WWYD - It's a job one

[FelicityFlops]

2 possible jobs came up in the last fortnight (I was approached).
Job 1 had interview last Thursday, sounds OK, not quite what the spec described. Interview was also OK given that I am 6km away on Teams, in a foreign language and the connection dropped (only once, though), but I did not expect it to go any further.
Job 2, which I was not expecting to go any further, has come back asking for an interview this week - great can do that.
Except that Job 1 contacted me yesterday as well with the offer of a 12 months' contract and I have 48 hours to respond.
Job 2 will definitely not be a 12 months' contract, either 3 or 6, initially.
Job 2 also pays considerably more than Job 1 .
What would you do?
Reject Job 1 on speculation that you get Job 2.
Accept Job 1 - bird in the hand and all that and turn down interview with Job 2.
I have until Friday - and that it pushing it - to decide about Job 1.
To make it more complicated I am actually on holiday outside Europe at present with limited wifi and daily power cuts, so communications are "interesting" to say the least.

How scarce are contract roles in your area of work, how desperate are you for work/how screwed are you if you don't end up with either contract? Is a 12 month contract very enticing vs the potential insecurity of a 3 mth contract?

I'd say to Job 1 something like: "Thank you for the offer. I am very tempted by the role but I am currently interviewing for another contract which I won't get a decision on until next week, and which pays considerably more than the contract you have offered me. If you were able to raise your offer to £xxxxxx then I could accept straight away. Otherwise unfortunately I am not in a position to make a decision before dd.mm.yyyy." (choose a date when you are back from vacation early next week).

This puts the ball squarely back in their court: they can raise their offer, or wait til next week, or withdraw the offer. For a 12 month contract, I am surprised they are in SUCH a desperate hurry to sign you up instantaneously... plus the money isn't as good... plus the job description is misleading... seems like Company1 may be a bit of a disorganised mess and losing out on the offer may be a lucky miss.

When you interview with job 2 make it very clear you are under offer from another job and would be very grateful for an early decision - same day would be ideal if they know it's a "no".

Accept job 1 and start ball rolling. (Possibly try to negotiate higher salary) interview for job 2 and see if you get the job.

Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but I would accept the offer of job 1 immediately and I would STILL interview for job 2. If I got the job, I’d hand my notice in at job 1 if necessary.

if you’re working outside the uk then maybe check the laws for your county to see if you would be liable for any breaches of contract with job 1 (which I doubt).

Also if you’re dealing with significant communication issues, is it worth arranging your job interview to after you return home?

I think @SchrodingersKettle has it spot on. I’ve been in this position before and managed to get a 15% salary increase plus flexible working hours from an original offer in this circumstance.

I’d do this too. I did as I was offered 2 jobs in the summer, both on promotion but the 2nd one was 6k a year more, plus more convenient. I accepted the first one, and had a couple of weeks waiting on the 2nd and pulled out of job 1. They weren’t impressed and didn’t even reply to me, but people do it all the time.

Thanks for the responses so far, food for thought.
How desperate am I? Well, I finished my last project at the end of November and left for a 4 week holiday at the beginning of December with a plan to take at least half of January off as well. I did not apply for either of these roles, but was approached.
Sadly I already know that Job 1 has no further budget, so no room for negotiation there.
I think it highly unlikely that anyone would wait until I was home again for an initial interview, on the other hand I am not in a position to process any paperwork until I am at home, so...
At present I have told the agent for Job 1 that I have another interview this week & that this is also through his company. To be fair, I should tell the other agent as well & let them fight it out!
The difference in remuneration is €3k per month. I agree with a PP that Job 1 sounds a bit chaotic, but it is a national organisation with international offshoots, at least one of which is in the UK. I am not in the UK.

Hmm i might be inclined to accept job 1 then.

If the other contract was only 3 months then the extra 3k a month, after tax, doesn't buy you a lot of extra time to search for a new role when the contract ends. The extra money is compensation for the risk the contract isn't extended and you're out of work for a whole. Plus you have the risk that you don't get the job in the first place.

Still do the interview for job 2 and explain you are in the process for another contract (make a good impression and you may be hired another time).

Personally i wouldn't accept contract 1 then renege on it if contract 2 comes through. As a contractor you may want to work for company 1 in future. It will piss the agent off. And people in industries talk, it's poor form and you don't want that rep sticking to you. (Hiring managers move job too, you may encoutner them in future.)