Job/Career Dilemma.

[mugencivic4dr]

For the first situation you can still decline the first offer due to you not starting work. Most employeers dont start the "park work" until the employee's first day, as long as its done as soon as possible. Until the day you start, its still the "negotiation" phase of the job.

As for the second situation, I stuck to what ever you accepted.

[ChIoVnIdCa]

Off topic a little.


3k isn't even a factor..
So many more important things to consider..

[Straight Success]

Very good point.

I don't think that extra $75 every other week is a huge determine factor. Although, for some, it may very well be. An extra $150/month can go a long way.

[owequitit]

Say you go on an interview on Monday, June 1st, 20XX for Job A, and you like the company, you like the job that you will be doing with a staring salary of $74,000.

Then on Friday, June 5th 20XX you go on an interview for Job B with a company you really want to work for, you would love to do this job everyday, and they offer you a starting salary of $71,000.

Two situations:

• Job 1 calls on Monday, June 8th, 20XX and inform you that the job is yours. They want you to start on Monday, June 15th, 20XX. You gladly accept. However, on Wednesday, June 10th, 20XX, Job B calls, and they say they would like for you to start on Monday, June 15th. What do you do?
  
• Job 1 calls on Monday, June 8th, 20XX and inform you that the job is yours. They want you to start on Monday, June 15th, 20XX. You gladly accept, and you start working on the 15th. However, on Wednesday, June 17th, 20XX, Job B calls, and they say they would like for you to start on Monday, June 22th. What do you do?

Why would you accept any job offer without knowing what all your options are?

ESPECIALLY since you went on the 2nd interview BEFORE getting an offer from the first???

How would you phrase saying you need 48 hours to think about it?

This thread is very interesting, and I enjoy reading the responses.
I'm still in college, but did have a close call when I started my internship back in August.

To answer your question: Tell company 2 you are already working/just accepted an offer from company 1. But, if they match the salary of company 1 you'd be willing to consider it.

I'd also never say that on the fly. I'd re-word it to your situation and call back in the 48 hours.

You have to go where you want to go. "Pay yourself first" was how my Grandfather used to put it.

Ultimately, I wouldn't worry too much about burning the bridge in offer one, but situation two is a bit trickier. Ultimately, you need to go where you want to be, but you better be DAMN sure it is actually where you want to be. Like the dream job you have dreaming about, you know how the company works intimately, and you know people who work there sure.

There is a risk that you will burn bridges, but you could work at job A for 10 years and then leave for B and still burn those same bridges, so it takes a calculated decision, but wouldn't necessarily stop me cold.

IMO, the biggest thing would be communicating your interest and letting them know as much as possible up front. I also agree that it would be OK to wait a week or so, assuming you let them know that up front. It is usually OK to preface it with an excuse if you have to, such as "I am going to (insert commitment here), but I would be happy to let you know when I get back." Or you could just say "I need 48 hours to consider it" or even "I am waiting on another offer, and should know within 48 hours which decision I will make." There is nothing wrong with letting them know you are in demand, as long as you don't use it to be a dick about stuff.

However, these situations are unlikely in the real world that close together. Usually, there is enough difference in processing times and such that they usually won't come that close together or unexpectedly. You should also have a pretty good feel from the interview how things went.

In my industry, you interview, they put you in a pool if they like you, and then they call with a date. You can usually either accept or decline the date, and if you decline, they will typically put you back in the pool. However, I do know that most industries aren't like that.

[Tnwagn]

There are also other options to consider as well.

I have been in a situation similar to this and requested a week to get back to the company, A, I had been interviewing with. Every hiring agent knows that job seekers aren't just looking at a single company at a time.

After receiving my first offer from company A I contacted hiring agents at two other companies, B and C, I had outstanding offers with and explained that I had received an offer from another company and had a week to get back with them. I explained that I would take that position but would prefer a position with company B or C that was competitive. During this phone call I said nothing of the salary or benefits provided by company A. Company B and C may have been really interested in me, but without knowledge that they were potentially loosing me as an applicant in a week they would have no way to prepare an offer unless it just so happened they were at that stage in the hiring process, which, like Scott said, is unlikely.

Within three days I had heard back from both company B and C with offers. Company B ended up being competitive with A in salary but offered much better benefits and was a more interesting job to me so I accepted their offer. I phoned companies A and C to let them know that I was going to be pursing other options but thanked them for their interest.

I don't know what I'd do in Situation 2 but from first thought I would probably just stick with Job 1. The money is nothing and with such tight timing you could probably avoid the situation all together if you took the approach I explained above.

[gloryaccordy]

Off topic a little.


3k isn't even a factor..
So many more important things to consider..

Yea thats the other thing. It would take a lot of money for me to take a job I know I'm gonna hate. 3K in the context of 70-75K is nothing.