Job offer, but how to delay answer?

[Om83]

Successful in recent interview and offered job, but have another interview tomorrow for a job I think I might prefer out of the two…

Not sure how to handle answering the offer- do I…

a. Answer and be truthful about circumstances that I have another interview outcome I am waiting for and will get back to them later in week?

b. Accept job offer and then if successful in 2nd job then pull out of 1st later

c.hold out until after the interview tomorrow and see how long they estimate it will take to get back to me, then hold off for a potentially a few days and not answer 1st job offer whilst waiting??

if I am unsuccessful in 2nd job I would absolutely take the 1st so don’t want to piss them off.

Also do I tell the interviewers tomorrow I have an offer on the table elsewhere??

Been a while since I’ve had to deal with these things- thank you!!

Go for option b. Accept, go for the other interview. If you delay responding for too long they may think you’re flakey, withdraw and move on with another applicant, with no guarantee of the second role being successful.

good luck!

When was the job offered? Was it offered over the phone, if so, what did you say to them?

What’s the situation with interview2? Is there a recruiter you can speak to to find out their timings? You can ask about that in the interview but might be good to know in advance if you're able to get the info.

Agree. It's the only way. You need to put your own interests first sometimes.

I was in the position of the employer for the first role in this scenario. Offered someone a role and they advised they had an interview the following day and would I be willing to wait until the outcome for that before they gave their response to me.

Their honesty was refreshing. (I said yes to the delay - we agreed by when they would tell me, either way. They got that second job and I ended up hiring someone else).

However, I’m not sure all employers would react this in way (in fact I’m sure many wouldn’t…)

Thanks for the insights! Much appreciated. 1st Interview was Friday, offer end of same day by email so already delayed over weekend in replying, which is possibly a reasonable delay as in not in working hours but feel I have to address it in some way tomorrow either way!

Option B. Anything else looks odd. Best of luck with whatever happens x

Option B is the only way in this scenario. Accept the job and then go to the interview for the other role. If they then offer you that role you have a decision to make. If you prefer the 2nd role then just let the first one know. Ultimately they won't have let much time pass by and they will still be able to contact other candidates who they previously interviewed.

You must accept it then withdraw if you get and prefer the other job.

Go for b. I had someone do “a” when I was hiring but the other one was taking ages to come back so I was told to withdraw our offer… I felt bad doing it and could see that “b” would have worked for them.

B

Thanks everyone for the input- went with option B to accept the 1st job on Monday morning and then withdrew this morning when I got the offer for 2nd job! 🎉

I hate letting people down but it’s the right decisions this case, and not too much time has passed so that is alleviating my guilt a bit!!

Congratulations 💐