I hate ketchup. Hate it. Always have. But on one of my first-ever dates — with a boy we’ll call “Jason” — he drowned our Arby’s fries in enough ketchup to qualify as a natural disaster. Trust me, how this connects to how to reject a job offer will make sense.

And instead of saying, “No thank you, I’m good,” 15-year-old Jane smiled, held back tears, and ate the damn fry like I was auditioning for Fear Factor. Why? Because I wanted to be chosen. I wanted him to like me. And I thought saying what I actually wanted would make him leave.

Spoiler: that pattern didn’t stay in dating. It followed me straight into my career. I had no clue how to reject a job offer.

For years, I accepted roles that didn’t fit me because I was terrified of not being picked again. I convinced myself that the things I hated (toxic culture, chaotic managers, misaligned workloads) were “fine,” because the fear of losing an offer felt bigger than honoring what I needed.

But Present Day Jane knows: Being chosen means nothing if you don’t choose yourself back.
And that’s where the job offer evaluation begins, to determine whether to accept or reject a job offer.

How to Decide Whether to Accept or Reject a Job Offer

Most people say yes to jobs out of relief, not alignment.

Relief that someone picked them. That they won’t be unemployed. Relief that the offer didn’t get rescinded.

But relief fades — and what you’re left with is the job you actually accepted.

Here’s how to make sure the offer in front of you is a genuine upgrade, not a repeat of the same problems in prettier packaging.

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1. Does it meet your Minimum Acceptable Package (MAP)?

Your MAP is not a “nice to have.”
It’s the baseline for the life you currently live.

That includes:

• salary
• PTO
• healthcare
• retirement
• flexibility
• commute or remote needs
• childcare realities
• lifestyle costs
• mental/physical bandwidth requirements

If the offer doesn’t meet your MAP?

It’s not a yes. It’s a negotiation.

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2. Will your daily life be better than it is now?

This is where people mess up.

You’re not evaluating an offer — you’re evaluating a life you will have to live every day.

Ask yourself:

• Does the schedule support the season you’re in?
• Can you actually breathe between meetings?
• Will this role give you more margin, or new forms of burnout?
• Will your mornings, evenings, and weekends feel lighter or heavier?

If your daily life won’t improve, the extra $8K is not worth it. Here’s also an excellent calculator I like to use to calculate my household and overall life needs.

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3. Is the manager someone you can thrive under?

Your manager determines:

• your growth
• your peace
• your workload
• your boundaries
• your confidence
• whether you feel human or disposable

Look for:
clarity, empathy, follow-through, structure, consistency.

If you’re already getting weird vibes during interviews?
You’re not imagining it.

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4. Is the team actually resourced?

A well-paying job can STILL destroy you if the structure is chaotic.

Ask about:

• turnover
• how success is measured
• workload distribution
• current priorities
• whether this is a new role or a replacement
• whether they have enough people, tools, and time to actually meet expectations

If they’re describing a “build the plane while flying it” situation? Just know you’re the one holding the hammer.

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5. Does accepting the job offer move you closer to the person you’re becoming?

This is the most important question — and the one most people skip.

A great job offer should move you toward:

• your long-term goals
• your desired lifestyle
• more flexibility
• more income
• more stability
• more alignment
• more peace

Not just more money. Not just a shinier title. And definitely not more chaos.

If the offer isn’t moving you forward, it’s pulling you sideways — and sideways becomes stuck. So it will make sense to reject the job offer.

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The 5-Question Job Offer Test (Bookmark This)

1. Money: Does it meet your MAP?
2. Daily Life Fit: Will your everyday life feel lighter?
3. Manager Quality: Is this person someone you can grow under?
4. Workload & Environment: Is this sustainable, or survival mode wrapped in buzzwords?
5. Long-Term Alignment: Does this role move you closer to your vision — or away from it?

If any of these are a “no,” you don’t need to walk away…
But you do need to negotiate.

Make Your Next Career Decision an Informed One (Not a Fear-Based One)

If you’re staring at an offer and doing mental gymnastics trying to decide if it’s “good enough,” I want you to remember something:

You’re not 15-year-old you eating ketchup-covered fries anymore.
You don’t have to perform gratitude to keep an opportunity.
You get to choose roles that choose you back.

But choice requires clarity.

My Salary & Negotiation Playbook gives you the exact framework I use with clients to decide how to how to reject or accept a job offer:

• calculate your MAP
• evaluate offers with confidence
• identify red flags
• determine your real leverage
• craft negotiation scripts that feel human, not terrifying
• ask for what you need without spiraling

👉🏾 Grab the Salary & Negotiation Playbook here and walk into your next offer with actual strategy — not guesswork.

Your future self — the one who chose alignment over fear — will thank you.