I have a job offer for which the company proposed a start date exactly 2 weeks out. If I accept today and give my 2 weeks notice tomorrow, my last day would be on a Friday and I'd start the new job on the following Monday.

I would like some time off to relax between the jobs.

  I told my recruiter (third-party) this, and he said asking for this would look bad and show disinterest, like saying "Yes, I am excited to work for you guys... but not excited enough to start right away." He also said that because they upped my salary offer without me asking or negotiating, when they learned I had another offer, they are already jumping through hoops to get me on and I do not want to show disinterest.

My boyfriend disagrees and thinks it's entirely reasonable, and also that I shouldn't give my notice at current job until the background checks and everything else comes back and it's more official. His point being HR at new job could mess things up, my records could get confused with someone else's, etc.

I don't want my new job to think I may have a bad background I am trying to hide, or equally bad, that I am not every bit as excited as they are. But, my extra week is not about taking some pre-booked vacation or anything extraordinary that I could cite - I just want some time off.

Is it appropriate to ask for the extra week? If it is, are both factors (waiting to give notice and just wanting downtime) important, or should I only cite one of them? How should I frame my response to the recruiter (who will deliver the message for me indirectly)?

I have a job offer for which the company proposed a start date exactly 2 weeks out. If I accept today and give my 2 weeks notice tomorrow, my last day would be on a Friday and I'd start the new job on the following Monday.

I would like some time off to relax between the jobs. I don't have any pre-booked vacation or anything extraordinary that I could cite - I just want some time off.

Would asking for this show disinterest, like saying "Yes, I am excited to work for you guys... but not excited enough to start right away"?

Should I only give notice when the background checks and everything else comes back and it's more official, in case HR at new job messes things up, my records get confused with someone else's, etc.? Would this make them think I may have a bad background I am trying to hide?

Is it appropriate to ask for the extra week? If it is, are both factors (waiting to give notice and just wanting downtime) important, or should I only cite one of them? How should I frame my response to the recruiter (who will deliver the message for me indirectly)?

I have 2 job offers on the table (software engineer positions). I intend to accept one of them, but they have already proposed a start date exactly 2 weeks out. I would have just enough time to accept today, give my 2 weeks notice tomorrow, and then my last day at current job would 2 weeks from tomorrow (a Friday), and I'd start new job the following Monday.

This is my 2nd job out of school and while I've had extended weekends or christmas holiday vacations (packed with events) I have never had downtime like that. I mainly want the time to relax, have some friends down from out of state, look for a new car, decorate my apartment, etc.

I told my recruiter (independent, doesn't work for the company I'm joining) this, and he said it would look bad & show disinterest, like saying "Yes, I am excited to work for you guys... but not excited enough to start right away." He also said that because they upped my salary offer without me asking or negotiating, when they learned I had another offer, they are already jumping through hoops to get me on and I do not want to show disinterest.

My boyfriend disagrees and thinks it's entirely reasonable, and also that I shouldn't give my notice at current job until the background checks and everything else comes back and it's more official. His point being HR at new job could mess things up, my records could get confused with someone else's, etc. Another point I mentioned to the recruiter, and he said "Why, do you have some felony or something we don't know about?" Of course I don't, and I am not actually worried about there being a problem there.

I don't want my new job to think I may have a bad background I am trying to hide, or equally bad, that I am not every bit as excited as they are. But, my extra week is not about taking some pre-booked vacation or anything extraordinary that I could cite - I just want some time off.

Is my recruiter right? Is it inappropriate to ask for the extra week? If he is wrong, are both factors (waiting to give notice + just wanting downtime) both important, or should I only cite one of them? And how should I frame my response to the recruiter (who will deliver the message for me indirectly)?

(Note: I could find 2 sort of similar questions here on Workplace, but neither were the exact situation - one was for delaying a month, and the other was to give more than 2 weeks notice at current job)

I have a job offer for which the company proposed a start date exactly 2 weeks out. If I accept today and give my 2 weeks notice tomorrow, my last day would be on a Friday and I'd start the new job on the following Monday.

I would like some time off to relax between the jobs.

I told my recruiter (third-party) this, and he said asking for this would look bad and show disinterest, like saying "Yes, I am excited to work for you guys... but not excited enough to start right away." He also said that because they upped my salary offer without me asking or negotiating, when they learned I had another offer, they are already jumping through hoops to get me on and I do not want to show disinterest.

My boyfriend disagrees and thinks it's entirely reasonable, and also that I shouldn't give my notice at current job until the background checks and everything else comes back and it's more official. His point being HR at new job could mess things up, my records could get confused with someone else's, etc.

I don't want my new job to think I may have a bad background I am trying to hide, or equally bad, that I am not every bit as excited as they are. But, my extra week is not about taking some pre-booked vacation or anything extraordinary that I could cite - I just want some time off.

Is it appropriate to ask for the extra week? If it is, are both factors (waiting to give notice and just wanting downtime) important, or should I only cite one of them? How should I frame my response to the recruiter (who will deliver the message for me indirectly)?