One particular instance that I have been impacted by opportunism was in my freshman year while I was trying to find an apartment for the next year. Just before winter break, myself and three friends had decided that we would all choose to live together, and we had found a fairly nice, but very affordable four room apartment for all of us to live in. After finally confirming that everyone was okay with the price and location, we decided to sign the lease during the Tuesday of finals week. So my friend "A" and I went to the realtors office, assuming we would meet "C" and "Y" there (I am using the first letters of their names to protect their identities). After a while of them not showing up, "A" and I both gave them calls to see where they were, and of course they both had legitimate excuses for not being there. So, as naive, trusting freshman we decided to sign the lease and make the down payment since "C" and "Y" had promised to sign before they went home for the break.
That was the big mistake.
After reminding them several times to sign the lease, "C" had eventually stopped answering our messages. When we finally returned to school, "C" didn't come back. It turns out he had been kicked out of the Parkland Pathways program for not keeping up his grades, and had failed to mention to us that he would not be returning. Subsequently, we had lost our fourth man for the apartment, so now it was only "A" and I that had signed the lease while "Y" still had yet to. That's when "Y" decided to act opportunistically. Realizing that keeping his word and signing the lease would hold him at a financial risk of having to pay extra for an unfilled room if we didn't find someone to replace "C"; he withheld his signature. He told "A" and I that he would be looking for another apartment or would move into the dorms before he would sign the lease, unless we found someone to fill that void. Since "Y" realized he had the upper hand and a safe option, he took it. Not only was it safer, but it left "A" and I scrambling to find a fourth roommate while he was able to keep a comfortable distance from the situation. After a lot of searching and vetting a few potentials, we finally found a fourth roommate, and "A" and I strategically planned them signing the lease so that "Y" would not be able to screw us over again. Eventually, this was resolved but it took a lot of work on my and "A"s part to get there, and I am still very bitter that "Y" had acted so opportunistically.
At the end of the day, this experience taught me a valuable lesson in opportunism. I learned that even if the decision is rationally the best choice for you, sometimes it can do a lot of harm to others. I understand why "Y" did what he did (and I know that I probably would have done the same thing, which is why we are still friends) but I still can't trust him after all of that. I realized that opportunism comes with a serious trade-off in that you lose the opportunity to come back with good graces, and more often than not destroy the valuable trust you may have with the other party. Looking back too, he probably could have done more to be diplomatic about withholding his signature, and subsequently not damage our friendship. Recently, I have been reflecting on this incident a lot, as I have to decide on whether or not to accept a job offer. The place I interned this past summer made me an offer that I must decide on relatively soon, but I am also waiting to hear back from other places that I would rather work. If it comes down to the deadline, I will accept the offer, but the hypothetical that is constantly on my mind is what I would do if I was made an offer from one of the better companies. Do I renege on my commitment to the first company and burn my bridges there? Do I try to anticipate this and negotiate an extended deadline? Would even negotiating give the negative impression that I am just being opportunistic? Do I even consider other companies once I've made my decision? All of these questions have elements of opportunism that I must carefully consider as I navigate the near future and could have long term impacts on my career.
That is an interesting story and I fear one that happens all too frequently. C violated a rule I will talk about in class this coming week called No Surprises, which means to get out bad news early. But I surmise he realized his relationship with you and the others had reached an end and he might very well have been ashamed of his own circumstance. These are both reasons to hold back on his situation.
ReplyDeleteY's situation is the interesting one and a question for you that is not clear from the story is how close a friend Y was to you and A. Did you only meet him during your freshman year or did you know him before that? It is very hard to screw a friend whose friendship you value deeply. Close friends stick together. Acquaintances may go their separate ways.
On a sidebar note, my older son have several friends from high school and they wanted to live together junior year, but they found apartments in the same building (and maybe they were adjacent) rather than all living in one. If you and A had gotten a smaller apartment for yourselves, perhaps your share of the rent would have been a bit higher but the sort of risk you experienced would have been reduced.
On the issue of which job to accept and when, there is no right answer to that question but perhaps the following will be a little reassuring. If you have some real work experience you are still marketable and can find another job that you prefer. Further, you can do this while you are still working at the previous job. If you sign a contract and then renege on that, it might have legs. I'm not a lawyer, so you should definitely get advice from someone else who is more knowledgeable about these matters.
Also, and I think this is a big part about growing up, making a full personal commitment to the job, irrespective of where you wind up is a way both to get more satisfaction from the work and a way to self-insure against a soft job market. If you take a job that is not your ideal, you might then be wishy-washy about your own effort. That would be a bad outcome. I encourage you to think that part through before you make your job choice.
I had only met Y freshman year, which is why I was less surprised when he took advantage of the situation. To compensate, we made him manage the utilities, so that he would carry some of the risk that he put on our shoulders to begin with. Sadly, the landlord would not let us get a smaller unit either, they were having a hard time filling their larger units, and since we had one, they were holding us to our contract.
ReplyDeleteI have done a lot of thinking about the job situation and finally received an extension on the deadline. This came at a cost. I had to waive my an extra bonus for signing by the first of October. I guess this was a gift exchange where I waived on the "gift" by requesting a lower level of commitment that they initially offered. Hopefully, if a better offer comes my way then that will have been worth losing the bonus, but if not, I guess that will be the cost for showing less commitment.