Sorry, I realize many people will not relate at all to my problems, but maybe someone will and will have some good advice.

So, I've got three jobs, all of which love me all the way through the interview process.

All three seem to be interested in making offers... and that's the problem.

They break down like this:

Job 1- Interviewed here first, small fast moving company likely to make a decision quickly, only one other candidate was in the running and I've basically been told the job is mine, but the offer isn't here yet, thank God. (maybe because I'm avoiding phone calls and email) Benefits and pay are decent, but having been to this company I'm not sure how gung-ho I am about it.

Job 2- Hired someone other than me at the end of December who was a complete and total failure. Needs someone fast, but only made first contact Sunday via a second (second to the phone interview in December) phone interview and had an in-person interview today. Owner seems to be enchanted with me, I was his first choice before, but he's out of state and didn't force the issue. Hopefully I have at least a couple days before this one comes up with an offer because the President also works off-site and I'll need to talk to him as well. Of the three jobs this one probably pays the most and has decent benefits. No one else even seems to be in the running at the moment.

Job 3- This job is with a dream company. It is, quite possibly, one of the best companies in the world to work for, at least based on my set of standards. This company has touched my life in a relatively minor but still dramatic way since I was a child. The benefits are utterly amazing top notch. The pay is probably pretty similar to Job 1, but we haven't discussed pay in any detail. The career growth potential (licensing and certification possibilities not available with job 1 or 2) here is utterly amazing, though the career level to start is slightly below job 1 and 2. The top man in my area of this company met with me personally and seemed to be selling me on coming to work there (even though I told him flat out it would be a dream come true for me) as much as I was selling him on hiring me. But, I was only one of four or five interviews this week and expecting any sort of decision before next week seems highly unlikely.

In addition, there's already an offer on the table from a fourth source but it's basically out the door compared to these other three.

So, at a glance I wouldn't seem to have much in the way of problems, right? But, here goes...

Job 1 is almost certain to make me an offer in the next day or two. Job 2 is almost certain to make me an offer before the end of the week. Job 3 would appear to be a dream job but is not guaranteed to make an offer at all, since there are still other candidates they could fall in love with even more than me, and almost certainly will not be making an offer before next week. In fact, none of the offers are really guaranteed until they're on the table, but at a glance each by itself would appear to be too good to pass up.

So, how do I hold these companies off once they make offers to be certain that I'm going to get all of the offers I'm going to get? If I had to make a decision right now I would probably take job 3 over job 2 and job 2 over job 1. But, what if only job 1 makes an offer this week? How long can I string them along with "I need to talk it over with my wife" before they pass on me? Jobs 1 and 2 need people in almost immediately. Job 3 needs someone, but has more time to spare. Can I really wait until I hear back from Job 3? And, what if I don't wait and then job 3 comes up with an offer? Would it not be completely awful of me to leave a job I just started? Can I afford to pass on job 1 entirely if they make an offer because both jobs 2 and 3 are better and risk not getting an offer from either one?

I can hardly sleep due to the stress this situation is causing me. HELP! What do I do?!?