Starting a new job and now have an offer to interview for a better job (employer, company)

[Coney]

I just accepted an offer for a new job. Lo and behold, the day after I formally accepted this job, I got an email inquiring if I was interested in a job at a different company and invited to send a resume. I anticipate being asked to interview for this other job, which has a significantly higher salary and sounds much more interesting than the job that I am going to be starting soon.

Here's my problem. I will be starting a job soon that has a strict probationary period. I cannot take off any time during this probationary period. If I get an interview for the better job, it would be during working hours. This is unavoidable as there would be no opportunity to conduct this type of interview by phone or skype. It would have to be in-person and during the same hours that I would be working at the first job. I actually think the employer at the first job would be understanding if I quit to take the better job. However, I wouldn't want to tell them about it until I had gotten an actual offer. I don't want to jeopardize the probation period of an actual job that I will be starting soon, but I really want to interview for the better job. Should I just stay put with this new job or is there some reason that I could give to my employer in order to attend the interview for the better job?

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by Coney

I anticipate being asked to interview for this other job...

Tell them it has to be outside of your work hours.

[G-fused]

See if it can be done outside work hrs but the "strict probationary period" isn't always as strict as people think. It's up to the discretion of your manager (in typical scenarios) and usually isn't a big deal. Just tell him/her you made an appointment before being hired. Shouldn't be a big deal.

Best of luck.