Should my fiance take this job if it's offered to him?
My fiance lost his job last week (more like laid off, no fault of his own) and has been looking for new work ever since. We live together with another couple and, until now, he was making almost $14/hr here in SC at a factory. He applied for unemployment and he finds out how much he’ll be getting on Friday. Chances are it won’t be enough to cover his part of the bills and I’ll have to chip in more. His goal is to find a job before he needs to collect unemployment.
He got a job interview with the Home Depot Warehouse in our area. They have a full time position at $10.75/hr. He’s also applied at quite a few other places and is waiting to hear back. Tomorrow he’s going out searching some more. If the interview goes well and he is offered the position, we’re debating on whether he should take it right away or tell them he needs two weeks.
One one hand, what if they deny him the position because he can’t start immediately? On the other hand, what if he takes the job and is offered a better one shortly after? He doesn’t want to have a reputation of “job hopping”, but he needs to be able to support himself, and quick. He won’t take the job if they can’t offer him at least 40 hours a week, because if they don’t give him that it wouldn’t even be worth it.
He has 7 years of work experience (and he’s only 21), 5 of those years was installing hardwood floors. The other two have been warehouse experience and he is forklift certified. He generally hasn’t had a hard time finding work, but being laid off really put a lot of stress on both of us.
What really worries me about this job is that there was a local article stating that the Home Depot warehouse was hiring 100 part time employees in October of last year. All of the comments stated something like, “Yeah, 100 part time employees to replace the 50 full time employees they laid off” or “gearing up for the holidays”. This is the first time he’s ever been let go, and for that to happen again would be awful. Is is okay to ask during an interview when the last time they laid employees off was?
What would you suggest he do?
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12 Answers
I would encourage him to take the HD job….spring is coming soon enough and so will all the projects that go along with it and your BF has the experience HD looks for in employees when things are busy. If he works hard and proves his worth they should keep him on. He can keep handing out his phone number/resume to the flooring companies in the area until a better job opens up.
@Cruiser Thanks for the advice. Strangely enough, he’s done with the flooring business. That business is so up and down and there’s no job security whatsoever. He’s looking to continue with the warehouse/manufacturing field, and he’s looking for a career as opposed to just a job. I’m a college student and I only work part time, so he needs something steady. I know everyone will think I’m biased by saying this, but my fiance is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever known. He busts his butt at everything he does, which is why this lay off hit him so hard. It was totally unexpected.
I’m hoping things work out in the end and I’m trying hard to not worry so much about it now.
Tell him to take the job, but that he really looking for a career position, and what does he need to do to be considered for the management program.
Absolutely take it! It’s better than being on unemployment. Besides, if he is offered a job and turns it down, many states frown on that and that may effect his unemployment.
He probably won’t be offered the job at the interview. They will have other people they are interviewing, so he will find out what unemployment is paying before that and possibly find another job that pays more in the mean time. If he is offered the job, he can take it but still pursue other job opportunities. Taking another job later does not make him a job hopper, but a career seeker.
“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” I would urge him to take the job. He can always find a better one when and if the economy improves. Right now, almost ANY job is better than no job at all.
There isn’t a resume police. If you work for a week just don’t list it.
If he tells them he wants to wait two weeks, they will hire someone else.
He should take the job, and then if he is offered something better, he should take that.
First, you might want to check with unemployment, he might still be eligable for some money, even if he works part time, since it will below what he was earning. Some states it just means you get less unemployment per week, but it stretches out the amount of weeks you can be on unemployment.
Either way I think take the job. Home Depot promotes from within quite often, it could lead to a better job. Most retail is a scheduled 37.5 hour week by the way, but the wearhouse might be different, and I am not sure about that regarding HD specifically anyway.
He can probably say he needs a week before he can start. Most people need to give two weeks before they can start a new job.
Yes. Accepting a job does not mean a person has any obligation to the employer to stay if something better comes up.
He should take the job. If something better comes up, he is perfectly entitled to consider his self-interest and move on. Employers are ruthless, there’s no reason at all why employees shouldn’t be.
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