Should I tell my new employer about a pending offer?
Dear J.T. & Dale: I’ve been looking for a new job and have been in the interview process with two top firms. I just got offered a job with my second favorite of the two. They need an answer immediately, because they have a training program coming up in three weeks.
Meanwhile, I should hear about the other opportunity within a week and a half. Should I tell them that I can’t give them an answer until I’m done interviewing with the other company? I’m concerned that they might rescind their offer and then if I don’t get the other job, I wouldn’t have any job at all. — Kendra
J.T.: Your gut reaction is right. If you tell the first employer that you are waiting on an offer from another employer, I guarantee you they will rescind their offer. Nobody wants to be your second choice. I would proceed with the first offer and accept it. Later, if you do get the second offer, it’ll be up to you to decide if you want to move forward. Yes, you may burn a bridge with the first employer should you back out, but it’s better to keep your options open until you have the final outcomes with each opportunity. Remember, you owe them nothing. You need to make the best moves for you.
DALE: It says good things about you that you’re concerned about the possibility of disappointing the first company. And, yes, it will be an annoyance for someone there. Remember, however, you won’t have even started the training program, much less the job, so it will be just a minor inconvenience. Instead of feeling bad for the HR person who’ll need to fill the position you’ll vacate, picture the delight of that other applicant who’ll get the unexpected call that a spot in the training program has opened up. Meanwhile, human nature being what it is, the HR person will probably end up thinking, “This new person is super excited about the job. It’s all going to work out for the best.”
Dear J.T. & Dale: During the pandemic, we worked from home, but last summer, the company started requiring us to come in two days a week. I’ve heard rumors that they are going to make us come back fulltime. I have changed my lifestyle in a way that it is not possible for me to go into the office every day. Should I look for a new remote job now or wait and see? And, is there any legal recourse to stay working remote? — Carl
DALE: Not being lawyers, we can’t offer legal advice, but this non-lawyer can’t picture how your company going back to the same conditions that existed when you were first hired would get an employment attorney’s adrenaline pumping.
J.T.: Besides, unless you’re part of a union, you are an at-will employee. This means the company can let you go or change your job. Some
companies are easing their workers back into the office while ultimately planning to have them there full-time. It sounds like your company is one of them. If you want to stay remote, I would encourage you to start looking for a new position. If you stay until they announce a new in-office policy and then try to figure it out, that could put you at a competitive disadvantage. Better to start your search now and find out what your options really are. In fact, you may find out that the grass isn’t greener and that you want to stay where you are.
DALE: Remote work is a job market unto itself, and there are plenty of employees in your situation, not wanting to head back to the office. That means there’s lots of competition for remote jobs and this may mean you’ll take a cut in pay. Or, it may just mean a longer job search. So, J.T. is right: ramp up that search now. Meanwhile, figure out how to use your current job to add to the work skills that you find are in the most demand.
Jeanine “J.T.” Tanner O’Donnell is a career coach and the founder of the leading career site www.workitdaily.com. Dale Dauten’s latest book is “Experiments Never Fail: A Guide for the Bored, Unappreciated and Underpaid.” Please visit them at jtanddale.com, where you can send questions via email, or write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803.