Is it odd that the most surprising thing about this article, for me, was that people start looking for summer jobs in November?
Also, why aren't people accepting every offer they get, then at the start of summer[1] send an email about changing their minds to everyone who isn't the best offer? Or even play offers against each other?
I don't know about ethics, wouldn't everyone understand if a person's situation changes in 6 months? That's a lot of time.
Say I accept an offer in December, then get a better one in May. Wouldn't the December offer be understanding of the fact that hey, I'm gonna have to change my mind here.
You can treat life like a big exercise in game theory. But you're going to have this thing called a "reputation". Maybe you can get away with it on your campus interviews, but if you consistently lie to get the best of a situation, it will catch up to you. (Lying in this case being accepting an offer without the intention of taking it. As opposed to saying you need time to consider other offers.)
Joel is right -- this is a tactic used by second-rate companies. First-rate companies don't pull bullshit like this. Same with first-rate employees. Accepting every offer and then reneging on all but one marks you as a second-rate employee. It's the behavior of the desperate.
Personally I have always just applied for 1 or 2 jobs at a time so it's never been an issue.
All I'm saying is that life changes in 6 months. It can actually change a lot. Especially when you're young.
Think of it like this:
In December you verbally accept an offer to intern at, say, Adobe. It's a pretty cool offer and you have all intention on taking it.
Then in May you get a chance to intern at Google.
Would your mind process really be: "You know what, screw Google, I already promised to Adobe that I'd work for them over the summer"?
I never consider a job offer finalized until I am actually doing work for the company. When I start actually being given tasks and completing them, that's when I start declining other offers. Until then my time is fair game. Those who move quicker will get it.
Read what was suggested 2 posts up: "Also, why aren't people accepting every offer they get, then at the start of summer[1] send an email about changing their minds to everyone who isn't the best offer?"
That's lying. It's also a pretty cavalier attitude toward it which I think bothered several people.
If I accepted an offer from Adobe then I wouldn't continue applying for jobs. Accepting an offer usually involves signing something.
If you are really lukewarm about Adobe in December, I would just say: "I have multiple offers and am waiting for results toward the end of the year." They might move on or retract the offer, but you can always call them back in May and try to get the job again. It's not that big a deal. Joel's advice is good: try to schedule your interviews near each other.
Personally I don't apply for jobs which I'm not excited about... so I have only applied for 1 or 2 at a time ever. I definitely wouldn't be excited about a job with Adobe :)
Maybe the difference in attitude comes from the fact that I probably wouldn't be willing to sign anything 6 months in advance anyway.
Obviously when you sign something that means certain obligations, but in my opinion signing something also means a paycheck at most a month from the time of signing and actual tasks to work on at most a week from the time of signing.
Without any of that there's no point in signing anything and binding yourself down with noncompetes if you have several months of opportunity to work on other projects without worrying about legal issues.
I doubt this. By what mechanism will recruiters at company A use to communicate your failure to accept their offer to company B?
Accepting every offer and then reneging on all but one marks you as a second-rate employee. It's the behavior of the desperate.
No it's not. I can see why you might think it's shady, but it's not desperate. It's the behavior of someone afraid to push back, which probably happens more to college students than to people that have been working for a few years.
Read the comment -- I said that all likelihood you could get away with it. But as your career progresses, don't underestimate how small the industry is -- especially Silicon Valley.
All I'm saying is that if your first instinct in every situation is to say "How can I lie and get the best of this?" you're not going to be as successful as you think. People aren't dumb.
Also, with that attitude, you'll tend to attract others looking to take shortcuts and rip you off as well. Those people will also be smarter than you.
Software is a great field because it's not a zero-sum game. You don't have to rip someone else off to get ahead. These days software people are tripping over jobs on the way to work, so I'm not sure where the desire to micro-optimize comes from. Just apply to jobs that seem interesting, and accept only the offers where you would actually want to work.
Life is unpredictable so sometimes you might have to back out. But I wouldn't make a habit of it.
The original article is good reminder to push back when you see shady behavior. And it will actually work out in your favor because you will appear more desirable.
How will they find out? In the long run, because we dont live in a vacuum. Ive been called by colleagues to get my opinion on someone they want to hire because they have some reason to suspect i migh have dealt with them inthe past.
Which is enforced by what? Suing a college student for their future wages? Good luck recovering your legal expenses or getting anyone to ever work for you again.
Also, why aren't people accepting every offer they get, then at the start of summer[1] send an email about changing their minds to everyone who isn't the best offer? Or even play offers against each other?
[1] or rather a reasonable amount of time sooner