Situation: I need a job and have been looking for quite a while. But a difficult situation came up and I need advice.
Job A: I really hesitated before even applying for this one, because I don’t know if it’s what I want to do. It pays decent, but it isn’t the kind of job I could get excited about. Not the kind of job I would get excited to tell my friends about. But not terrible either. A decent, unexciting, stable job.
Job B: Wow, this one would be cool. It has everything: close to my house, room for advancement, fun people to work with, decent pay (about the same as the other job), and that Wow factor.
So I interview for job A, they like me and offer me the job. In the meanwhile, I’ve interviewed for job B, and while it seemed to go well, they are interviewing several others, and you just never know.
So now here’s the quandary. I need to tell job A if I accept the job before I’ll hear back from job B. If I accept job A’s offer and then I find out I could have had B, I’ll be kicking myself for years. If I decline job A’s offer and don’t get B, then I’ll be kicking myself for years.
Why don’t you just take the first job and quit if you get the better job? It is kind of a dick move but also completely understandable and legitimate. People quit jobs shortly after they start with remarkable frequency.
I would take job A, because decent, unexciting and stable are attractive to me. That also pretty much describes me personally too.
So it depends upon your personality, age, level of personal responsibilities you have to cover, and just how well you are able to handle risk, and or failure.
I think you summed it up with:
Take job A. It does not prevent you moving at some later date to another WOW job. But right now your risk is not covered at all.
If it were I, accept job A. If job B comes around and says yes, accept job B. Might leave A in the lurch a little bit but you need to look out for #1 (you) and do what is best for you. This is just MHO.
I agree with everyone else. Take job A and quit if offered job B. Company A might be put out, but so what? The days of reciprocal loyalty ended long ago.
Agree completely. We are trained to be social animals and accepting a job then quitting feels like it is wrong. But haven’t these corporate types told us over the years that it is “just business” when they hand you a paycheck on Friday and tell you they don’t need you on Monday?
You have to look out for you and your family. That is your “business.” Accept Job A. If Job B comes around, resign from Job A and accept Job B.
I wish things were such that we could all trust each other with a nod and a handshake, but that won’t happen. And I can guarantee you that if Job A feels that they don’t need you economically, they won’t be worrying about you being fed and having health insurance.
I would contact job B and tell them that they are your preferred job, but you also have an offer from job A that you need to respond to in the near future, and that if job B wants you, you’d like to know soon, because you want to do the honorable thing and not quit a job immediately after starting it.
This indicates to job B that:
You won’t quit right after starting because you have another opportunity lined up.
You have market value. Someone else is about to hire you.
You want to work for them.
You are able to communicate in a straightforward manner with your employer.
This is only going to make you look better in your eyes.
They might tell you that you’re not really in the running any more. In that case, you can accept job A and move on.
They might tell you they can’t give you an answer any sooner. In that case, I agree with the rest of the posters who say accept job A, and if job B comes back, then you can reassess then (which may mean quitting A and taking B).
They might get off their asses and make you an offer. Hurray!