jrwilheim
12-08-2006, 03:25 PM
Okay...I'm in sort of a strange situation right now, where there's a strong chance I'll be offered a job that I'll leave in 3-4 weeks, and I'm wondering if it's ethical to take a job you KNOW you'll leave that quickly. Here's the whole backstory:
1) A local financial planner is going to take me on as his part-time assistant, eventually to go full time when the business has expanded sufficiently. I found this guy by sending out cold letters, and one landed across his desk. I am the only person in the running for this; he wasn't even looking for someone until he got my letter. When I spoke to him this week, he was going to check my references. The position would start sometime after the New Year, with a possibility of my attending a one-day seminar this month to learn some software I'd be using on the job.
2) Another financial planning firm, a two-person office, is having me back in for a second interview next week. This would be a full-time position immediately. This one is less certain, but I had a really great rapport with them on the first interview and they had me fill out an online personality test. During the first meeting, I was able to get one of the people who interviewed me to warm up to me, always a good sign--and I just generally felt a click. No guarantees here, but I know they're looking to fill the position relatively quickly, and I think there's a strong chance they'll offer it to me.
3) Okay...the one that's really at issue. Today I went in for an interview for an admin job with a Jewish non-profit. They had me write a letter on a computer just to prove that I wasn't totally illiterate. They said what I wrote was the best they had seen from any applicant who had ever come in there. I kind of wondered who else had been sent in there, since all I had to do was type my address, the recipient's address, the date, and a couple of coherent sentences, but oh well. I left with the overall impression that the job was pretty much mine, and that they would follow up with me early next week.
The issue, though, is that they can't pay me really enough to live on (only $27,000 per year in NYC), and, given what's happening with Jobs 1 and 2 above, I wouldn't be there very long...maybe a month. I'd like to take this job, though, because it sounds like a good job, and I could use some sort of stopgap measure since my unemployment's run out and the only other income I'll have this month is about $1,000 from a combination of a 3-day temp assignment and some freelance work I've gotten from someone I do occasional projects for. So is it okay to take a job with the knowledge that you'll leave in less than a month?
1) A local financial planner is going to take me on as his part-time assistant, eventually to go full time when the business has expanded sufficiently. I found this guy by sending out cold letters, and one landed across his desk. I am the only person in the running for this; he wasn't even looking for someone until he got my letter. When I spoke to him this week, he was going to check my references. The position would start sometime after the New Year, with a possibility of my attending a one-day seminar this month to learn some software I'd be using on the job.
2) Another financial planning firm, a two-person office, is having me back in for a second interview next week. This would be a full-time position immediately. This one is less certain, but I had a really great rapport with them on the first interview and they had me fill out an online personality test. During the first meeting, I was able to get one of the people who interviewed me to warm up to me, always a good sign--and I just generally felt a click. No guarantees here, but I know they're looking to fill the position relatively quickly, and I think there's a strong chance they'll offer it to me.
3) Okay...the one that's really at issue. Today I went in for an interview for an admin job with a Jewish non-profit. They had me write a letter on a computer just to prove that I wasn't totally illiterate. They said what I wrote was the best they had seen from any applicant who had ever come in there. I kind of wondered who else had been sent in there, since all I had to do was type my address, the recipient's address, the date, and a couple of coherent sentences, but oh well. I left with the overall impression that the job was pretty much mine, and that they would follow up with me early next week.
The issue, though, is that they can't pay me really enough to live on (only $27,000 per year in NYC), and, given what's happening with Jobs 1 and 2 above, I wouldn't be there very long...maybe a month. I'd like to take this job, though, because it sounds like a good job, and I could use some sort of stopgap measure since my unemployment's run out and the only other income I'll have this month is about $1,000 from a combination of a 3-day temp assignment and some freelance work I've gotten from someone I do occasional projects for. So is it okay to take a job with the knowledge that you'll leave in less than a month?