<p>DS just called with exciting news! He has received a nice job offer. It is a good opportunity, but he also has 3 more face-to-face interviews scheduled in the next 2 weeks that had been scheduled since the time he initially had the face-to-face interviews with the co. that just made him the offer. </p>
<p>The good news is that what he currently has is a verbal offer from the manager of the division. The formal offer from HR will be forthcoming (it might even be in his email, but he is currently travelling and not on his computer). What he needs is time, as he wants to complete the interview process at the other locations. Those travel plans are already booked, and frankly he wants to see those opportunities as well.</p>
<p>The other good news is that the person he spoke to who made the offer was a high level manager in the department, not HR, and he didn’t put a time limit on the offer. However, HR may or may not be as open-ended. </p>
<p>Any suggestions for pointers on how to negotiate offers and also buy time? I don’t know the bonus package, benefits package, review/raise structure of the company, and don’t know if they will pay for relocation (again- he hasn’t seen the written offer yet, but they did tell him some of the bonus opportunities when he was there-- I just don’t know them so can’t speak to that if anyone here asks). He will have to explore all those issues for sure. If HR does put time pressure on him next week, any suggestions for diplomatic ways to keep the dialogue going to negotiate the offer and also to have the opportunity to complete the other interviews scheduled and see which opportunity is best for him (should he get another offer)? Any suggestions for other things he should be asking about in the finalizing of the package? </p>
<p>It is nice to have an offer in hand when he interviews at the other places (one of the companies is aware he was expecting an offer). Any pointers from you experienced job negotiators is greatly appreciated. This is a nice problem to have, for sure.</p>
<p>Maybe he could accept the offer (assuming he wants the job) and ask for a reasonably delayed reporting date to get his affairs in order. In the delay period he could consider his options. If he gets a superior offer and wants the better job before reporting to the first offer, he can likely move on easily. If he gets no other offer he’s out nothing and the first company need not know. </p>
<p>A bird in hand is still worth two in the bush. Any hint of deception could land him without anything, so be careful.</p>
<p>Thanks, p2n. He doesn’t plan to be deceptive at all. In fact, if pushed, he thought he might tell them that he has these other commitments that he needs to honor (the travel to the other locations). Wouldn’t it be possibly seen as deceptive if he accepted the job with a delayed start date and then turned it down (if he had another offer that he thought was a better fit for him?) He certainly doesn’t want to burn any bridges.</p>
<p>I only have limited experience in attorney hiring, but it is not unusual at all for me (the headhunter) or the candidates to tell employers that they are interviewing at other firms and plan to complete the interviewing process before accepting a position. I have never had an employer withdraw an offer under those circumstances. However, other industries may handle the situation completely differently. I do not recommend accepting a job and continuing to interview. I did have two people do that in my career. In both, the firms found out about it and bridges were definitely burned.</p>
<p>Thanks, cartera. That was extremely helpful. Does he tell this to the HR person? I am not sure exactly how the telephone conversation went with the hiring manager today, but it was late in the day on the Fri before a long weekend, so I think it was brief. I don’t think he said that to the hiring manager. I think he just thanked him. Not sure what transpired. I will ask when he’s back from his holiday.</p>
<p>My son was in a situation when he had an offer in hand and had several upcoming scheduled interviews in the next week or two. It would have been nice to be able to capitalize on competing job offers but he wasn’t able to do that because
the first job offer wanted an answer within one week
he didn’t know the time line of the other interviews. Did they just start the interviewing process so the hiring decision could be two or three weeks away?</p>
<p>In the end, he withdrew from the other interviews because the job offer was in CA where we live and S wanted to relocate back after spending 6 years in the east coast and it was a good offer.
