While it might seem flattering to get a job offer immediately after an interview, you should remain a little sceptical when a company makes an offer right away. Lindsay Olson, writing for US News, suggests you do a little digging before you say yes if an employer wants to hire you fast.
Photo by Eric Krouse (Shutterstock).
Olson writes:
As much as you’d love to shorten the agonizing waiting period that follows the interview, you have to scratch your head when a hiring manager offers you the job at the end of a 20-minute interview. Were you the only person they interviewed? Did she decide she’d hire you before you even came in? Why is she so desperate to close the deal right now? Tell her you’ll think about the offer, then go home and do all the digging you can to figure out if there’s something you should know about this company’s desperation.
A quick request to hire doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take the job. Just because a company wants you fast doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work there. The last two jobs I’ve had (including this one) came from hires in the interview, but I didn’t start working immediately or find any reason for desperation. Plus, I always looked into places I wanted to work in advance so I knew who I was talking to. Sometimes things just click and you go with your gut. That said, if you don’t know the company who wants to hire you too well and they want you immediately, get at least 24 hours to check things out. If the job disappears after a day, you probably shouldn’t have taken it anyway.
5 Interview Warning Signs That You Shouldn’t Take the Job [US News]
Comments
One response to “Don’t Immediately Take A Job If They Try To Hire You In An Interview”
Hiring during the interview means:
They don’t have robust hiring policies
Turnover is high
The job has low expectations
Think about it, the person doing the hiring doesn’t want to waste too much time agonising over who to hire if the last three people have all left within months of starting. They know that the role is not critical, and that anyone can really do it. The level of training involved is fairly trivial, as well.
They know, that in a couple of months, you’re probably going to leave in frustration, or they will sack you. Your departure isn’t going to be significant because they’ll have a replacement very soon.
Agree with this advice. I recently got hired straight away in a skype interview! (for a job in France) as an ‘english teacher’ for children. When I got there, I didn’t get my contract until the day before I started working, and they wanted me to sign straight away, even though it was in French and I couldn’t speak French. I refused and said I would take it home and read it first. I started working without having a signed contract and realised I was really just an expensive babysitter, not an English teacher. The wage was also a lot less than they made out. The advertisement said it was a ‘high wage’ of 13-26 euros per hour for 25 hours per week. It was really 10 euros per hour at 20 hours a week, with 10% deducted to be paid during school holiday periods, so only really 180 euros per week – not enough to live on in Paris. They advertised the job as having all these great benefits, which were all just the minimum possible that they had to give us by law in France. Not only that, the contract said if I left I would have to give 2 months notice or they would press charges, which seemed pretty extreme to me. I told them I didn’t want to sign the contract and they were aggressive, personally insulting and unprofessional about it. That made me even more sure I wanted to leave. They have since called me several times harassing me and trying to bully me into staying, as they don’t have anyone to replace me. I don’t want to have to have this much responsibility for only 9 euros an hour. Luckily, I’ve found a better job more suited to my qualifications with much better conditions.
Expat forums can often help in these situations. They will often be able to tell you who the dodgy companies are, and what the conditions are really like.