Interview offer: decline or go through with it?

[caseinpoint]

I have an interview offer. I'm no longer keen to move back to my home city at the moment but would want to keep the doors open for when I'm ready to relocate.

 

Would it be better to go through with it anyway and decline later on if I still don't feel up to it (but still want to keep it open for other positions in the company for when I'm ready to move)? Or decline professionally now in order to keep the doors open?

[Philosoraptor]

I'd say go for it. You never know if a position will be open later and if you put on a good interview now you will have your foot in the door. If you get an offer you can decline it based on your current situation (which may change, who knows?) and still have that door open in the future.

 

If the job gets filled in the future you will not get an interview while if you have interviewed and get made an offer they might open a new position for you when your timing is right.

[FitChick]

It's always a good idea to go on interviews even if you are reasonably happy in your current position. That way if you get an offer, you can use that number to leverage a raise with your current company. Someone interviewed for an open position in our department, we liked her, made an offer and she declined. She wound up getting a raise from her own company to stay.

 

It's better to get an offer and decline, than to not go at all. Let them meet you so that you will spring to mind if something similar comes up in the future, as opposed to their having to shift through dozens of emails of strangers. People generally like to take the route of least resistance. That is why networking is so valuable.

 

Who knows? They might make you an offer you can't refuse.