Would you accept a job position knowing that you were second choice?

[Bijou]

This came up last week where I worked, and I thought I'd bring it up here for discussion. Let's say that you were offered a job position, but that you were the second choice because the first choice person turned it down. Would you still accept it or turn it down on principle, thinking that if they didn't want you as first choice, then forget it? Let's assume that all the job responsibilities, money and benefits would be the exact same for you as they would of been for the first choice person.

I declined a job offer when I knew I had originally been second choice, but that wasn't the reason I didn't take it.  Ordinarily, I would absolutely have taken the job.  Here's what happened:  When I applied for a job at an agency I did not get hired on that round, but stayed on the list of applicants.  I later got hired in another department and was at the job less than six months when the supervisor who had passed me over for the other job lost that employee and asked me to move into her unit.  Since her unit did a different kind of processing than the one I was in, and I had been in the current one for only a couple of months and was still learning, I thanked her, but declined the offer saying I was still learning in the job I had and would like to get that under my belt before changing jobs.  She understood and said, "I guess I should have hired you when I had a chance."

[Athos_000]

I am wondering (in a normal business situation) what kind of ego a person would have to have to turn down a job because they were *gasp* second choice! This kind of thing happens all the time, things don't work out with #1, they got a better offer somewhere else etc. There will always be somebody who is better for the position or more qualified, jump at the chances you are given and prove YOU are the right person afterall.

Although I don't think that people should be outright told that they are #2, we've heard enough stories of bad bosses and bad coworkers to know it happens. Every once in awhile somebody is going to be rude enough to use that info in a negative way.

[LadyJaneinMD]

I wouldn't care if I was last choice!  The bills don't care which 'choice' I was, they still require payment. 

[CutebutPsycho]

Kingsrings... I was the second choice for the job I do now. I LOVE MY JOB! I am so happy the first choice declined! She (first choice) is a sweetheart and still works in the building. She told me she only turned it down because she made my boss tell her who second choice was. (unethical but it happened, to my advantage!) She said if it had been anybody else in the 'runner up' spot she would have taken the job. hehe

Ok so long story short, I did it and haven't regretted it for a second!

[Morty'sCleaningLady]

In general, I would take the job.  I would ask a couple additional questions though.  What happened to the first candidate?  Who's chose was the first candidate's departure?  The person who had the position before the first choice -- why did they leave?

If it's a high turnover position, be concerned.  (Think the Anne Hathaway role in The Devil Wears Prada.)

If not, take the position.  At my last job, we hired a project manager who was an awesome interviewer.  He wasn't an awesome project manager though.  He was gone in six weeks.  Our second choice was an in-house candidate.  Did he feel bitter when offered the job?  A Bit.  However, it was a good promotion and created a new skill set for him.  He's doing great now.

Sometimes hiring mistakes happen.  Sometimes people aren't equipped for the job.   If it's a step up and seems like a good opportunity, take it.  Show them why you should have been number 1.

[BatCity]

Absolutely!  It didn't happen to me, but I have a co-worker that was the second choice behind me, and he knows it.

What happened was, the hiring manager (now our boss) wanted to hire two people but was only given budget for one.  They made me the offer and told Number Two Guy that he was their second choice, and they were going with me because of blah blah blah.  Two weeks later, they were given the budget to hire another person, called him back, and he took the job.

So now we are both happily employed, work on the same team and get along fine even though he knows exactly what happened...actually, come to think of it, that may be WHY we get along...

Lara

[Groundsgirl]

If I was second choice? Please. My ego isn't that fragile that I have to be the absolute best in my field. Pretty darned good is good enough for me.

However, I would probably turn down a job offer if a friends situation happened to me. She found out right after she was hired that she was only offered the job because they needed a black woman to fill out their demographics. She was mortified.

[CutebutPsycho]

However, I would probably turn down a job offer if a friends situation happened to me. She found out right after she was hired that she was only offered the job because they needed a black woman to fill out their demographics. She was mortified.

I would be mortified as well. Is there anybody she can report that company to? Surely they aren't legally allowed to do this? I guess the problem is proving that they did it.

[Groundsgirl]

I would be mortified as well. Is there anybody she can report that company to? Surely they aren't legally allowed to do this? I guess the problem is proving that they did it.

Legally, it was fine as the demographics were an Affirmative Action mandate. Then again, I tend to find Affirmative Action a huge load of bull-poopie.
How insulting can you be to someone? "You got this job because of your race/color/sex/whatever and it has nothing to do with your intelligence, talents, experience, education, or anything actually useful for the job."

With this particular job, they were required to have a certain percentage of their staff be women, black, Asian, and Hispanic so that they would "reflect their customer base" more effectively.

[twinkletoes]

I know this sounds wimpy, but I can't decide!

-I think it would be crappy to be told "well, the candidate we *really* wanted turned down the offer, so I guess we'll ask you."

-But if I'm not told, I really don't care - a job offer is a job offer, right?

[ethelberga]

I answered "no", but in reality it would depend on how I found out.  It's not that my ego is too fragile to handle second place, it's that I've been around the block enough times to know that if they *tell* you you're the second choice, it's a big warning sign.  If logic implies I might not have been the first choice, but those offering the position are professional and act like they want me to work there, I'd be fine.  But in my experience, if you're told that you're the second choice it should be a warning that you're being set up for failure - everything that isn't perfect will be attributed to (and proof of) your being less qualified that "the one they really wanted."

[MerryRaven]

I have done it and DH has done it and it worked out beautifully.

In both cases the first choice flaked out. 

In my DH's case the guy called the morning he was suppose to show up for his first day and said he didn't want the job afterall.  They called DH and said can you start tomorrow and he said yes.  He worked there for 8 years and we were just married and going to college so this was the big opportunity.

In my case, the first choice accepted the job and called back 2 days later and said she had got a better job.  They called me and I have been there 12 years now.  It is the job I have always wanted.

[nonesuch4]

However, I would probably turn down a job offer if a friends situation happened to me. She found out right after she was hired that she was only offered the job because they needed a black woman to fill out their demographics. She was mortified.

I can see that going two ways. Yes, I'd be ticked, too.  I also think it's "affirmative action" used this way is a bunch of rubbish.  On the one hand, I might feel a moral imperative to make some competitor profitable, wildly so.  However...

What a learning experience it would be for certain employers to find out that a(n) [insert ethnicity, age, s3x, country of origin, faith] did an outstanding job?  If one had the stones to withstand the situation, wouldn't you almost have a duty to prove them wrong?

[Brentwood]

Yes, I'd accept it. I'd be cutting off my nose to spite my face if I didn't.

[Brentwood]

Wow, I'm the only "no" so far!

For me, the big warning would be TELLING me I'm the second choice.  They might not have called me first because I and someone else were so close they had to flip a coin - or they hired someone else who quit immediately when they found out how bad the job was.  Or there was a senior manager who said "I don't think a {gender | age | marital status | ethnicity} person can do that job" even though I was the best candidate, so someone else who fit a different demographic was offered the job first.  I wouldn't want to work in that environment.

If the company had tried to hide the fact I wasn't their top choice, that's fine - it's professional, which is a good sign.  If I knew I were second (or third or . . ), though, I would examine the workplace a lot more thoroughly before accepting.

There could be other reasons why a person would realize they were "second choice" - particularly if they had been told previously that the job went to someone else and the company was calling back weeks later when the first person quit/got a better offer/didn't work out. There'd be no way to hide that the person being called was not "first choice." If you've been informed that you were not selected and then called back later, you'd know, even if the hiring personnel never said you weren't first choice.