An offer

[cjsmith]

Companies T, X, MP: resume submitted, never a peep. Probably not a fit.
Company G: wants a phone call early next week but has not yet scheduled it.
Company Z: usually does two interviews. I've had one and then took off for the East Coast for a week. May be interested in seeing me again or may think I rate somewhat lower than boogers.
Company V: interview tomorrow.

And job offer number one of the 2006 Job Search Season is at company M, a place so small and so deep in stealth mode that their web page has nothing on it but a logo. It's verbal so far, by which I mean spoken, and I don't think they're even going to bother checking references before putting it on paper. They want an answer from me ABSOLUTELY RIGHT NOW, as in "start Monday".

I pushed back on answering before tomorrow afternoon's interview at Company V. That one had already been scheduled and I didn't feel at all right about:
- saying yes to Company M and ditching the V interview last minute
- saying yes to Company M and going to the V interview, wasting their time
- saying no to Company M without any time to think
or, honestly, simply being pushed to decide so fast.

So I'm now expected to call as soon as I get out of V's building and tell M what I have decided. Deep breath. I hate being rushed, but it does look appealing...

If I say yes, I break things off with V quite suddenly, and I cancel the call I'm supposed to have with Company G early next week (marking the second time their process has simply been too slow to catch me, thus probably blacklisting me forever in their eyes), and I tell everyone else (including some recruiters) I'm out of the running.

If I say no I... well, what is this, do I want a job or don't I? I mean, they want me, and they want me to write code, and for this they will pay me a salary. What am I looking for, flowers and a serenade?

Time to sleep on it a bit.

Comments

[gdmusumeci.livejournal.com]

It sounds like Company M is an early startup: that's fine. Those sorts of companies tend to be extremely aggressive in recruiting people, so I would not be put off by that. Just make sure you do your due diligence around the company's financial health, road to profitability, etc. You know all that I'm sure.

It's always difficult to look for a job. There are all these Really Big Decisions that have to be made, often with incomplete information and in a short timeframe. On a somewhat related topic, I got a job offer yesterday, and found out about it because my current boss called me at home (note that I am on vacation) to tell me that I had an offer letter in my inbox. What the hell was that?!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

That's so true: you never have all the information you want to have. Neither does the hiring manager. I often liken this process to getting married on a first date. The more I interview and work, the more I think that's (an exaggeration but) essentially true.

So, um... what kind of ding-dong sends an offer letter to the candidate's current place of employment? That's pretty weird! Had your boss known you were looking? WERE you looking at all? How strange!