Simultaneous Job Offers - what to do?

In the life of the jobseeker, there are periods of scarcity and periods of turmoil. When job offers finally come, they seem to come all at once. Perhaps we are blessed with an aura of employability? Whatever the lure, you can leverage the situation to improve whatever offer you finally decide to accept. A couple of things to keep in mind:

1. Know what you want

Unless one offer is clearly superior in many ways to the other, you may find that setting your priorities can be tricky. After all, you’ve applied to these vacancies so something drew you to them in the first place. There could be pros and cons attached to these job offers. One of them will pay more, but in the other the work might seem more interesting to you or suggest a better career perspective. One will mean less hours, but in the other you will like the people. One will be closer to your home.

If you know what you want, you will be able to set an order of preference. Don’t be confused by assurances of future opportunities of promotion or the promise of a company parking space.

2. Negotiate

Once you have your priorities straight, think about in what ways each offer is not fully convincing. Would Option 2 be more attractive than Offer 1 if the salary was 20% higher? In that case, you don’t risk anything by asking for it. Can you bring to the table some aspects of Offer 1 that are bothering you? Your negotiation room will vary according to the relative value of the offers to you, but whatever room you have.. use it.

3. Time is on your side

Delay Offer 2 if you need to wait for Offer 1 to come through. What if you can’t delay making a final decision on Offer 2, while Offer 1 is still undefined or in the negotiation stage? If there is a risk that Offer 1 might fall, then you should accept Offer 2. If, a few days later, Offer 1 materializes, you can leave Company 2 and take up Offer 1.

Messy, but life is messy. Most times, companies will have a backup choice. It’s not personal, it’s business

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This is a guest post from Entervista Free Video Job Interviews. Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.