Serious questions and musings

[Martin]

I don't know the field you're going in to or the background to these offers but generally my advice would be

If you get offered a permanent job and that's what you'd prefer, take it. The other employer would probably understand, and if they didn't, so what? They don't own you

As for future jobs and it being on your CV, it's unlikely to be an issue and if you even get questioned on it, you can just say you went in knowingly that it would only be until another job started, that you made the change for better prospects, better opportunities, better challenge, etc. They're hardly going to call the old employer up and be told "actually matt said he'd do 6 months but only did 4 so you should avoid him"

 

[rob666]

Give it a shot mate.
If nothing else, it is further interview practice.
This is a pivotal time in your life, you are very much allowed to look after number one in such a situation.
Go for it and good luck.

 

[Dave]

I’ve got a bit of a dilemma that I’m pondering this afternoon and I’d appreciate some guidance, if anyone wouldn’t mind helping me out. I trust the good folks of TowersStreet to give me honest, unabashed advice!

As some of you might know, I scored a temporary job offer last week that I was really happy with. Prior to knowing about this, however, I had applied to some permanent roles… I had a first stage Teams interview for one last week, and that one has now offered me a second stage interview on-site in their office.

Now of course, there’s every chance I won’t get offered the job after the interview. But on the off chance I did get offered a job, what I was wondering is; would it look terrible for me to only spend a very short period (i.e. a couple of weeks or so) in the temporary role if I wanted to take the permanent opportunity if I was offered it?

I’ll admit I’m not certain that I’d want to take this particular role if I was offered it. It’s probably a worse commute than the temporary role I’ve scored (the permanent role is a 45 minute minimum drive that could well turn into 1hr+ on a bad day, whereas the temporary role is a 25 minute drive to a train station and an easy 25 minute train into a city centre), and it’s also doing something that is less close to things I’ve encountered at undergrad and postgrad whereas the temporary role seems like work that’s more within my current skillset (albeit still with some learning opportunities), so I’m undecided on whether I’d take the offer if I was given it.

But on the other hand, part of me thinks that permanent is always preferable to temporary, what with the benefits and security a permanent job would offer, and the work still sounds intriguing even if it’s less close to anything I’ve currently done. I was reassured in the interview that I would be heavily trained, and that the interviewer himself, like me, previously had no experience in the subject matter of the job prior to joining!

So my thought is; if I did take a permanent job offer and only stayed in the temporary job for a very short period, would it look terrible? Would it make me an awful person and make me look bad to the temporary employers?

You only need to worry about “look bad” if you have long term ambition to work for that company (or if the career area is a small world where people talk to each other).

If it’s neither of those things then go with the job that best suits your needs. If the temporary role is a better fit and you can afford the risk then go with that one. If you can’t afford the risk take the permanent job.

Also bare in mind at the moment from a practical point of view all jobs are temporary contracts until you have worked there for 2 years as you can be fired for no reason up to 2 years employment (this is changing but it hasn’t yet).

 

[NuttySquirrel]

I'd do what is best for you Matt. If you do leave the first company after two weeks it will be a bit inconvenient for them but they will understand that you would prefer a permanent role. That's a risk they have taken by choosing to make your offered role a temporary one.

On the other hand, don't just take a different job because it's permanent if you think you might be better fit for, and would enjoy more, the temporary role. Very often temporary contracts are extended or an opening will appear before the end of the contract you can slot right into anyway.

Finally, you don't have to, and I wouldn't recommend, putting a role you left after two weeks on your CV. There's just no need and it wouldn't be of benefit.