Now he is in his third job back in the east coast.</p>
<p>The only time when he had several offers in hand was when he graduated from college and he had several offers through campus recruiting. However, those were jobs in finance where there was no negotiation since you felt incredibly lucky just to get an offer.</p>
<p>Seems his taking the first company seriously enough to apply and go through the interview process means he already thinks the fit is good enough. To now hold off the offering manager for other interviews could begin to indicate he’s not the best for the job and the manager may want to move on.</p>
<p>I would be upfront and tell them that he has few more interviews scheduled. It is honest and it may inspired this employer to be more generous with the offer. I am never put off when my candidate has other options. It shows he is desirable (who wants to date a wall flower), and I may be inspired to recruit harder.</p>
<p>Where D1 is interning now found out she had 3 other options, they stepped up their recruiting effort. One top tier firm she turned down, later told someone that if they knew she had so many options they would have put a lot more effort into it.</p>
<p>I would definitely not accept an offer then turning it down later. You would be surprised how small the world is.</p>
<p>Who does he tell this to? The hiring manager who he spoke to today? HR? Who? And what is the best way to say it? I like cartera’s wording. Does that fit with what you were thinking?</p>
<p>P2n-
yes he likes the company, but the others are different kinds of opportunities, and he really wants to see all to see what is the best fit for him.</p>
<p>Cbreeze-- side question- did you get the rental car in Maine??</p>
<p>Sometimes we go through an interview process just because we need a job, not because it’s the best fit.</p>
<p>I also think it’s reasonable to give someone few weeks to make a decision. If a firm would withdraw an offer because of it then it’s a red flag for me. I would rather give someone 1-2 weeks to think it over rather then press for answer that may not be the right one. As a hiring manager, I would continue to interview just in case if my preferred candidate should back out. But I wouldn’t withdraw the offer just because a candidate wants some time to consider or explore other options.</p>
<p>So again-- does he have to get back to the hiring manager or talk to HR? What is the appropriate way to handle this? I have no experience in this, so really appreciate all the guidance.</p>
<p>I would tell both - manager and HR when an offer is formally offered. The best time is when they call him that they would like to make him an offer, but without money information yet.</p>
<p>Simple. You don’t know that. You make your selection, give it your best shot and hope for the best. It’s like a marriage…to a degree.</p>
<p>I do agree with cartera45 that the process varies according to the industry. However, such should be made clear during the interview process before an offer is extended.</p>
<p>I’m going to a bit of a dissenting voice in this picture. Not sure about one thing … is your son still in school and on a recruiting schedule? Or out in the real world applying for jobs as they appear? Assuming he is out in the real world appying as jobs appear then … </p>
<p>From my experience as a hiring manager I would never recommend that a candidate explicitly tell a company that has made an offer to the candidate that they would like more time so they can take part in more interviews … and I mean NEVER. As the hiring manager the only conclusion I can draw from this communication would be the candidate is more interested in other campanies and would be settling for our job … and I would immediatley hit my huge queue of candidates and move on to a candidates who really wanted to work for us. </p>
<p>Reverse the situation for a second … the company makes and offer and calls back and says “I know we made an offer to you yesterday but we already had 2 or 3 more candates scheduled to come in … so we’d like to still conduct those interviews … and if one of them knocks our socks off you’re *** our of luck” And your reaction would be … “sure that seems fine since you already had the interviews scheduled” … really???</p>
<p>I’d try to buy some time but frankly from my experience if they’ve given your son a week to decide that is a pretty generous window. If other companies are interested the onus is on them to speed up the interview process to fit the commitment window your son has.</p>
<p>As I said at the beginning … I would NEVER recommend a candidate ask for more time explicitly the time is so they can interview with other companies. Now if your son is in school and on a recruiting schedule all bets are off on my comments … or if he has all the power in the situation (incredibly unique skills or knows there are not other viable candidates)</p>
<p>jym, when your son receives his formal offer in writing, he should ask the HR when they expect him to make a decision. I will be surprised if they give him more than two weeks which would not give him enough time to interview at the other firms and for the other firms to make a hiring decision.
If that is the case, then he should be honest and tell the HR that he is considering other options and see if they can extend the deadline. Meanwhile, he should notify other firms and inquire if he can interview sooner because he has an offer but he would like to consider them as well.</p>
<p>This is all dependent on many different scenarios one of which is how urgent it is to fill that position and if they have another candidate in mind should your son turn them down.</p>
<p>What a terrific situation for your son to be in !</p>
<p>About car rental in Maine. Yes, I’ve made the reservation, but it is in August.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s a different industry…I am used to competing for good candidates. If a candidate is only interviewing at my firm, then I would think he is a loser. If I believe a candidate is a good fit for my firm, then I would rather wait for few weeks for the candidate to explore all of his options. What would upset me if a candidate is deceitful by coming up with other excuses in trying to drag it out.</p>