How do I manage multiple job offers?

February 5, 2016 7:43 AM

I've recently moved country and am looking for work. I am finding myself in the fortunate position of sending out resumes and having a very high response rate. How do I manage this? Snowflakes below the fold.

I've just moved countries. My license as a Nurse Practitioner is not recognized in my new country, but my many years of experience are helping me wedge my way in for working as an assistant in healthcare. I began my job search in earnest a few weeks ago and am now receiving 1-2 callbacks per day. I had two interviews this week and was offered both positions. I have daily interviews next week as well. I've recently discovered that there's another type of position I could apply for that's a bit higher pay grade and might allow me more use of my nursing skills from my previous career, and have recently put in applications for positions in that class. I'm applying within a system that seems to move at a glacial pace, and it seems normal to submit an application and not receive a callback for a few weeks.

Of the two offers I've received this week, I am enthusiastic about one, and neutral about the second. The other interviews I have for next week are more or less equivalent positions, with equivalent pay. However, I do hope to hear back from the other class of positions that are an even better fit for me and directly related to my past specialization in healthcare.

I told the first job that I would let them know about my decision after the weekend, before I've finished with the round of interviews next week. I'm wondering if I'm foolish to just take the first job that I like and have interviewed for, or if I should just be happy that I've gotten so lucky and cancel the other interviews. Similarly, what is the most professional protocol for handling this? I am completely new to this country and don't want to burn any bridges or be rude, and I do plan to stay at whichever job I accept for at least one year.

I'm not sure there's a clear question in there, but: am I being too picky about the pea beneath my mattresses? Should I accept the job that's a, say, 95% match, or hold out for the 99% fit? There is some chance that I won't be offered other positions because the employer believes I am overqualified and will not stick around. I would normally be inclined to take the good offer now, except that I've had such a positive response to my applications that I imagine I will hear from more positions. What say you, MeFites?

posted by robertthebruce to Work & Money (7 answers total)

You don't mention anything about work visas, so this advice may not apply, but I would go with the employer that is willing to sponsor you for a work visa and they know that they can legally do this and they know how to do this. You may be in a world of trouble otherwise (I write this from personal experience).
posted by iamkimiam at 7:48 AM on February 5, 2016

You have no bridges to burn because you're brand new. Accept the job you're enthusiastic about, and negotiate a start date for after the other interviews (but don't tell them that). Say, in two weeks' time. Go to the other interviews, and if it turns out you get an offer out of one of those that you like better, it's not going to be a catastrophe if you rescind your offer to the first one. As long as they don't spend a bunch of time/money training you, let your conscience be clear.
posted by juniperesque at 7:50 AM on February 5, 2016 [6 favorites]

Response by poster: I forgot to mention: I have an unrestricted work visa in my new country. Also, all of these jobs would not likely start for another 4-6 weeks.
posted by robertthebruce at 7:51 AM on February 5, 2016

Best answer: I'm not sure anyone can tell you exactly what to do because part of this is predicated on whether or not you want to gamble on being offered a better job in the future. No one can predict if you will get a better offer. Personally, I would say focus less on factors that don't exist (other potential offers) and focus on what does exist (the offers you have). If you're excited about an offer and the full package hits your needs -- salary, benefits, workplace culture, location, your duties, etc. -- then I would just go for it. But if you feel some important pieces of what you want are missing, you don't have to take the job and you can keep looking. (Another factor is how long you can go without a job.) I think that when you worry so much about what else could be out there, you are less likely to appreciate what you do actually have. Start with assessing what you have, and if it's not what you hoped for when you started this job search, then I would start thinking about what else you can reasonably expect to become available to you if you keep job searching.
posted by AppleTurnover at 10:23 AM on February 5, 2016

Juniperesque's advice is good advice. It's usually easier to get a better job when you already have a job.

On the other hand, this raises a flag for me:

"I've recently discovered that there's another type of position I could apply for that's a bit higher pay grade and might allow me more use of my nursing skills from my previous career"

You need to find out whether taking the first type of position would put you at a disadvantage should you later try to apply for this "better" kind of position. This may seem ludicrous to you, but in some countries you can really pigeon-hole yourself with no easy way out of your career path. Beware of local job-culture norms you may not know of.

"I'm applying within a system that seems to move at a glacial pace, and it seems normal to submit an application and not receive a callback for a few weeks."

If you think a few weeks' response time is "glacial" I'm happy for you that you've never applied somewhere that's actually slow. When I got a job in my current organisation I sent the application in August and started as soon as possible – which was April.
posted by brokkr at 12:40 PM on February 5, 2016

Best answer: You can probably get one more extension on that job offer you're interested in. Tell them you're very interested in this position but require a few more days to consider their offer, be apologetic but give no reason why. Say that you're prepared to give a firm answer on Friday next week, and see how they respond. I don't think you can politely stretch it more than that.

Then see how the interviews go next week, and if some look like better opportunities, it would be wise to mention you're currently considering a few offers elsewhere but are very interested in this job, and ask what timeframe are they looking at for making their decision.
posted by lizbunny at 1:02 PM on February 5, 2016

Response by poster: Thanks for the helpful feedback! I've decided to take the job offer for the position I liked best. I was able to find out a bit regarding getting locked into a particular pay grade and it seems that taking this job shouldn't prevent me from moving up in the future, should opportunities become available.
posted by robertthebruce at 1:46 AM on February 8, 2016