How To Be Picky About Job Offers - Even In Economic Downtimes

Forbes

5 hours ago

Lots of applying with few nibbles can make us take a desperate grab at the first offer that comes ... More along. But that approach can lead to more headaches in the long run than it's worth.
It's one thing to say 'be picky about job offers" in a strong economy, but it's a whole other matter to make that assertion when times are tough.
And times sure aren't great now. According to LinkedIn's Workforce Confidence Index, workers' confidence about career prospects during Q2 of 2025 was the lowest its been in over five years. That's even lower than the early pandemic period that was filled with layoffs, uncertainty, and general doom and gloom.
Given these findings, and the widespread economic uncertainty that's driving them, the smart thing to do if you're out of work is to take any job that comes along, right?
Nope.
Even in poor economic moments, a desperate grab at a role tends to result in a 'rinse and repeat' affair, in which you're searching again before you know it. I've seen this time and again for individuals before they start working with me as a career coach. They thought taking any full-time, W2 job was better than nothing, but then were summarily back out searching because the new company went through sudden layoffs, striking first at the lowest people on the totem pole; the org or manager had performance expectations so unrealistic that they were unmeetable; or it was such a miserable work environment that they simply couldn't stand to stay put.
Worse yet, they now have a short stint on their record - it will typically show up in background checks, even if they try to hide it on their resume - that they'll need to explain away for years to come.
Better to be picky about W2 job offers, albeit reasonably so.
First, Be Honest About Your Level of Certainty About the Job Offer
It's easy to get overly excited about a job offer, overlooking the concerns we truly have. We get sparkles in our eyes about the prospect of being done with the very painful job search process and truly want to believe it's all going to be great.
The very first step in being reasonably picky, for the sake of having a sustainable next job, is to be brutally honest about how certain you are that it's a good fit company and role for you.
As I wrote in a recent article on career decision making, we only need to aim for 80% certainty when making choices. That is genuinely high enough to feel like we have made an informed, thoughtful decision without becoming completely paralyzed. So by 'reasonably picky,' I don't mean having sky-high, perfecting expectations, nor having full clarity that it'll be a fit.
In order to gauge your certainty:
Second, Know What To Ask and Observe Before Accepting a Job Offer
In order to make your known unknowns into known knowns, you have to ask the right questions and observe the right elements.
What are the 'right' questions and observations?
Unfortunately I can't outright tell you. What's 'right' is entirely subjective and depends on what matters most to you at work. Every single coaching client I have had had slightly different questions and priorities about their work, so reflection is key to this part of the process.
Some ways to do this:
What do you need to know before accepting an offer? Don't be afraid to ask it - once you have the ... More offer
Third, Conduct Thorough Research About The Job Offer
Of course you can and should ask the hiring manager a lot of questions - that's a typical step before accepting an offer. But don't rely on one person's word!
Asking for more information is not cause for rescinding an offer. If they balk at the request to talk with more people and/or to take a few days to consider the offer, that's 'data' for you to consider about the organization and/or the hiring manager's approach. In that case, proceed with real caution.
In addition to the hiring manager, consider asking to talk with the following:
In addition to asking great questions, don't overlook the role of intentional observation, by which I mean going into post-offer, pre-acceptance settings (e.g., conversations with the hiring manager and/or potential colleagues; a site visit) with a clear list of things you'll watch for.
For instance, one of my clients had 'collaboration' very high on her list of values. I asked her how she'd know that was present and she said that in an in-person workspace she'd like to see people physically moving around, talking to one another; that was her specific notion of ideal collaboration. So she requested another site visit to meet her potential colleagues and observed interactions naturalistically while she was there (i.e., what was happening nearby as she talked to someone?). It passed her smell test and she accepted the offer - and is still there many years later!
All in all, taking the time to full consider and research a full-time W2 job offer, no matter the economic conditions, is well worth it. It's much more costly - in terms of time, energy, and explaining away a short stint - to accept a bad job offer than it is to wait a bit for a better, long-lasting opportunity to come along.