Here's some quick advice on managing job offers: At the outset of your job search, define in writing (!!!) exactly what you want from your next job -- and do not be afraid to accept the very first job offer that comes along if it matches your specs professionally, financially, and geographically.
Just like in baseball, sometimes your first pitch is your best pitch. I am working with an unemployed senior executive who declined a very nice job offer last December and spent all of 2006 wishing he had that one to do over again. Remember ...
and garbage is timing.
If you are a candidate of mine, that's not a scare tactic -- but rather a gentle reminder that some things are out of my control, like the urgency of a client to fill a position, or the chemistry a hiring manager has with a candidate. Sometimes hiring managers leave before a position is filled, and when the candidate wants to "revisit" the opportunity he finds that the game has changed.
Seriously: Know what you want, be able to recognize it, and hammer the hell out of it if it crosses the plate. You may not get another chance.
