How to handle a recruiter when I have inside information that we might buy said company very soon?

[etv78]

@YogSosoth

Same thing with management right?

As long as the employees are being treated fairly, looking a gifthorse in the mouth will NOT end well for them.

[ThisUsernameIsForbidden]

I’m not sure what you are saying. A check is a gift and worker bees don’t need to know anything about the future of the company?

[MysteryFellow63427]

These two responses both seem very solid to me. And obviously don’t even hint about the possible acquisition, as virtually everyone in this thread has noted.

@even_sven

Dear Recruiter:

Thank you for reaching out to me. The advanced widget maker position is definitely interesting. Unfortunately, this particular position is not a good fit for me at this time.

Would I be able to contact you in the future to discuss other possibilities?

Best wishes,

OP

@Dangerosa

“Normally, I’d be very interested in this job, but the timing isn’t very good with my current position - I need to see some things through before I could consider this. Can you keep me in mind for the future?”

[bengangmo]

@Quercus

Do you trust your boss enough to have a frank discussion about this?
In the ideal case, where you believe your boss really is looking out for you (and not just for himself and/or the company), trust that she can actually make things happen, and know that he really likes your work, she might say “I’d hate to lose you but this is a great opportunity for you; you should go for it. If we do merge, I’d make sure we kept you on afterwards one way or another.”
That’s the ideal case, of course, but since you’ve already brought this up to your boss, you’re halfway to having this kind of conversation anyway.
Obviously you know your industry better than us, and know whether that’s a reasonable outcome or not.

I wouldn’t see this as a very good idea -

Even if you do have that level of trust in your boss, ultimately he (more than likely) has to answer to someone else, and even if they are the ultimate power right now, there’s nothing that says they will still have the power to make such decisions after the merger.

And further more - call me sad if you like, but I’ve always believed that trust is not immutable - EVERYONE will betray you, given the right circumstances.