To accept a job offer while applying for another?

[MyJobsWorth]

NC for this

I'm on mat leave and applying for new jobs. I work in the NHS in a somewhat specific area, so jobs can be hard to get just due to availability. I have been offered a job, but a better one has just been advertised which would be harder to get. Unsure to:

• Gamble, decline the job offer but potentially not get the other job and need more unpaid leave

• Accept the job but be honest I am applying to the better one

• Play it safe and take the job I have

I was in a similar situation many years ago - I took the job offered and worked there for 3 months until I got the other job - then wrote a really polite, regretful resignation letter (just in case I ever needed a reference) citing the reason I was moving on so quickly (not the truth but something that was entirely plausible!) - never did need a reference as I'm still here 20 years on...

Take the job, don't mention the other job but still apply. If you get it just explain it's an opportunity more suited

No experience of NHS, but in the private sector we would just ask for more time to decide on the offer you already had. People know what it means but tend to be prepared to wait incase they can get you after all.

Do what suits YOU best.

Employer's do it all the time.

Take the job and leave if you need to.
You don't need to be loyal to an employer- just be respectful if you do get the other job.

After being repeatedly shat on from a great height by my employer last year, I'd say accept the new job but still (quietly) apply for the other position.

It's shit and you might burn a bridge but employers would get rid of you in a heartbeat if they needed to. Think of yourself.

You don't owe a potential employer anything. Take the job, apply for another.

Take the job that's on offer, apply for the other and leave if you are successful. I left a job after 7 weeks having done exactly this, it all worked out fine.

Accept
Still apply for better one
Don’t tell first one
If you get better one, take it and decline first one

You need to do the right thing for you

alls fair in jobs. play for yourself.