You know how it is… you have two or more events which are tied together in some unexplainable way. Maybe you need something to be done before something else can be done, but the second thing needs to be done before the first is due.
It’s the same with multiple job interviews. I’ve applied to five or six companies for placements, and have been interviewed by two. One of those companies won’t give me a job offer or rejection until the middle of March, after applicants have been shortlisted three times and invited to a half-day assessment centre. On the other hand, some of the other companies may interview me and offer me a job before the first one’s even invited me to an assessment centre.
So what do I do? Do I reject any job offers from other companies just because I really want to work for the first one, and then hope that they offer me a job, or do I take up a competitive job offer and risk having to reject a possible one from the company who I’d rather work for because I can’t renege on my acceptance?
This is a situation that many students are in each year when applying for placements or graduate jobs, and some people do make the wrong decision and lose out on what could be a better job offer just because it was offered later than another one which they reluctantly accepted.
Now I can’t say that I have the definitive answer to this problem, but maybe I can offer some insight. Some companies recognise this dilemma and give a reasonable amount of time for you to receive any other offers and decide which one to accept, but many other take the line that if you are serious enough to want to work for them, then you will take up their offer immediately, and often give less than a couple of weeks for an answer.
What I will say is make full use of the time they offer for you to make a decision. Weigh up the pros and cons of taking up the offer with the possible offer of another company, and decide which company you’d rather work for. If it comes to the crunch, then try to imagine how much chance you have of an offer from the other company. Did you interview go well? Maybe you’ve received some good comments, or maybe they’re dragging their heels. Is their deadline for a final offer a long time away? If so, you may want to consider going for a rival offer. In any case, it’s only for a year and you’ll always be able to re-apply when you graduate. If you’re going for a graduate job then you may be able to apply again at a later date, although bear in mind that it’ll not be through the graduate route.
I wouldn’t advise you to turn down a rival offer in the hope of getting one from your preferred company unless you’re very sure that you’ll receive an offer. At the end of the day, it’s probably better to get into a job, even if it’s not with your preferred employer and then to try again at a later date than to reject and then get rejected, leading to no job at all!