Tell your new employer about a job interview or not?

[Retiredguy2]

A good friend of mine asked me my opinion today...his 33 year old son who lives in another state has been with an established pest control company for about 7years. The owner told the staff about 6 months ago he was seeking to sell the company to new owners, and the son has been seeking work during the past few months "just in case". Turns out he has a job interview tomorrow, and the interview will be about the SAME TIME that the current owner of the company plans to have a staff meeting to introduce them to the new owners.

No, I am not making this up...and I truthfully could not advise my friend of the proper course of action for his son to take. What would your advice have been? Thank you for any input.

Should have mentioned that the son's current job has no real benefits and his interview tomorrow will be for a job that has full benefits.

 

[JMER817]

Why is he wanting to leave? Maybe the new owners will invest more into the company make it better and bigger. With his seniority he might become a supervisor or something? I say stay with the current job and see how it plays out. There will always be other job opportunities.

 

[KubotainNH]

Never hurts to see what is out there. I would not tell the current employer, not sure why anyone would do that early in the game. Now if there is a job offer that can be used as leverage to at least see how solid the old job is I can understand that.

 

[jaotguy]

tell him to call in sick ( mental therapy day ) ... go to the interview .... and keep it to himself .

he will meet the new owners anyway sooner or later , and have a better perspective on what he is worth.

no one says he has to jump ship right away ...

 

[pharmvet]

Reschedule the interview. Go to the staff meeting. Keep an open mind.

 

[Code54]

Reschedule the interview. Go to the staff meeting. Keep an open mind.

X2
....

 

[DuckSlayer1017]

Call in and go to the interview. The company wouldn't give him notice if they were going to lay him off, so there's no reason to inform them either. This is just part of business and there shouldn't be any hard feelings. Anyway it sounds like the new opportunity will be the better choice.

 

[moriboy]

I would go to the staff meeting.

 

[jlawso21]

No, do not tell the new owner, or the old owner. Nothing may come of the interview, but if you tell the new owner they will almost surely think it is due to them buying the company, nothing good will come of that.

I was taught and always agreed with the notion that you owe your loyalty to the company you work for. But don't confuse loyalty for stupidity. If they decide they don't want you they will let you know right away. In the meantime maintain your own counsel.

 

[Clint S]

Did he already ask for the day off prior to finding out????? Does the job interest him and would it be something he would be happy doing??????? No benefits vs fill benefits seems like a no brainer to me. Go to the interview and apologize to the new owners for missing the meeting. Do not tell anyone and see where it leads, if it is a good job and an upgrade you never know. Most companies only look after one thing, their bottom line. He needs to look after his.