Job offer dilemma

c0nor · 10-09-2015 5:02pm #1

Hi Guys. Got a call from the agency this morning detailing me of an offer from company x, say, and whether I would accept/decline. What I found disconcerting was the fact the recruiter wanted an answer straight away so gave me 3 hours (more or less) to decide (after I asked for a bit of time). I verbally agreed to take the offer 3 hours later, feeling it might be withdrawn if I asked for more time to decide. However, I'm also waiting on an offer from Company Y also which I would prefer. Any advice on how I could draw out the process until I know what Company Y's stance is?

efb · 10-09-2015 5:04pm

Nothing to stop you accepting Y if offered and letting X know then

allibastor · 11-09-2015 3:00pm

Just tell them that, you are waiting to hear back about something else and will let them know in due course.

3 hours to make a career move is just plain stupid, no-one in their right mind would do that

gandalf · 11-09-2015 3:39pm

If you haven't signed a contract then you formally haven't accepted the offer. Wait for company Y comes back and if they offer you a position tell the recruiter you have received a better offer and if they don't offer you the position sign company X's contract. You haven't agreed to join them until you have actually signed the employment contract.

efb · 11-09-2015 4:09pm

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Sign contract and if you get the other let company A know

tharmor · 12-09-2015 6:00am

efb wrote:

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Sign contract and if you get the other let company A know

So can you actually back out after signing contract ?

12-09-2015 12:22pm

tharmor wrote: »

So can you actually back out after signing contract ?

Of course you can.

Robbie12 · 16-09-2015 11:57pm

Only if you haven't sent it back right?

tharmor · 17-09-2015 4:47am

Robbie12 wrote:

Only if you haven't sent it back right?

its sent back

!!

BreadnBuddha · 17-09-2015 4:51am

tharmor wrote: »

its sent back !!

Doesn't matter.

Peregrinus · 17-09-2015 5:46am

You can leave any job at any time. Slavery has been abolished.

Mrs OBumble · 17-09-2015 10:17am

tharmor wrote: »

So can you actually back out after signing contract ?

Yup. In exactly the same way that the company can. And will if it suits them.

Peregrinus · 18-09-2015 1:18am

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Yup. In exactly the same way that the company can. And will if it suits them.

Not quite in exactly the same way. The company can dismiss you during the probation period for almost any reason. (But not absolutely any reason; they can't dismiss you for being pregnant.) But once the probation period has expired, the worker has their wrongful dismissal/unfair dismissal rights.

Whereas the worker can leave at any time, for any reason or none at all, with no comeback.

tharmor · 18-09-2015 4:41am

Peregrinus wrote:

Not quite in exactly the same way. The company can dismiss you during the probation period for almost any reason. (But not absolutely any reason; they can't dismiss you for being pregnant.) But once the probation period has expired, the worker has their wrongful dismissal/unfair dismissal rights.

The scenario being discussed is about accepting job offer signing contract and then not joining !!

Peregrinus · 18-09-2015 5:27am

I know. And the answer is that a worker can leave at any time for any reason. Mrs O'Bumble then made a further point comparing the worker's right leave at any time with the employer's right to dismiss, but in reality the employer's right to dismiss is much more limited. There's only a short window within which he can dismiss you for any reason; after that, his rights are heavily circumscribed.

allibastor · 18-09-2015 12:53pm

c0nor wrote: »

Hi Guys. Got a call from the agency this morning detailing me of an offer from company x, say, and whether I would accept/decline. What I found disconcerting was the fact the recruiter wanted an answer straight away so gave me 3 hours (more or less) to decide (after I asked for a bit of time). I verbally agreed to take the offer 3 hours later, feeling it might be withdrawn if I asked for more time to decide. However, I'm also waiting on an offer from Company Y also which I would prefer. Any advice on how I could draw out the process until I know what Company Y's stance is?

Did you get the other, better job then or what.

Fly91 · 18-09-2015 7:47pm

Hi guys wasn't sure whether to start a new thread or not but I am in a similar enough situation. I had to leave my job last year for personal reasons and am ready to get back working. I've been looking for work for a few months but it's only in the past couple of weeks that I really kicked into gear then all of a sudden I had two interviews this week and was offered both jobs, one starts Monday and the other starts the following Monday. I'm in desperate need of the money and was thinking of starting one then leaving for the other as the latter is a better position, significantly better pay and involves significantly less travel time. So I'm wondering if anyone can tell me any negative consequences this may create in the future if I were to go through with this.

c0nor · 19-09-2015 12:26am

allibastor wrote: »

Did you get the other, better job then or what.

