Should I take a permanent job knowing I'll only be there 10 weeks?

If you get the job, how would you hide for 10 weeks that you're moving? Wouldn't it come up naturally in conversation ("What did you do last night?" "Oh, just stayed home, packed up my belongings")? Wouldn't hiding it after the fact be a thousand times harder than hiding it at the interview? Just a thought.

illek http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/43116#662344 "10 weeks is just long enough to get someone in a position trained and comfortable with what is going on. The company will feel as though you have wasted their time and money...bridge burned." Agree. ubu http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/43116#662507 "Perhaps someone with experience in the food industry could write in and help anonymous get some perspective on what culinary employers mean when they say they are looking for someone who's going to stick around. In that industry, does that mean a year or a week?" My sister is food and beverage manager at a medium size resort with about a dozen food establishments from coffee bar to 100 seat licensed restaurant. She's told me that she'll train anyone (at a premium over minimum wage) to be a cook if they'll just promise to show up on time and ready to work for a single season. But she doesn't want people to bail half way thru for obvious reasons to the point where she'll often give several warning about stealing before firing someone.

10 weeks is a short time. If you leave you may end up with a grudging, or worse, reference. Go to the hiring person. Tell him you admire the company a lot and that you want him to give you this job, or any other job, as an internship or temp position. Sell yourself really well. Worth a shot, and you don't have to lie.

Keeping it in perspective, this is an hourly job in the food industry. Yes, we all want to make the world a better place and live up to our values and gain great karma and be honest with everyone. But I think the OP's real question was a question of degrees. You wouldn't go into an interview saying, "I hate working nights and weekends and I like to check email 3x an hour," and yet, maybe you do and maybe your future employer would decide against you if you told him/her that, and maybe if the employer hired you, you would be efficient and productive in spite of those faults. Perhaps someone with experience in the food industry could write in and help anonymous get some perspective on what culinary employers mean when they say they are looking for someone who's going to stick around. In that industry, does that mean a year or a week? All that said, I think booksandlibretti's advice was constructive. And to add my two cents': if there is any chance you will stay in the new city, why not put a spin on it and say, "I plan to be here for at least ten weeks, but after that there is a chance I will return to [old city]." Obviously that depends on how big that chance is.

The employer has made their selection criteria clear. If you know you don't meet the criteria, but apply anyway, then you're being dishonest.

You don't owe them anything but you don't owe people a thank you when they open a door for you either - it's just polite. I'm a real hard-ass about what one owes an employer but any organization is made up of people and you're going to inconvenience them by leaving in less than three months. For an ongoing job that's a drop in the bucket! I'd say don't do it just for the sake of being a good person.

Please tell them the truth. The world doesn't really need more employers who believe that most employees are selfish and deceitful (not saying that you are, but they might easily come to that conclusion).

Turn it around. If they said to you "We want you for this job, but only for ten weeks," would you still want it? I expect not. What would be the point? That's barely enough time to even figure out whether you like the job. So, why DO you want a job that only lasts ten weeks?

There is no objective standard for how you should feel in a situation like this. If it was me, I would take the job, then pretend that something suddenly came up eight weeks later. But you're not me. If you're sure that it would tear you up inside day in and day out that you weren't being honest, and that you'd rather be unemployed and guilt-free than employed and distraught, then don't take the job. But if you believe that you can see this through and feel just fine about yourself afterward, and are just checking in with metafilter because you're mostly worried about how other people would perceive you, then get over it and take the job.