Job dilemma - accepted two jobs and now need to decide...

[Pink_Fairy_Dust]

Life has been a bit pants at the moment relationship wise and job wise (I might post my relationship woes when I can face it haha...). In terms of jobs wise I got made redundant for the second time in two years so have been applying for jobs for around the last 6 months... And as always it feels, sods law strikes again and after waiting ages I've now been offered two jobs within a couple of days and have said yes to both but will have to pull out of one 😳 Feel so lost what to do and also rubbish about turning one down... I hate having options!

One is at a local Council in an admin role in Social Care and the other is for the Civil Service working in a local prison doing admin... I like the sound of the prison one as its such an unusual environment but I applied for it ages ago and interviewed in May, didn't get it but they said I came second and would keep me on file for 12 months if another vacancy for same thing came up, and it has, so they emailed an offer on Friday which I accepted online. Basically an email came through out of the blue I had to log in to the application site click a button and start the vetting and pre-employment checks... The Council one I interviewed for last week before Friday and got offered yesterday verbally on phone and because was over the phone I paniced and accepted that too... no contracts signed but guess have to decide soon... what do they they say about buses...

Really do feel sick (like enough to actually be sick) I am awful at decisions like this... I don't know what to do, the prison one as I say did interest me a lot as it just sounds very different, but then I've been trying to get into the council for quite a while.

• I don't really know a lot about future job prospects with either but I'm guessing there may be more higher up role to progress into at the Council? but this is just a guess...
• Similar pay - the civil service bracket does go up about £1000 higher but the start is the same within a couple hundred
• Hols are exactly same, hours exactly same so nothing to pick from really in terms of conditions and I even think both have free parking...
• Only slight thing I think is distance may come in a little, the council job is about 15mins away, the civil service one lists two possible prisons as the base one that is 15mins away also and the other around 25mins but they say I won't find out about which the vacancy is at until the pre-employment checks are done and there is no way around this, I've called to ask several times - I'm told checks for civil service can be around 25 days on average but could stretch longer, there are horror stories of weeks so I can;'t really factor distance in properly other than one has a certain location and the other doesn't
• The checks with the civil service I guess could also be a factor - the job offer was written as provisional if you are currently working don't resign yet, but then I guess all job offers are really subject to stuff like references and right to work checks... There just feels more of a risk if I turn the Council down that something might be wrong with the vetting checks with the civil service and I don't get a confirmed offer, but then again nothing should really go wrong as I def have no convictions, have the right to work etc

I'm going to really annoy one lot whichever way I go aren't I, and I know I need to think of myself but I will possibly blot my copy book with one employer now and I don't live in an area with loads of jobs... to be honest its probs the council I will annoy more if I pull out of that one since that was over the phone and they are getting stuff sent straight out wit a potential start date whereas the civil service one was just accepting at the click of a button in an email and they have to carry out a lot more checks over a few weeks before the actual manager gets in touch to talk start dates etc...

I know only I can decide but any advice or experiences that might help me would be much appreciated, like opinions on civil service vs the council or how you decide in these types of situations - actually any thoughts at all really...

I suck at decisions as I say and things couldn't be more complicated or stressful relationship wise which has me a bit of a wreck already this past year so decisions seem even harder right now...

[Scaramouche]

Word of advice from someone who has been through civil service vetting for the prison and probation service. Mine took 9 months to clear.

[Loopylooloo]

First, am sorry you have had such a tough time lately, and hope that things look up for you soon, its fantastic that 2 companies think you are a good candidate for employment so take that and be proud!
I am sure that whichever you turn down will understand and not take it personally so don't worry about that. Go with your gut, you must have a sneaking preference surely? Reading your post sounds like the prison job appeals more? Certainly sounds interesting!
Good luck and try not to worry (said from an absolute worrier )

[duchy]

I agree the civil service one could take forever. If you are currently unemployed the length of time the checks can take matter a lot.
I'd accept the council job and the prison job .
Start the council job and then when the prison job is confirmed decide based on how much you like the council job i and which prison it is which you'd prefer.
If you subsequently decline starting the prison job nothing bad will happen (it's fairly usual that people get something else in the meantime as checks take so long, you won't be the first or the last ), if you decide on the civil service job later on,you just give the council notice in the usual way.
Keep your options open.

[sparklegirl]

Originally Posted by duchy

I agree the civil service one could take forever. If you are currently unemployed the length of time the checks can take matter a lot.
I'd accept the council job and the prison job .
Start the council job and then when the prison job is confirmed decide based on how much you like the council job i and which prison it is which you'd prefer.
If you subsequently decline starting the prison job nothing bad will happen (it's fairly usual that people get something else in the meantime as checks take so long, you won't be the first or the last ), if you decide on the civil service job later on,you just give the council notice in the usual way.
Keep your options open.

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This is good advice. My civil service checks took 6 months but there have been new recruits that have taken 9 months at the moment. Keep all you options open and trust me this happens all the time in these kind of rules.

[Stella_11]

Go with your belly, you have had some good advice. The one thing I will say is, I'm pretty sure the one you decline won't be annoyed at all. Maybe mildly inconvenienced but I really wouldn't give two hoots. Don't let their reactions or potential feelings affect your choice in the slightest.

And cheer up! You just got offered two jobs! Congratulations.

[maudyhill]

Hi
I would be asking RE: prison job .
Why did they not offer you the job first when you first interviewed & if the job is open again why did the person leave?

[djewkes]

Originally Posted by maudyhill

Hi
I would be asking RE: prison job .
Why did they not offer you the job first when you first interviewed & if the job is open again why did the person leave?

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I think the OP has already answered this, ... she came 2nd at the original interview and they said they would keep her name on file in case another, similar post came up?

[kazzykay]

Go for council job, you were their first choice xx

[ely3857]

Originally Posted by kazzykay

Go for council job, you were their first choice xx

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This is unknown. A phone call offer may have been made to others who turned it down. She simply knows for sure she was second place originally for the prison job yet they clearly thought enough of her to follow through with their offer of contacting her should a similar position arise.