Availability to startI recently gave two weeks and resigned from my current position after receiving a verbal offer for a new job. The "official" written offer was not forthcoming and, by the time I was aware there was a problem, it was too late to reclaim my old job. This put me out of work and without access to unemployment. I' m applying for new jobs (at a desperately ferocious pace), listing my previous employer as if the situation were still current. I don' t want to advertise how my over-anxious jumping the gun caused my current dilemma. I' m rationalizing that I still have a final paycheck coming and my benefits remain in effect until the end of the month. After that, I' m not sure how I' ll approach the situation. We' ll leave that for another question. My question for right now (spurred by copious amounts of wishful thinking): When asked for my availability to start date, do I say two weeks (robbing myself of two weeks worth of much needed pay), or explain at that time that I have already left my previous employer and thus can start immediately? I am going to admit ignorance at the "official written offer" portion of your post because I have never run into that particular situation. I have always relied on the verbal offer and do all the paperwork on the first day of employment. Often you will be asked, even if your resume or application suggests different, if you are working at the present time. When filling out an application before going into the interview (which some employers still ask you to do) there is the question of are you still working. If you state that you are still working and they contact your employer for a reference they will find out that you already terminated and will therefore probably not think too much of you and your honesty. If you are unemployed, most interviewers will expect immediate availability. My personal response to the availability question is the Monday after the offer. For example, if I were offered a position on Wednesday, I would start on the following Monday. This is totally personal as I want to study the firm that I will be working for in more depth than I already have. Plus, I will take my son and a friend of his choosing out of school for lunch at McD's or Jack in the Crack. (I know the other mom and she has already given me her permission as long as I forewarn her). Ironically, a family friend experienced a similar situation just last week. Offered a job on Thursday, he received a call on Friday rescinding the offer because he' d failed to interview with all decision-makers involved. (No fault of his. He interviewed with everyone they told him to.) I suspect he' ll still get the job, after returning for another round of interviews, but the company had already offered him the job! My problem is that I' ve allowed my resume to remain the same in that my recent former employer still appears to be my current employer. To admit that I am available immediately would require me to explain what now appears to be irresponsible haste in tendering my resignation. Do you think that will pose a problem? I began looking for new employment as a precursor to relocating to the next state over. I suppose I could use the relocation as an excuse for having left my last job, except that it would still be a feasible commute and I would never have actually left myself jobless merely to avoid a long commute. Re-do your resume to reflect that you are no longer employed at that company. Don't re-send it to all of the places you already have, but send it on to new potential employers. When you are called by one of the companys who have the resume that lists you as employed, tell them in the interveiw, if they ask, that your reason for leaving is twofold. First because you had gone as far as you felt you could go with that company and also so that you could concentrate on your job search. Or if better just use one of those answers. There is no need to state that you terminated your employment because you thought you had another offer sewn up. That might not give the interviewer a good feeling. | |
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Career Tips
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