Yeah. Offer from the preferred job came in on Wednesday. Was due to start the other job Thursday. Happy Days

Peregrinus · 19-09-2015 12:48am

Fly91 wrote: »

Hi guys wasn't sure whether to start a new thread or not but I am in a similar enough situation. I had to leave my job last year for personal reasons and am ready to get back working. I've been looking for work for a few months but it's only in the past couple of weeks that I really kicked into gear then all of a sudden I had two interviews this week and was offered both jobs, one starts Monday and the other starts the following Monday. I'm in desperate need of the money and was thinking of starting one then leaving for the other as the latter is a better position, significantly better pay and involves significantly less travel time. So I'm wondering if anyone can tell me any negative consequences this may create in the future if I were to go through with this.

nobody can stop you starting one job on Monday, quitting it on Friday and then starting the next job the following Monday but, really, that's pretty dickish behaviour. If you know before you even start that your going to quit within a week and take another job, don't start. Let them give the job to someone else. It will cause them massive disruption if you start your induction and then quit, after they have told other candidates that they were unsuccessful. Plus you will get a bad reputation if people hear that you have done this. There's no legal consequence for not dealing with your employer in good faith, but, still.

irishmover · 19-09-2015 12:56am

Peregrinus wrote: »

nobody can stop you starting one job on Monday, quitting it on Friday and then starting the next job the following Monday but, really, that's pretty dickish behaviour. If you know before you even start that your going to quit within a week and take another job, don't start. Let them give the job to someone else. It will cause them massive disruption if you start your induction and then quit, after they have told other candidates that they were unsuccessful. Plus you will get a bad reputation if people hear that you have done this. There's no legal consequence for not dealing with your employer in good faith, but, still.

While I agree with you and wouldn't do the same myself, employers are more than happy to throw people under buses when they want to. Never really frowned upon then. Just business.

Guffy · 19-09-2015 12:57am

I get you can just leave any job but does the employer have the right to with hold the week in hand if no notice is given or worked,

Peregrinus · 19-09-2015 3:06am

No, he has to pay you for what you have worked.

He could, in theory, prevent the next employer from engaging you until your notice period with your first employer has expired. Realistically, though, he won't do this.

Peregrinus · 19-09-2015 3:09am

irishmover wrote: »

While I agree with you and wouldn't do the same myself, employers are more than happy to throw people under buses when they want to. Never really frowned upon then. Just business.

But few employers would hire someone, having decided even before they hired the person that they were going to fire them five days later. And that's the analogy to what the OP is contemplating.

irishmover · 19-09-2015 3:43am

Peregrinus wrote: »

But few employers would hire someone, having decided even before they hired the person that they were going to fire them five days later. And that's the analogy to what the OP is contemplating.

And? So you're saying that's more wrong than half the rubbish employers do? Employers can drop you on the spot. Pay you what you are owed and leave you without a job within the first hour of a work day. I've seen people working in companies for over 10 years walk into work in the morning and then back out an hour later jobless (with a redundancy package).

That's a bit more demoralising than what the OP is doing. He is looking after himself, just like any company CEO would do.

Peregrinus · 19-09-2015 4:04am

You can hardly criticise employers for doing that, but then argue that it's fine for employees to do it. Besides, if the OP is to accept a job he has no intention of doing, he should reflect that it's not just the employer who will be disadvantaged. Sure, the job will eventually go to someone, but it may be some weeks before that can happen. So, on the best view, the OP is considering depriving another worker of what could be several weeks worth of wages in order to get for himself one week's wages for a job he doesn't intend to do.

I get that the OP is in dire need of cash, but. He's not alone there. Does his need for cash trump every other consideration, including other people's needs?

Cut it how you like, this would be fairly shltty behaviour. Most of us will do shltty things if we're desperate enough, so I'm not passing any judgment on the OP for doing what he thinks he has to do. But I'd be less impressed with attempts to justify this behaviour with arguments along the lines that employers bahave badly, So if employees do the same that's not bad. Do this if you have to, but be honest and admit to yourself that what you are doing is shltty.

Fly91 · 19-09-2015 3:54pm

Thanks for your replies everyone.
Now that the adrenaline rush and excitement at getting back to work has relaxed a bit and I can think straight again. I've weighed out the pros and cons and decided it's more realistic to not go through with my initial plan. It's better off, morally and financially, to reject the first offer and just wait till the second job starts.

pheasant tail · 22-09-2015 12:34am

I was also in a similar dilemma earlier in the year, took a job when hoping I would be offered an alternative job from a previous interview. I done more pointless worrying about it, how will I tell the boss, will it look bad etc. Really not worth the worrying. And with so many short term and flimsy contracts out there now it really is an employers paradise. If you want out, get out!

Job offer dilemma

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