You are looking for a job and are applying for several positions. Unfortunately, the application processes do not run parallel to each other, but rather in different speed. At one company you already have an invitation to the second interview, while others are taking time after the first telephone interview. What to do if a company beckons you with a contract offer while you would like to at least check the other options? This is where many applicants get into a dilemma. What should I tell whom when, how open should I be, how do I keep all options till contract signature. With various tactical considerations, attempt is made to anticipate the moves of the other side so that all job options remain warm as long as possible. I have five tips for your safe navigation through the different job opportunities:

• Check Facts first
• Communicate
• Trust
• Do not overestimate the options
• Decide

1. Fact check: See the the wood, not only the trees! Take three steps back. Organize your thoughts and make a list of criteria that are important for your next job. What expectations do you have, apart from the job, in terms of the company culture, environment, superiors, management style, team etc.? Actively gather all available information. The result is a table of values with which you can grade your options.

True story: A candidate has been looking for a job for some time and is very critical in her selection. She has many criteria that she wants to see fulfilled at the same time. Of the numerous interviews, one was very promising, but the process was very slow. Other offers became more concrete, she accepted one of them. Already during the probationary period with the new employer, the dream company with the dream job finally came to a positive decision. The candidate quit during the probationary period and took the "better" job. The employer saw itself as the second choice and was annoyed.

2. Communicate: Be as transparent as possible with all parties involved. Keep them informed. Address relevant information only to people who are really involved. Please do not get complicated and do not show indecision. Remember: Your new employer is not a job coach. And remember: e-mail is NOT communication.

Just happened: My client, company owner and CEO, wanted to make a contract offer after a long selection round and asked the candidate to call back. The candidate contacted him by e-mail, letting him let know that he had accepted another job. My client was irritated and felt that he was mistaken in his assessment of the future employee. He would have expected to talk to the candidate of choice at least.

3. Trust: For the path into the unknown we need trust. Trust in our abilities and trust in the partners with whom we are travelling. The potential employer will sensitively register every sign of your transparency and enter it in his catalogue of values. Here you can score points with openness. Allow private and personal matters to be included. In this way your counterpart can understand your considerations and put himself in your position. You will appear transparent, likeable and trustworthy.

A reminder: I will never forget a young man, addressing his future superior in the last interview: "May I tell you something? She pricks up her ears: "Yes, please?" "I am in a homosexual relationship," says the candidate. She smiles and says: "That's nice!" The gentleman is relieved. He did not want to withhold this important information from his future boss. Not that she would have a problem with his sexual orientation and this might affect her future working relationship. His future boss was touched.

4. Do not overestimate your options: Not all opportunities are available to you with the same probability. You have listed your options and assume that you are spoilt for choice. This is usually a fallacy: you will never have enough information to be sure that the desired event will actually occur. Therefore: Keep all options open as long as possible. You will realize, that job opportunities that were considered safe, will vanish into thin air from one day to the next. Reality does not stick to probabilities.

A story on this: A candidate over 50 is unemployed and has been looking for work for some time. He has a knack for very select positions and applies with great caution and care. Plenty reasons why a job offer is not as interesting as expected are constantly emerging. A very exciting job seems to become concrete. He then actively withdraws from several other application processes. This, without a definitive offer from the desired job. This dream job dissolves because of investment problems, the candidate remains unemployed for a longer period of time and cannot pick up on the lost ends.

5. Decide: You do have the contract on your table, with all the details of salary, holidays, pension fund and bonus. You notice that a decision is pending and yet you hesitate. You move to point 1 and look at your value table. You need more time? No problem, communicate. Making a decision always means definitely ruling out other options. To take one path implies not to be able to try the other paths for the time being.

In recruiting terms, the ability to "make decisions" and "decisiveness" are the management criteria sought after. It is a horror to work for a boss who does not decide!

Or to put it with Harry Potter:

It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities