How to Handle Multiple Job Offers

September 10, 2014 in Career and Job Search Tips

 

After a diligent job search and interviews with multiple employers, it happens – you’re offered a great position with a leading food & beverage organization.

You graciously accept the offer, have your sights set on your new opportunity, and then lightning strikes twice. Before you can even start your new job, you’re offered a great position with another leading food & beverage organization.

Sometimes, when it rains, it pours.

When it comes to job offers, more is not necessarily better. It may seem flattering to receive multiple offers, but it also puts you in the potentially compromising position of having to renege.

What’s the best way to handle this ethical dilemma? Use these tips from Kinsa to conduct yourself professionally and make the best choice for your food & beverage career:

  • Prevent the problem before it arises. If you’ve recently accepted a position with an employer, stop submitting new applications. Withdraw yourself from consideration for positions to which you’ve already applied. Remember that you have made a “good faith” agreement with your new food & beverage employer and should do everything possible to honor it.
  • Understand the consequences. Obviously, you’ll burn a bridge with the first employer if you rescind your acceptance. If you have contacts within that organization, you may also damage your relationships with those individuals. Furthermore, reneging may irreversibly damage your professional reputation – and you have no control over how far that damage may spread. The food & beverage industry is a tight-knit group of professionals, recruiters and associations. People will talk about their experiences with you, good or bad.
  • Think long-term. Receiving a “better” offer is not an ethically acceptable reason to abandon one to which you’ve already committed. Even if you are offered a position with your dream employer, remember that new opportunities within that organization will become available down the road. If you respectfully decline the job (explaining that you’ve already made a commitment to another), you will build your brand as a true professional with a high level of integrity. This will put you in an even better position down the road.

If you have to renege:

Sometimes, reneging is unavoidable. If extenuating circumstances (e.g., a spouse is suddenly transferred out of state, or an immediate family member falls gravely ill) make it impossible for you to start work with your new employer, be timely and honest:

  • Make direct contact – in person or over the phone – with your hiring manager or recruiter as soon as you make your decision.
  • Be frank and explain the reason for your decision.
  • Follow up the verbal conversation with a formal withdrawal letter or email.
  • Return any gifts, advances or expense allowances that the employer presented to you.

Looking for a new executive food & beverage opportunity?

Make sure it’s the right one by working with an experienced, specialized, national food & beverage recruiter like Kinsa. To get started,  email or upload your resume, or search executive food & beverage jobs here.