To accept or not

Dubsey · 29-01-2025 10:31AM #1

Hi all,

My wife has been on the job hunt for a while as she is in a bit of a niche market.

She wants to work for Company A and has done a first-round interview which went well and is waiting on news as to whether she is proceeding to 2nd round. Waiting for this news early next week but is expecting it to be positive.

She had an interview with Company B yesterday and the interview went well but the salary is approx. 25K less. She has just gotten a text from Company B asking when she is available for a call today. We are expecting her to be offered the job from Company B on that call.

Any tips on managing this situation? Take the expected job offer, look after her own interests and jack it in if the other better one comes off or come clean to them and risk them not being willing to wait and offering the job to someone else and being left with nothing?

thebiglad · 29-01-2025 10:49AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058392172/to-accept-or-not

As its a niche market then personal reputation counts for a lot - accepting the role from company B and then rejecting it in future if company A comes through is not an option therefore.

I work in fairly niche role too so understand to some degree but, I am surprised there is such a difference in salary offering - are the jobs of equivalent standing, if so, why is 1 company in a niche area offering so much more, are you confident this really is the salary and won't evaporate as the process moves on.

Are there any benefits to company B over company A that would justify some salary difference to you - i.e. commute/WFH etc.

Any chance you can get company B to come up?

Only option is to be honest that you are waiting on a 2nd role and not in a position to accept and hope they will increase their offer or wait for a period. Can you company A to bring their dates forward?

3DataModem · 29-01-2025 11:31AM

Either

Take B and remove yourself from A process
Tell B that you are in another process, but for ?K more you'll remove yourself from that process and accept B.
Tell B that you are in another process which will resolve very soon and you'll make a decision then.
Tell A you have an offer and need to move forward (or otherwise) ASAP.

The option of "Take B and then take A if it comes up." will not serve you well in a niche industry.

the_amazing_raisin · 29-01-2025 02:03PM

Tell Company B that she's very interested in there offer but the salary is below her expectations so she'll need a few days to think about it

Contact Company A, tell them she's received an offer but would prefer Company A. Don't hassle them to hurry up but ask if they're likely to have an answer in the next few days

She should at least buy herself some time to see how things shake out

Company B might hassle her to hurry up and accept straight away but she should be able to push back on this. If they're the kind of employer who pulls an offer the second the candidate shows less than 110% enthusiasm then that's probably a red flag

Company A might ask who the other company is or what their offer is. It's up to her whether to answer, honesty can get you places but job offers are typically confidential. I'd suggest she could share the details like salary if she wants but should probably not say the name of Company B

Dubsey · 30-01-2025 12:57AM

So she had the call with Company B. It was a pre-offer call as they were aware that there was possibly a salary gap vs what she was paid in her prior role. So they were sounding her out to see if what they could offer would be enough. She played it cool and they are aware she isn’t convinced yet. Next step is to agree with a board member and check references. So in the meantime the recruiter for Company A has been made aware of the situation to keep the pressure on there.

She has fallen victim in the past for being too loyal and then it not being re-paid. So time to look after number 1. We are assuming she is in pole position with Company A but there are no guarantees in life. So we keep both horses running in the race and make the decisions as and when they need to be made.

Thanks for the advice and enjoy the long weekend.

3DataModem · 30-01-2025 10:10AM

"She has fallen victim in the past for being too loyal and then it not being re-paid."
- good that she / you are aware of this, this is sadly too common, and sadly more common in my experience in women.

LambshankRedemption · 30-01-2025 10:29AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123115456#Comment_123115456

I was just about to say exactly the same.

HurlingBoy · 04-02-2025 04:12PM

A bird in the hand is better than 2 in the bush. Until you sign the contract there are no guarantees. Went through 3 rounds of interviews for a job to final HR interview but did not get offered the job so it can be really difficult to gauge with some companies. 25k seems a big gap though so might be best wait and see if company A comes through and try and delay company B for as long as possible.

To accept or not

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