I accepted a conditional soft offer for a NYC Public Servant position on Dec. 11. In my soft offer email I was told “we are now required to go through a lengthy review and approval process for all internal and external hires with OMB and City Hall. This review process can take up to 21 days or more to complete,” and, from a different contact, I was told “I know this is dragging out, we are pushing for final approval from OMB constantly!”

When I did the math, 21 days was Sunday, December 31. However, the best I can figure is that 21 business days is roughly Thursday, January 11.

Today, I got extended an offer from a non-profit. I have a week to accept or decline the offer. The pay is about $7,000 less per year than what was on my conditional soft offer from the city agency. The benefits are fairly decent.

But, here’s the kicker. I was, to my surprise, laid off due to “ongoing financial constraints” from my last job late in the day on Dec. 12.

When I reached out to the city agency today to gently inquire about an update, I was told, “Unfortunately we currently have no new updates as your offer is currently being reviewed by the Office of Budget Management and City Hall. As I mentioned in the conditional soft offer, due to the hiring freeze we have to go through extensive approvals that can take upward to 30 days or more. We are hoping to hear back early in the new year, but unfortunately, we do not have a time frame. We are still very excited for you to join our team and hope you will consider remaining our selected candidate.”

In an ideal world, I would wait for the city job. It’s the one I want to most of the two. However, I’m not really in a position to wait too long because my severance package was very modest and won’t keep me afloat much beyond about the 3rd week of January. And, with the Adams administration cutting budgets, I’m worried the city job may not actually materialize. Is that a possibility?

So, I’m not sure what to do? 1.) Decline the non-profit and hope the OMB comes through in early January? -or- 2.) Accept the non-profit job and then potentially leave them after being there for a very short time when the OMB comes through.