Advice needed - got an offer while another branch of the company is pending

[Salliey]

I have got a job offer from a company (A) in Japan last Thursday, which is decent. They told me I have to give them an answer by Wednesday, which is tomorrow.
However I had an interview with a branch of the same company (B) in Singapore the following Monday, and this position is my first choice.
I have told them upfront that I have an offer from another company with a deadline on Wednesday, and they have pushed the decision to be made by Friday- that was the best they could do as they have candidates to interview on Friday.
With this information, I asked company A if they could give me until Friday to think it over. I told them that the situation changed and I am waiting for another result- and that I don't mean this is the second choice but I want to make a decision after I know the result so that I won't regret later.
That was today and I've just been informed that the deadline cannot be changed and is not further negotiable.
This means that I have to make a decision by tomorrow- what should I do!?

I haven't told either of them that the offer I mentioned was from another branch of the same company.

I'd really appreciate your advice, and thank you for reading!

[sundaymorningstaple]

Somehow I feel you are burning the candle at both ends and you know what usually happens when someone does that, right?

[Wd40]

I think you should evaluate based on how good the Singapore role is over the Japan role. If there is a huge difference and you think you will be much more happier in Singapore than Japan, then you must wait for the Singapore offer. In this scenario you can risk burning the candle at Japan end.

In case you are in that "a bird in hand is better than..." mode, than you should take the Japan offer.

None of us will be able to tell you which is better, in fact even you wouldn't know which is better unless you worked in both roles for some time.

But the initial hunch/gut feel is always correct. If you feel Singapore is better, like you said in your post, my advice will be to wait for the Singapore offer. You could either take the Japan offer and reject it later or just tell them politely, that you cannot tell Yes until Friday.

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[rajagainstthemachine]

Somehow I feel you are burning the candle at both ends and you know what usually happens when someone does that, right?

exactly!! plus you are trying to fool two HR's from the same company who possibly use the same database systems, be sensible and tell them upfront your situation.

[bgd]

Take the job in hand or stand to lose both.

[NZinSG]

I wouldn't like being given an artificial deadline so they can secure you based on you not wanting to lose an offer.

Then again, you could lose both, which is terrible.

[rajagainstthemachine]

I wouldn't like being given an artificial deadline so they can secure you based on you not wanting to lose an offer.

Then again, you could lose both, which is terrible.

its not an artificial deadline, its a deadline period, decide if you want the job by specified date or we'll find someone else.
maybe the employer should wait until the prospective employee sees the reflection of the half moon in a teardrop shed by an angel on the leaf of a fern hanging by a cliff on an island in Madagascar and then make a decision

[NZinSG]

It's fairly artificial.

They could give an idea of where the candidate stands in the current order, e.g. "You're currently our main candidate, if we didn't have interviews with the two people on Friday we would hire you".

I've done the above to a potential employee(s), I let them know for one of them that they were out of the running and to accept the other offer, and inversely I've told someone that they are our top candidate, but we have to go through with the interviews as they are already scheduled. The second person ended up declining the offer and we were able to successfuly offer them our position the following week.

[NZinSG]

Holy shit, I went off on a tangent.

Anyway, yes, it is artificial, they have no reason to no be able to delay it until Friday. If he declines they have their second (and third, and fourth) options lined up to send the offer out to. If he declines the second person would be given probably until the next week to decide, past the current deadline.

If he accepts, then gets given an offer by the preffered company he will feel fairly freak over by it, and not be a happy employee. Not much he can do about it, especially if there is something screwy int he contract, but he won't be happy (at least to begin with).

[Wd40]

I agree with NZinSG, these deadlines are bullshit. What happens if there is delay by 1 week? Also if the OP is able to get 2 offers in 1 company, he should be capable enough to get similar offers again. So I would go with my gut feeling and not take an inferior offer and then regret, "what if I had waited"?

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[Strong Eagle]

It's fairly artificial.

Spot on. If you find a candidate that you want for your company, then one works with that person to make it happen. Arbitrary deadlines of "take it or leave it" show a complete lack of respect for the potential employee and should set off red flags as to what the work environment is like.

[rajagainstthemachine]

In fairness to both companies, company A provided OP with 7 days to think it over, company B gave OP 4 days to mull it over, i think that is a reasonable amount of time to decide what to do. I dont think both companies are being unfair here. The OP needs to consider various factors before settling on one choice.

[Wd40]

Dude, this is typical Asian mentality of companies being master and employees being slaves. In reality it is a contract and both employer and employee are equal partners. Then why should employer have all these self made policies which are not even in the hand book? I hear this all the time in my company. "It is a policy not to work from home". "It is a policy not to take vacation more than 2 weeks". In reality there is no such policy anywhere in the handbook and there are no such rules in the global offices. It is here in Singapore only such rules, just because management doesn't want to trust anybody.

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[rajagainstthemachine]

@wd40 - we all know it, does it change anything ? No!
If OP turns around and says no, you think these companies will beg OP to reconsider? It used to happen in good ol 2005-2007 but not anymore, they'll simply find another candidate. As it is finding jobs in this climate is tough and making a quick decision is vital.

[Wd40]

All the more reason to say no in that case, as Strong Eagle mentioned, even before offering the job, if this company is so inflexible, imagine what will happen after you join it. Also it is not just luck by chance that OP got 2 offers at the same time, economy is always bad, but that doesn't mean you must compromise without even trying.

I have always regretted in the past when I made decisions by being too safe than sorry. (Again Asian mentality) Ultimately you will not like the job and quit anyways. Might as well wait for good things to happen than give up before trying.

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