Three unpleasant situations while recruiting for a job

Video transcript:
You're a graduate, and you've already started working for a company. And then it comes! Your desired offer from a tier one or tier two management consulting firm. What to do in such kind of a situation when you've already started working for a company and receive a better offer? Watch this video, and I'll let you know my thoughts about three critical situations like this and how You resolve it.

Gabriel Goldbrain SUCCESS Training

I'm Gabriel Goldbrain, and I developed the Goldbrain Success Training. It's a full-time training program which lasts about two to six weeks. And which will bring you up to speed and teach you everything you need to know to become a successful Management Consultant. If you've got what it takes, we may consider your application, and you get the training, which is free if you fail; it's success-paid payment only. More information on www.GabrielGoldBrain.com.

First Unpleasant Situation: Getting An Unwanted offer

Let's move forward with the kind of problems you can encounter during the recruiting process. When you graduate from University after you submit your thesis, many people start the recruiting process. You send a dozen of applications to different firms, and then they invite you. You get conversations, and then one fine day, you've got an offer on your table. Okay, it may be from a firm which is not your number one. You may think, 'Oh man, this is not my number one, but it's on the table, and there is a better one where I'm still in the process, which I favor more. Should I sign this document now, or should I not do it?'

Wait As Long As Possible!

So, here the first advice is: wait as long as possible. Usually, you have about 2 to 4 weeks to sign an offer. You may ask for more time. You may call the firm and ask them to extend the deadline. Maybe the best reason is not to say that you got another offer, which you or you got another firm from which you're hoping for an offer. Find another reason, maybe tell them that you received it while you're on holiday. Maybe it's not true, but maybe find another excuse that you, for some reason, cannot sign it where you are right now. This will give you another, maybe two weeks, but much more, you won't be able to get out of them.

What To Do When Running Out Of Time?

So, what should you do now if time is running out, and you notice another offer is not going to come in the next one or two weeks? Maybe it will come in 4 weeks, in 6 weeks, and so on. In that case, I recommend you to sign the offer. Maybe if you have been smart, you put a start date which is quite late. Maybe you gave them a start date which is three, four, or 6 months from the date of signing, but maybe you made a mistake there as well. So, you might have to renegotiate the starting date for whatever reason. It might be that you say you want to do a big trip because there was not enough time. Maybe you tell them you want to do a pro bono project or another good reason which people say, 'Okay, we can understand. We will show some Goodwill to this new employee, and give him the opportunity to extend the start date.' Because there is no worse situation than having started the job and then getting the offer from your dream company.

Is It A Good Idea To Sign An Unwanted Offer?

Before we start with a second unpleasant situation you can get into, let's think about why can it make sense to sign an unwanted offer? It's quite simple; it may be the only one you can get. Maybe you do not yet know your real market value. Maybe you won't get another offer. So, it's very important to secure your best available option, and that's why I recommend that you sign an unwanted offer after you have exhausted all the possibilities I gave you to extend the signing deadline, to extend the job start deadline because that way you ensure that you have a good job start anyway. It may be the best position you can get, but at least you have it and you secured it.

Second Unpleasant Situation: Getting A Better Offer After Signing An Unwanted Offer

And this brings us to the second unpleasant situation which is, you sign an offer and then you got a second one, one which you prefer more. Let's assume you already signed up with a tier three consulting firm or with a non-consulting company, and now you got an offer from McKinsey. A company you always dreamed to work for. What should you do now?

What Should You Do Now?

