New job starting Jan 11th. Offered interview elsewhere. Should I interview?

jotto

I landed a job at a local hospital working as a Epic analyst. The new job is offering paid certifications in Epic, with opportunities for advancement and is roughly 20 miles from my house.

I was also offered an opportunity to interview for a fortune 500 utility company as a desktop support tech, this is a more traditional role but also sounds like some moderate networking and is very close to my home (less than 7 miles). The IT manager for this position is located in PA and flew to my location to conduct interviews, although it wasn't spoken about but it seems that they are in a time crunch to get someone and from what it sounds like-the interview pool is very small. When we originally spoke I stated that my newly acquired position is starting at 62K and the manager stated that although they cannot go that high they do have a 5% matching 401K w/ stock options (the hospital has a 6% matching contribution) and thinks they can go mid 55K.

Tonight I sent an email declining the interview after consideration due to it being inappropriate for me to leave my newly acquired position. I received a reply to my email asking if I was sure I didn't want to discuss and that we could even interview as early as tomorrow.

wweboy

I would say yes for the sake of getting your name out there and you never know if you fight hard enough maybe you can swing the pay up to a ball park figure you want along with the stock options and 401K. You've got a job and nothing to lose interview with them and play hard ball on the negotiations if they can match or exceed your current benefits then its time to make a choice.

If you are happy with where you are politely turn them down but ask for them to keep your resume on file.

EDIT: Sorry didn't put 2 and 2 together prior to replying! YES TAKE THE INTERVIEW you haven't started yet and you never know you could hate the current job or something could come up between now and then..

seth479

Do the interview.

powerfool

Do the interview, always (unless it is an absolute waste of YOUR time). I always talk with recruiters and entertain their offers. I only turn down an interview if I know I would turn down the job based on pay, too lateral or backwards of a move, or the company is just a horrible company. This job is too fresh for you to be in a position of turning down opportunities. You don't know if you are going to enjoy the job yet. Actually, starting interviewing NOW is a great thing to do because if it doesn't work out, you have the ball rolling. Whose to say that your new employer is going to think you are such a good fit after a couple of weeks on the job? I am not saying anything negative about you, but this is a fickle business, staying employed.

Plus, unless you plan on working at THIS hospital, or another hospital, for the rest of your career, is Epic something you want to stake your career on? I know that it can be lucrative if you are very good at it, but it seems rather limiting from a career perspective unless you are set on it.

pinkydapimp

Do the interview. Who knows. What if they throw a 100k salary at you? Yes thats unlikely but the point is, you never know. Consider this due dilligence. Worst case, a great way to network. You make a good impression and maybe you cross paths with him later on.

jotto

Thanks everyone I accepted the interview and will be going in about an hour. I will followup.

jotto

Well it wasn't meant to be, the guy didn't show. Tried giving him a call and I was forwarded to voicemail.

thatguy67

Dang, that sucks that he didn't show

Congrats on the job offer though!

SGIT

You were supposed to meet him on a Sunday and he didn't show?

Brain-D

Wow... That's really unprofessional...

JoJoCal19

Look on the bright side, now you can disqualify that company from ever being considered in the future. That's pretty unprofessional and especially disrespectful to waste your weekend day.

scaredoftests

UGH. I hate when interviewers don't show. I have had that happen several times.

si20

I was once head-hunted on LinkedIn by the owner of an IT company in the UK (can't remember the name of them or i'd happily share it!). The owner of the company, let's say his name was "Kevin", kept calling me "mate" on his emails. The email trail looked like this:

"Hi mate,

would like to invite you to interview. You've got all the skills we're looking for in a 3rd line/security-focused role. Interview is on Saturday at 3pm.

Cheers mate"


I didn't like being called "mate" by a guy who A) runs the company i've never met C) signing off with "cheers". It just reeked of unprofessionalism. On the Friday night before the interview, he sent another email:

"Alright buddy,

Are you still able to make tomorrow?"

I replied: "Sorry i've had another offer that i'm going to accept." etc. Some employers give a bad impression before you walk through the door.

jotto

About an hour after I made the last post yesterday I received a calendar invite for an interview today - with two other people that I was able to find on linkedin one a HR manager and the other a IT regional manager. No call - no email conversation. So I will attempt this a second time-just to entertain the offer. Needless to say they better have a pretty outstanding employment package.

scaredoftests

no explanation of what happened? does the left hand know what the right is doing?

powerfool

Yeah, they definitely have "Strike One" covered.

