Even One More Recruiter Question

[James Barrow]

>>Jim Barrow wrote:
>Sarah Bouchier said:
>
>>How long would you wait - keep your hopes alive - for feedback regarding a
>>posted job?
[]
>How would you (or how did you) handle a situation when you've got one firm
>job offer under your belt, but you're hoping for another?

This is precisely the situation that I am in now.  The firm job offer that I
received is good - not great, just good - and has its pros and cons:
interesting duties, but really long drive to a bad section of town,
long-term contract, but mediocre pay, etc.

I took Beth's suggestion and prodded the 'dream job's' HR person and got
this reply:

"Since this is a holiday week, several managers will be gone on Wednesday,
so when I get feedback, it will be next week. I will let you know."

This means that it will be 30 days since I first submitted my resume.

As an aside, it has been my experience that in situations such as these,
most recruiters/companies finally reply by announcing that the job position
has been closed or delayed indefinitely.  Caveat emptor.

Speaking to what Gene wrote, the job offers that I declined in the past week
were due to the salary being so low that I would basically have accepted the
job to pay for the bankruptcy attorney that I would eventually need.

As for your question, Sarah, that's a tough one.  If I accept an offer today
(for low pay, long commute, etc.), and then the 'dream job' (stratospheric
salary, great environment, etc.) is offered next month, I'm going to be
kicking myself.

If it weren't the holiday season, I would say that I would wait for the
dream job.  But to take the mediocre job today knowing that I would quit as
soon as the dream job was offered would be incredibly unethical.

Final answer:  scrimp and save, buy less Pop-Tarts, and wait for the dream
job.

- Jim