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Old 22-09-2015, 08:58 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by forzamr_b View Post
Hi,

Need some advice on whether to take up or reject a job offer from "Company A" that expires in 2 days when I've been told to expect a formal job from "Company B" (within 2 weeks) once management approval is obtained.

Company A details:
  • Lectureship at a polytechnic.
  • Pay is slightly higher (difference of $100-200 p/m) than what Company B HR has advised I would be offered should management approve.
  • More convenient daily commute
  • More familiar role as I have 4.5 yrs teaching experience (part-time)
  • 2 year contract, offer expires in 2 days

Company B details:
  • Research position at the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF)
  • Probably offers better career development/training and progression than Company A
  • Hiring team knows I have a job offer from A and rushed to schedule my final interview (which occurred last Fri). At the final interview, I learnt that it was down to myself and another candidate (who was interviewed after me). They said they would get back to me by Mon if they decide to nominate me for the job - which they did. So now, just waiting on 'management' to approve and a formal job offer will be made. HR rep says will take 2 weeks to process. They claim the approval process should be a formality (rarely get rejected), unless I have things to hide (which I don't).
  • Branch underwent/undergoing some re-structuring, so worried this might affect management approval (although I believe the re-structuring is why the position opened in the first place, so unlikely that they'll do a u-turn. Then again, I have read some horror accounts on this forum of management rejecting because they decided to go a different direction).

My background:
Fresh PhD graduate, so unemployed with no work full-time work experience.

Both seem to have good working environments and nice friendly people. I prefer the MSF role as I feel it offers more training/development opportunities - exactly what I need as a fresh grad. On the other hand, I do have a passion for teaching and find it very rewarding. But, I feel that is something I can always do later in my career. I still have hopes to work in academia (i.e. Universities). At the moment, I don't stand a chance as it is too competitive, so am waiting for a suitable post-doc position to become available. Post-docs are basically a stepping stone towards securing lectureships at Unis. As such, I don't see myself at MSF or Poly for long unless I really love it and decide to give up on academia - which offers little job security unless u make it big. I have given myself a window of 5 years to decide whether to give up on academia.

So, should I play safe and just accept the teaching position or take the risk and hope MSF management approves the job offer?

Thank you for reading my lengthy post. Your advice is greatly appreciated!
Which role would be more useful if you were to take up potential role in academia?

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