jotto

So I went to this interview and it was okay...3 people there a "HR manager" a "IT regional manager", the "Director" that traveled here and another person that was dialed in on speakerphone (don't know what his role was, he was just introduced by name). There was no technical interview questions, it was primarly company related questions and how I handle certian situations with coworkers/clients. There was no acknologment for what happened on Sunday-after the interview he showed me around the building. Overall I'm questioning the scope of the postion, and the position is not on the site anymore, I think they had hired someone previously and it didn't work out so they are scambling to get another person-the previous guy is already gone and retired. Officially the position is "desktop support" but in speaking with all of them it sounds like this is a "jack-of-all-trades, one man shop". I would be supporting 12 other sites, racking and configuering routers with the help of their NOC, break/fix, software purchasing, GPO and active directory administration. Honestly, I think if offered the postion I would want them to match the hospital salary, it truly sounds like a lot of work. Not mentioned but I'm assuming if something breaks afterhours I'm the go-to-guy. I asked about an on-call requirement and I got a indirect response.

SuperLT09

Dude, I would stay with the hospital and get the Epic Training. I'm working for a hospital in the Southeast and they hired individuals who were given the training, received their certs, and are now working on our Epic Projects. Once they finish up here, I've heard that most of the Epic trained employees are allowed to look for opportunities. Went online and saw Epic jobs paying $82/hr!!!!!!!!!

scaredoftests

When you get that type of response...run away.

GSXR750K2

I had a similar deal one time...while on a call with a couple of guys it seemed they didn't have their act together...unrelated questions, chatting between themselves, etc. I chose a specific point in the conversation to thank them for their time and consideration but told them that I felt I wasn't the person they were looking for. When done properly, they know you're giving them the finger but it forces them into a position to where all they can say is "Okay".

Verities

jotto wrote: »

So I went to this interview and it was okay...3 people there a "HR manager" a "IT regional manager", the "Director" that traveled here and another person that was dialed in on speakerphone (don't know what his role was, he was just introduced by name). There was no technical interview questions, it was primarly company related questions and how I handle certian situations with coworkers/clients. There was no acknologment for what happened on Sunday-after the interview he showed me around the building. Overall I'm questioning the scope of the postion, and the position is not on the site anymore, I think they had hired someone previously and it didn't work out so they are scambling to get another person-the previous guy is already gone and retired. Officially the position is "desktop support" but in speaking with all of them it sounds like this is a "jack-of-all-trades, one man shop". I would be supporting 12 other sites, racking and configuering routers with the help of their NOC, break/fix, software purchasing, GPO and active directory administration. Honestly, I think if offered the postion I would want them to match the hospital salary, it truly sounds like a lot of work. Not mentioned but I'm assuming if something breaks afterhours I'm the go-to-guy. I asked about an on-call requirement and I got a indirect response.

Interviews are a two way street; the interviewer gets to know a candidate and the interviewee gets to know the company. There are red flags all over the place starting with the missed interview, to the indirect response, to the you're official title being desktop support (because they don't want to low ball your salary/hourly rate), but you'll be a jack of all trades (implying you'll be doing a **** load more work than a conventional support position). Stick with your hospital position...they are willing to invest in you with training, which is becoming something of a rare commodity.

Kinet1c

Avoid. Take the job you have lined up already. If they're this disorganised in the interview, how bad do you think they will be on a day to day basis? Run away and keep running...

powerfool

Kinet1c wrote: »

Avoid. Take the job you have lined up already. If they're this disorganised in the interview, how bad do you think they will be on a day to day basis? Run away and keep running...

Agreed. And it was one thing to miss the interview before... another thing to not give you a heads up... and an entirely other thing to not even acknowledge it or apologize. That shows you what kind of people you would be working for. If they can't even apologize while "wooing" you... what do you expect later on after the honeymoon is over?

jotto

Sooo heres a odd twst of events, and further affirming how disorganized this company is. I got an email from the director at about 9:45pm local asking me if I had hear anything from HR. He stated that he told them to make me an offer last week but hasn't heard back and knew that I start my new job tomorrow- he wanted to know if I was interested in the position. Now I have had my fair share of interviews in the past but WTH. I have NEVER seen a place ran like this...

bpenn

Haha, run away. Run away quick and do not look back. I cant imagine working for that organization will be rewarding at all with the way they are handling onboarding.

powerfool

bpenn wrote: »

Haha, run away. Run away quick and do not look back. I cant imagine working for that organization will be rewarding at all with the way they are handling onboarding.

I dunno... it seems like there is a lot of potential entertainment value to be had here. Maybe keep the call rolling just a bit longer so that we can see what happens next?

Hmm, maybe this is the new reality entertainment (because reality TV is too scripted). Crowd fund someone to just do this constantly and write about it, anonymously (well a pseudonym). You should be able to get well over $100k/year if you find a way to capitalize on it.