So, the situation is relatively easy if you did not yet start your job. In this situation, the first thing you do is call the HR department of the company with which you signed up. Speak frankly about the situation. Tell them that they were not your number one preference, and now you got a better offer. Tell them that you want to void the contract and see how they react. There is basically two things how they could react. In the best case, they say, 'Okay, we can understand, we void the contract; you're done.' In the worst case, I mean, what could they do? They could say, 'You got to start.' Okay, but do they really want someone to start who they don't like? Usually, it's very atypical. In most cases, they will just let you go because you did not start yet. They did not invest anything in you yet, and so usually you get out of the contract in a clean way.If they insist on you starting the job, I mean, this is not a good sign for sure. I mean, would you want to go with such an employer? It's ridiculous. Okay, but you got a regular notice period, and then you could just send them a cancellation letter and tell them, 'Okay, you're out.' On the other hand, you would need to tell your new employer that your start date should be post that date when of your last working day according to the notice period. And so, you should be able to get out of this situation. I mean, it's unpleasant, but it should be possible that you get out of these situations. In both cases, in 90% of the cases, they will let you go without any problems. I mean, for sure, they may be angry. They may say, 'Why did you do that?' but there is nothing to blame on you. I mean, you graduated, and you're going for your best option, and you want to have an employer you're happy with and which you think is right for you or is the best for you, so nothing, no bad feelings, no hard feelings about that.

Third Unpleasant Situation: Getting A Better Offer After Starting A Job

The third situation you can get in is that you already started a job and then received a better offer. Let's say you started with a midsized company, non-consulting firm, or with a tier three consulting firm, and now you got the offer from Boston Consulting Group or McKinsey or Bain, L.E.K, any tier one or tier two management consulting firm which you prefer. So, the question is what to do now?

Best Case Scenario

I mean, if you have the offer on the table, I think it's pretty much the same like in the case when you signed the contract and did not yet start. You go to the HR department, tell them, 'Hey, listen, that's what's happened, and I want to get out.' You may ask them for immediate relief so that you can start with your preferred company. They may not let you go because you're already staffed on a project, and they kind of need to phase you out with the client. But also here you have a notice period, and you could then tell your company, your preferred company, that your start date must be a bit later.

Worst Case Scenario

The worst situation you can get in is that you already started at a tier three consulting firm or a non-consulting firm, and you're still in the recruiting process with Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey, or Bain, or other tier two management consulting firms. The more processes you are still in, the worse the situation is because theoretically, each of these options is an improvement for you because it's more prestigious, pays more salary, is better for your CV, but you already have to start with your current employer. So, the only way you can do it is probably if you get sick. I mean, it's not my advice to do that, but probably that will be an option you can draw, although I think it's critical, it's not really ethical. But what should you do?If you overdo it and none of these chances materialize? The employer may say, 'This person, he's sick all the time, he just started,' so they may not want to continue with you after the trial period, which also is often usual that you agree to a trial period. So, you may give a bad image or get a bad image because you miss out a lot.

Gabriel Goldbrain Recommendation To you

In this situation, I recommend you to maybe stretch out the process with all these firms as good as possible and focus on the ones which are giving you the biggest improvement. Stop all recruiting processes with tier three firms or with firms where you do not expect a major improvement over your current situation, over the company you're already working for. For sure, you should continue with the top firms; you need to handle that process. And then, once you got an offer, you may stretch it out a bit and then just cancel by the end of the trial period or within your regular notice period. No hard feelings about it. And if you have the start date aligned with that notice period, you should have no problems.

If McKinsey Asks You To Start Early

If McKinsey or any other of the big firms request you to start earlier, which is highly unlikely. I haven't heard about these cases. Maybe it's if you gave them a start date and they already made plans for it, they may insist on it, but I have seen them being very flexible. But if that is the case, okay, you may go to your current employer and ask for immediate relief. They may do it, and otherwise, I think there will be a solution with McKinsey, Bain, or BCG if they really like you.

PowerPoint Slide Summary

I summarized all three cases on a slide; you find that slide under www.GabrielGoldBrain.com. If you have a colleague or someone who is currently in such a situation, feel free to share my video with him because he may be grateful that you saved him out of this critical situation in his recruiting process.In video one, I explain how to get the best consulting offer you can, and in video two, I explain why there is a 90% likelihood of becoming a Management Consultant if you got the right CV and follow the proper process. Subscribe to my channel and like my video.