my gosh, I'm stuck. I don't think I can leave."

Make sure everything is in place. For some people, they tell their jobs that, "I'm actively looking for another role, so any minute now, I could be leaving." But if you're in a predicament where you're not too sure or you don't really want to tell management just yet that you want to leave, then I would just strongly advise you wait for your contract to come, hopefully to be in place, and then give your notice.

Let Them Know About Holidays In Advance

Another thing that I always do, if you've not already told them in your interview what holidays you want off or that you have off already, then I'll strongly advise you do that as soon as possible. The last thing you want is to start a job and you've got holidays booked or things that you already pre-planned or you want to take off, and because you've started a new role, they tell you that you can't have it off because someone else is off on that time.

If you let them know from the interview time, then very rarely will they say that no you can't have it off. Because you already booked it off, so they can really pre-plan and work around it to say that "Okay, you've already got that time off, so we should be able to respect that."

So, I hope that helps. When you do get your job offer, just make sure that you have all these various things in place, making sure you have all your letters, your addresses, just so that it can be a smooth process. It can be quite stressful. But if you have your passport, all these things, all these documents together in a folder already, then it should be a smooth process.

If you’re looking for a change in your career, you can search our job listings here.