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I was laid off from my job at the end of May, I had advance notice so I put out resumes and applied for jobs like crazy. There were lots of possibilities in my specialized field, and I got lots of calls. Five jobs, yes FIVE I've advanced through at least a second interview. Since I'm laid off, I need to work ASAP as my severance pay is 6 weeks and really can't afford the peanuts that unemployment pays, even at max.
My dilemma is this. Company "A" seems ready to hire me. I've been through 2 lengthy interviews, they asked for my references. It's a nice company, I loved the people and I think I'd love the job but very small. No 401K, only health insurance, Not sure of what the pay will be. When they asked and I told them, they said "would you consider the job if it was less than your number". I said if it made sense financially for me I would. They'll be making a decision this week. My target start date for any job is July 15.
Company "B" I just had a second interview and it went very well and I'll be speaking with another manager and was told they were talking to one other candidate as well. It's also in my field, just a different part of it and it's a consulting company that has full benefits, and the pay will be about 20K a year more. Plus it's "remote" and I can work from wherever I want to when I'm not at client site, its about 50% Travel. However they won't have a decision probably for at least another 2 weeks.
Company "C" IDEAL position. Haven't heard about date for 2nd interview but was told I will be getting one, and it's out of town. Pay would be around the same as Company A but much better benefits.
Company "D" Company I'm DYING to work for. Very well paid, but hiring process takes eons. They are hiring a team of 7 at my local office. I interviewed with them once before and was a finalist candidate but then was told the position went internal but the recruiter said I had great feedback from the managers and they wanted me to keep looking for when these positions were available. I've had steps 1 and 2 with these and was told step 3 would be in 2 weeks.
So what do I do? Take Company "A" offer so i can work, maybe the offer will be better than I thought. And if I love it I stay....? If another comes along with an offer before I start, I can turn down company "A" and go with B, C or D? (There are an E and F too) I know I'm very lucky to have all these possibilities. I am afraid of hurt feelings at company "A" they were so nice, but I know that I need to take care of myself and not worry about others.
Take the first job that meets your target date and minimum compensation package, but keep working the process with the other jobs.
If one of the slower companies presents you with a better offer in the future, don’t be afraid to jump ship. You don’t want to handle your career in this way as a matter of course, changing jobs every month or so, but a period of instability after a layoff isn’t a problem.
This may present you with some logistical issues, such as trying to fit in more interviews while you are a new employee. That will be a challenge of course, but it is up to you to determine whether the pain is worth the potential gain.
Good luck, it sounds as if you know what you are doing.
It does not matter if you think a company likes you at a job interview. I does not matter if they actually DO like you at a job interview.
If there is no job offer, none of that matters.
Once you get the job offer, THEN you make the decisions.
If you REALLY believe that you're standing a chance with the other companies, when you get your first job offer, and you are hoping a different company will hire you, ask the company for some time to make a decision on this job. See if they give you time. Then follow up immediately with the other company you are interested in and ask them to step up their game.
If they don't give you time, then you're pretty much limited to the company that gives you the job offer. Your BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) is unemployment.
Is each job in the order you listed them -- A, B, C, D -- worth leaving for the next job on the list...which also seems to be listed in the order of which job would come through first.
Meaning, if Job A is the first to come through, would that be worth leaving for job B, or only worth leaving for Job C or D.
Unfortunately it doesn't seem as if jobs B, C, and D are far enough along in the process that you could tell them that you have another offer and they might want you so much that they'd speed up their process ENOUGH and IN TIME to have a signed offer before you'd have to give job A an answer.
(IF job A doesn't move as quickly as they said -- which happens all the time -- well, that HELPS you because it just might give you the time you need for B, C, or D to come through.)
So one main question is -- how often are you willing to hop until you get to job D?
Technically you might have to hop THREE times....if NOT, just how would you feel IF you get Job A.....job B calls and makes an offer and you sit tight at A waiting for C or D....and they don't pan out. Well, now you've passed up B, when that is technically the job you would have preferred more than A, but felt 'guilted' into not hopping so much. I guess you get what I'm asking......
B and C sound iffy. You seem to have one foot in the door with "A" already and D is a wild card.
I was in your situation 2 years ago and everything else ended up falling through except for "D" oddly enough. (Except I didn't previously interview with "D".)
Having said that I did have a "E" that completely jerked me around. Needless to say that hiring manager, recruiting company and the company itself I have them on my blacklist for life. If I ever come across them again in any capacity I'm probably just going to find a polite reason to terminate the interaction fairly quickly so they never waste my time again. An Elephant never forgets.
Say you get A. You could hop only once to either B OR C,.....and then if D comes through hop once more.
B is 20K more and you can work remote. (How do you feel about the travel requirement?)
C you say is "ideal" -- but less money than C.
Besides IF D's hiring process takes "eons" you could be waiting longer than you think.....2-3 months could pass by.
Are you willing to stay put at A waiting for a D that might never happen, when you could have been "waiting" for D at B making more money?
That should be -- C you say is "ideal" -- but less money than B.
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It does not matter until you receive an offer.
Not you necessarily, but some people do believe it's unnecessarily "spinning your wheels" to think about these kinds of decisions before you actually have any offers. But personally, I relate to the OP. I am the type to try to figure out what I might do when various opportunities arise. To me it's like doing the mental footwork ahead of time. It helps me feel a bit more ready to decide when additional factors start materializing....I call it thinking 2-3 moves ahead on the chess board.
That should be -- C you say is "ideal" -- but less money than B.
Not you necessarily, but some people do believe it's unnecessarily "spinning your wheels" to think about these kinds of decisions before you actually have any offers. But personally, I relate to the OP. I am the type to try to figure out what I might do when various opportunities arise. To me it's like doing the mental footwork ahead of time. It helps me feel a bit more ready to decide when additional factors start materializing....I call it thinking 2-3 moves ahead on the chess board.
Yes you don't want to have any regrets or get caught with your pants down when something does finally materialize. There are often multiple candidates left ambiguous and hanging in the pipeline so if you do reject they will go right on to the next one. No matter how much they try and woo top candidates these days they are perfectly fine with going for cheaper and lower quality labor.
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