4 ways to assess a company after they offer you a job

Congratulations! After going on what feels like zillions of job interviews, one employer has offered you a job.

But not so fast — here’s what to consider before signing the contract.

Do your homework — any red flags?

Similar to how some college kids use the website Rate My Professors to check out who’ll be doling out their grades during a semester, you’ll want to read employee reviews online — but with a grain of salt, of course.

Remember that everyone has different experiences at work. Sure, a disgruntled former employee who was fired on the spot can badmouth the company to eternity online, but here’s hoping you find a lot more positive reviews than negative ones.

Also, do some research on the higher-ups at the company. Not everyone knows what happens behind closed doors, but you’ll want to do your best to make sure you’re working with savory characters, especially in this post-Weinstein era.

In a similar vein, Quartz at Work probes, “are they hiding someone with whom you’ll be working closely?” The publication recommends finding out if anyone who you’ll be working with a lot is hard to work with and to request to meet with them if they have not been included in your interview process.

Find out if there are training opportunities

How much will you be expected to know on Day One?

This is a crucial piece of information. Your boss may have expectations for you that you didn’t know about, but if there are chances to learn on the job, you should be able to take the opportunity and run with it.

So get clear on this before you sign the contract. While it’s smart to challenge yourself with every new role, you don’t want to be in over your head with no chances to learn the new material.

Check out if the company actively tries to engage employees

We know that employees often struggle in the engagement department, which can result in burnout.

So, try and conduct a search on the company’s website for any programs, campaigns, or affinity groups that help make employees’ work lives richer. It also could be useful to bring this up at the job interview.

See if there are chances to scale the corporate ladder

Stagnation at work is not healthy.

With so much to do, your work responsibilities are bound to increase — so your title and/or salary should change, too.

If it seems like people stay in the same roles for their entire employment period at the company — even if they’ve shown that they could make great managers one day — you might want to think twice before signing on the dotted line.