Question:

I just graduated but the employer that I had agreed to work for rescinded my offer. They're asking that I wait until September to see if their business has improved. If so, they'll still want me. Should I wait or try to find another job?

First Answer:

Find a job or get experience working in a position closely allied to your career goals? If you address this first, your job search will follow from it.

First select some companies or local businesses you would like to work for, now dazzle them!! Contact a person that has the authority to hire you and pitch them-- don't wait for a job to be posted, suggest ways that your skills can fix an immediate business problem. This might be filling in for vacationing employees, working for free for a week with the expectation that if they like you, you will get an assignment for the summer with them at an agreed to salary. You need to discover a job that may not yet exist but can be created in response to your shrewd analysis of their needs. Try this instead of the want ads for 10-20 opportunities and you will get closer to an offer than submitting a resume along with the crowd. One disclaimer however: if you are getting in to be interviewed but not getting an offer, then it isn't your front end paperwork at fault. This may signal that you need to evaluate your interviewing techniques and/or references, manners etc. In other words,! myJobWhiz strategy is designed to net attention and get into the hidden job market. You still need to do an outstanding performance on the interview side to get an offer.

-- Debra Feldman, founder of JobWhiz, creator of the JOBWHIZQUIZ, and specialist in cyber savvy strategic job search consultations.

Second Answer:

Ever hear the old saying: "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush?" By all means the answer is "YES!" look for a job as this one has ceased to exist! If, in September, the company does want to hire you (which seems very "iffy" if their business isn't good now) then if you're not already working somewhere else, you can accept their offer. On the other hand, I suggest you look for an employer that is ready, willing and financially able to hire (and keep) you employed --this one isn't.

-- Alison Blackman Dunham, life & career expert, columnist, personal public relations consultant, half of THE ADVICE SISTERS®, and the author of the ASK ALISON career advice column.

Third Answer:

Of course it all depends on your circumstances, but I think the answer is "both"! Even if the position is what you consider your "dream job", and you can afford to wait, it would be reckless to do so while not at the same time developing other options for yourself. There are so many reasons companies are being tentative about hiring these days, with so much out of their control, that regardless of their needs and commitments, opportunities for employment with them can evaporate in the blink of an eye, whether it means rescinding job offers or firing top managers.

But there is a sense in which the wait could be a blessing in disguise. It's an opportunity for you to check out other options that you might not have otherwise been aware of. That way, if you end up at the company that has rescinded their offer, you will know that you "shopped around" and feel really good about your decision to join that company. And if they come back to you with a bona fide offer in September, you will know that they really want you. This could even help your negotiating position in terms of salary and other benefits.

On another note, September is right around the corner, and it's not at all unusual for companies to "drag their feet" with job offers. Sometimes it is a function of the "hurry up and wait" inertia of HR Departments, or a case of the summer doldrums (August is a hard time to get anything done). Years ago, when the hiring process slowed down, it usually meant that the company was either unable to get the hiring requisition approved and funded, or was pursuing other candidates, and were keeping "second-tier" candidates "on the hook" while they waited to learn whether or not they could get their first choice. But in today's climate, delays are all too common and have as much to do with the general viability of the company, or the imminence of as yet unannounced layoffs.

-- Allen Davis, CEO, SoftwareJobs.com, Inc. and Founder and Chairman BountySystems Inc.

Fourth Answer:

Many employers are asking their recently graduated new hires to postpone starting work until as late as April of 2002. You have no certainty that they will actually need you come September.

Therefore, unless you are independently wealthy, you can certainly job search. If you come up with another attractive offer, you can then contact the first employer and do them the courtesy of telling them you have another offer. If the first employer still isn't ready for you to start work, I don't think you have a moral obligation to increase 3 months of deferred, unpaid waiting time to an unknown, longer period. Both parties have acted in good faith, but the weak economy has made many employers unable to meet their hiring commitments and you need to gain both experience and income.

-- Carol Anderson, Career Development and Placement Office, Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy at New School University in New York City.

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