A job search problem for the dopers...

In My Humble Opinion
1

Dopers, I need your help in a job search situation!

Just this past month I finished the coursework for a Masters (Comp Sci) and I just have my thesis to do. I also need a job to support me while I finish this work so naturally I went in search of one. I currently have two candidates.

Candidate one is only about 5 miles away. They seem iffy about hiring me with a thesis still to write, no matter how much I assure them this is a nights / weekends project for the next year or so. They want me to make a decision this week if the job is offered (and I still don’t know if it will be; I’ve been left hanging for 2 weeks now)

Candidate two is a bit further away, I would have to move about an hour to the east of where I currently am. Not a huge deal, I’d still be about the same distance from some of my friends, further from others, and an hour away from my thesis advisor. This interview is scheduled from a week from today, since the one person is currently away from office.

The problem is if I want the first job, I have to accept this week (if they offer)…but it is possible the second makes a better offer (and thanks to the long jerking around period, I may just feel more comfortable with them too). So dopers, would it be rude to accept the first only to find the second a better fit and accept that? What can I / Should I consider doing?

2

If I thought that the first offer would make me happy, I’d accept it and see if I could push back the starting date to after the second interview. Then if the second interview actually came through and was better, quit the first job. Of course, you’re not going to make any friends that way, and it would be better if you could bargain with the first job for a little more time to make your decision. But if they want to push it, that’s their problem.

I don’t worry about “rude” with employers. It’s business. An organization will willingly lay off/fire people if it makes good financial sense; the morals are no different for a private person.

3

Let’s put it this way. . .



vector<job> jList;

if (getJob1)
   {
   jList.push(job1);
   jList[0].Perform();
   }

if (getJob2)
   {
   jList.pop();
   jList.push(job2);
   }

Seriously, I don’t know. In cases like yours, I first worry about it when I have something in hand. You never know how the timing might actually work out so you could be fretting over nothing.

This stuff happens. I accepted a job once, and decided to go to more school after I accepted. So, I called them up and never started the job. They weren’t happy, but they understood.