Dear On Second Thought,

Listen, I get it. When you’re unemployed you can feel desperate to get back to work. Perhaps you have financial pressures. Maybe your family is on the line. This is a very real pressure and I completely understand it.

I also understand the pressure of finding the right role for you. You spend a good chunk of your life at work – you want that role to be a satisfying and rewarding one. If the first opportunity presented has you unsure, it can be incredibly tempting to continue to play the field even as you accept the initial role.

Unfortunately, this is a bad idea. Here’s why.

There are a few reasons why accepting a job offer and continuing to interview is a bad idea. All of them fall back on one crucial fact: accepting a job and then either not starting or quitting quickly will annoy or anger that employer.

You don’t want to do this because:

Your industry is small

Every industry operates in its own little bubble. Odds are the employer whose role you accept and then reject won’t forget about what you’ve done in a hurry. Depending on their connections in the industry, this can hurt your reputation.

Imagine, three years down the track you’re talking to an industry leader and they recognise your name – not because of your stellar record – but because you pulled a fast one on their colleague. Not a pleasant prospect, huh?

You risk your new job

Say the other opportunities don’t pan out and you stick with your initial role. This is all well and good, just so long as your new employer doesn’t find out you were still interviewing after they offered you a role.

But like I said, your industry is small. Odds are this news is going to get back to them. Now you’re faced with having insulted your new employer straight out of the gate. Not exactly a solid foundation from which to build a trusting working relationship.

You won’t be committed

Starting a new position is exciting and stressful in equal amounts. You need to give it your all in order to succeed. If you’re still in the “but what if” mindset of interviewing, you risk splitting your attention and thus, not concentrating fully on finding your feet in your new role.

So what should you do instead?

Communicate, communicate, communicate. Your recruiter is there to help you find a role that fits you so you should trust them to do just that. If you’re not 100% sold on a role then communicate that to your recruiter. They’ll be able to help you decide on a course of action.

If it were me, I’d help my client ask for more time to make their decision. This would then allow them to go back to the other companies they’re interviewing with and press them for a decision.

At the end of the day, you don’t want to burn bridges – and neither does your recruiter! Work with them to come to a conclusion that suits both you and your prospective employers and you’ll be in a much better position going forward.

Sincerely,
Jenny