No Thanks, Job Offer

Day 187 of writing every day.

Life is full of the unexpected. I was quite pleased with myself the other day when I got a job offer right off the bat after my first job interview. I felt they were a little too insistent when I told them I had more interviews coming up and was told they’d call me back later on Friday after I had finished the interviews. The idea seemed fine at the time, but they were frankly me rushing me and demanding a response to their offer, which seemed standard for people with no experience, but was below disappointing in terms of pay which amounted to less than my last job’s starting salary and that’s including 20 hours of prepaid overtime.

I wrote about my interview experiences as feeling exhausting because I’m on full alert the whole time and doing my best to leave a good impression without coming off as unnatural or sounding negative when asked about my work history. Some people might have had things better than I have and are able to chat with shameless exaggeration about their accomplishments and oh so little regrets they have about things they wish they could have done better. I tend to speak plainly and it takes effort to reshape my experience into a story that fits the format of how you should tell your story in an interview.

Needless to say, feeling exhausted after the interview and waiting on a follow up phone call that came hours later than expected, I did my best to sound positive and tell them that I’d like some time to process and digest all the information I had just received and all that I experienced. But I was met with a somewhat disappointed response worried about what to say and what the boss will think, since they unilaterally decided that I should give my response to their offer after a couple interviews without even learning if I’ve been offered a job elsewhere.

Their argument is that they have “processing” to handle and with their hiring schedule for the new office, they don’t have the leeway to provide me a week’s time to consider if I want to work with them if/when presented with other options. It’s like they’re dangling a carrot in front of me but I’m not some donkey, nor do I like practices that try and force me to rush a decision which will drastically impact my life such as deciding where to work.

Quitting work is not as simple as cancelling a subscription membership as a customer. It comes with a stigma if you quit too quickly or work too many places throughout your work history. I don’t have a fresh slate to start with since all jobs demand that sort of information and base their opinion on me on it before even having met me, and deciding if they’ll even bother meeting me.

The dick move could be to say, “Yes.” to their offer but refuse to sign anything and drag out the whole process before saying I changed my mind and will decline the offer to take a position elsewhere. But I don’t want to burn any bridges unless it’s absolutely necessary so I wouldn’t ever consider that option even if others might and follow through.

Being pushed to join or move on with next to no time might work on some, but I’m not so easily swayed. If anything, such tactics remind me of the pyramid schemes and nowadays cryptocurrency schemes where some underling takes you to meet their awesome boss and you’re told a story about how you’re gonna get rich if you act now. Then the underling, often an acquaintance with questionable moral ethics, will join in on the nudging and encourage you to join in. At least that’s what the boss and the hiring manager combination reminded me of.

So I’m gonna pass on their offer despite worrying that I’m losing an opportunity here, and instead betting on myself and that I’ll find more job offers in the coming weeks.

Thanks for reading!