Juggling multiple job offers

If you've had more than one job offer and still have another interview lined up, you'll need to review your options carefully before making any decisions.

It's a nice problem, if there is such a thing. Imagine being asked on a date by Brad Pitt on the night you usually play bingo. Receiving a job offer from company B, when you've got an interview coming up with your first-choice employer company A, is a bit similar to the Brad/bingo scenario. So what do you do?

Option 1: a bird in the hand...

... is worth two clichés in the bush. You could take the view that times are tough for graduates and that you should be grateful for any offers you get. It's not unreasonable. After all, you liked company B more than you thought you would. And the people you met at company A weren't that nice. And as Angelina has bagged Brad, you might as well settle for the first bloke that comes along. Just take the job offer and be mellow.

Option 2: the grass is greener on the other side...

... but there's always a troll lurking under the bridge. You never know – Brad could ditch Angelina to be with you. And you're the kind of person who doesn't like to compromise. You know what you want and you go out and get it. The word 'failure' isn't in your dictionary and other clichés are all very well until that thin white envelope arrives on your doorstep. And by then, unfortunately, it'll be too late to withdraw the polite letter turning down your offer from company B. But what the hell, take the risk and enjoy the thrill of gambling. It's even better than bingo.

The correct option: buy some time

Options one and two are clearly rubbish. You'll probably always regret the former and the latter stands a reasonable chance of going horribly wrong. Leaving Brad Pitt out of it, most happy people's love lives consist of finding a compromise between waiting for Mr Right to come along and marrying the first bloke who asks you out. And so it is with jobs. If company B's offer is accompanied by a deadline, then it could be worth trying to get it extended. This means a bit of diplomacy and negotiation, but it could be worth it. You'll probably need to ring the person who offered you the position and talk through the situation, with tact and a modicum of honesty. Explain that you have further interviews coming up and that, rather than rushing into it, you'd like to make the decision to accept with all the facts at your disposal. If you play it right, you'll make it sound like their company is really your first choice, but you'd like to set your mind at rest by at least completing the interview process you've started with the others (probably best not to name them, unless you're asked directly). Of course, they could just say ‘no'. A deadline's a deadline and all that. In which case you're back to square one. Give yourself a day or so of breathing space, draw up a table and list the pros and cons of each company, each job and of accepting and failing. See which one comes out on top. But certainly consider the possibility that, if you turn down the offer in order to have other interviews, you may end up with no job. That said, having several interviews and offers at the same time shows it will be only a matter of time…

The evil option: accept the offer – then withdraw it

The ‘buy some time’ option is so clearly right, but why have you got this niggling desire to go for the evil solution. Well, we've all got our devilish side, so here are a few thoughts:

A written acceptance of the job could put you in breach of contract if you then withdraw it. It's unlikely anyone's going to sue a penniless graduate for this, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
You never know when you might encounter company B again. They could be potential clients or a possible source of work in the future (when you're made redundant from company A?). They will without doubt have recorded your details in an internal database, ready to retrieve when they next encounter you.
Such databases are increasingly widely used. As far as we know, at the moment people are only checked for stuff like credit ratings and qualifications. However, who's to say that companies won't share all kinds of non-confidential info in the future – including details of you going back on your word?

Options smoptions…

With your halo restored, you're now ready to go for the correct option. Or, of course, you could fall head over heels for company B and take the job without any regrets. At least that's a genuine choice.

Print this article |

This article has been viewed 2716 times.
Rating: 2 / 5 (38 votes cast for this article)
Rate this article: