how much time can I ask for to consider a job offer? by Alison Green on January 7, 2025 A reader writes: I’ve been conducting a low-key job search for months without much movement, and suddenly within the last few weeks I have what seems like serious interest from two different companies. I’m near the end of the interviewing process with both of them but, from what I can tell, one of them is moving much more quickly than the other. I’d be willing to consider accepting an offer from either of them, but so far I’m more interested in the one we’ll call Company A. And of course, Company A is the one that’s moving more slowly – so I’m worried about getting an offer from Company B and needing to give them an answer before I’ve heard back from Company A. I don’t want to turn down Company B just out of hope Company A will come through with an offer, because if they don’t I’d glad go to work for my second choice. But I also don’t want to accept Company B’s offer if I have a chance at working with Company A. How do people navigate this? I assume I can’t tell Company B that they’re my second choice or that I need to put them on hold while I wait for an answer from a different employer. And I know I can’t tell Company A to speed up their timeline (and in fact they mentioned that part of the reason for the delay is that they’re waiting to interview a finalist who’s been out of the country and thus unavailable). If Company B makes an offer before I’ve heard from Company A, how much time can I ask for to think it over before I start to look uninterested? Is a week or two unreasonable? And if I do get an offer from them, is there any way I can contact Company A to explain the situation or will that look like I’m trying to pit them against each other? Last, I guess, what if I accept Company B’s offer and then Company A finally comes through with their own? Can I back out of the first offer without ruining my reputation in my small industry or is that never done? I know I’m getting ahead of myself! For all I know, no one will make me an offer and all this worry will be for nothing. But I’d feel better if I knew how to handle it. You can read my answer to this letter at New York Magazine today. Head over there to read it. You may also like:how to make waiting to hear back about a job more bearablecan I ask a company to speed up their hiring process?am I obligated to tell interviewers that I'm considering other jobs? { 58 comments }
Silver Robin* January 7, 2025 at 12:43 pm “Companies act in their own interests all the time, you get to do that to.” 10000000% Reply ↓
Umami* January 7, 2025 at 3:04 pm Agreed! I have been in this boat, and I accepted the offer in hand because there was no knowing if/ when I would hear from my first choice. Turns out their process took 2 more months to schedule 2nd round interviews (not unusual in my field), and I ended up taking the job when offered a month after that. Caveat is that I had been RIFed and took 5 months to get the first offer, and even though it was awkward to resign after just 2 months, I made $24k that day. I also learned I had been their top choice the moment they saw my application, but their process had been delayed for various and understandable reasons. tl;dr: do what works for you, even if it means accepting an offer that you then leave, because no company will ever be loyal to you no matter how nice they are or how talented you are. Reply ↓
Falling Diphthong* January 7, 2025 at 12:44 pm If Company B makes you an offer before Company A, contact Company A and tell them you would like to work for them but have another offer on the table and need to be practical. Best case, they quickly put together an offer that you like better. Worst case, they tell you they’re not at that stage–but at least you know. Norms really depend on field and location, but I would say a week to consider is pretty normal. Reply ↓
learnedthehardway* January 7, 2025 at 1:26 pm Agreed. This is the best way to handle the situation. I’ve had many candidates let me know they have received an offer from another company. My response is to tell my client about it, and then they decide whether they want to move forward with an offer themselves. If they don’t want to, I tell the candidate that the company is not yet ready to make a decision, and that the candidate will have to decide on their current offer. If they reject the offer, then they continue on as a candidate in my client’s process. Reply ↓
RedinSC* January 7, 2025 at 1:35 pm That’s what I did to get my current job. I let them know I had another offer but would like to work for them. YAY! They made me an offer that day. Reply ↓
Eldritch Office Worker* January 7, 2025 at 1:44 pm Same, and I was very nervous about it (idk why, it was very straightforward. Job hunting frays the nerves). But it all worked out fine! Reply ↓
RedinSC* January 7, 2025 at 4:08 pm It totally frays the nerves! I was also a bit nervous, but it was nice to know there was at least one job, even if it wasn’t my #1 choice! Reply ↓
The_artist_formerly_known_as_Anon-2* January 7, 2025 at 3:55 pm This ++++. You may in fact be Company A’s first choice, but as we’ve seen in here, too many companies drag their feet on employee hiring and you know what? They end up losing their best candidates. I’ve done that a couple times in my career. Reply ↓
amoeba* January 8, 2025 at 9:52 am Yeah, that’s also very normal in my field, to the extent that they typically even ask to let them know if there are any other offers/advanced processes at other companies! So definitely not weird to let them know. Maybe they can’t do anything about it, but pretty sure they’ll appreciate having the information. Reply ↓
A Simple Narwhal* January 7, 2025 at 12:44 pm “I’ve been conducting a low-key job search for months without much movement, and suddenly within the last few weeks I have what seems like serious interest from two different companies.” This gives me hope that maybe mine will eventually pick up too if I keep at it. Reply ↓
Eldritch Office Worker* January 7, 2025 at 1:44 pm It really does feel like feast or famine. I didn’t hear anything for months and then started getting all sorts of interviews and relatively fast offers. Hang in there! Reply ↓
NoIWontFixYourComputer* January 7, 2025 at 12:45 pm About 15 or so years ago, I was in this exact same position. I was interviewing with Big Global Famous Teapot Company and with Small Indie Teapot Corp. I had reason to believe an offer was coming from BGFTC (they had told me they wanted me, had sent me to the office I would be working at to meet people, and they were just waiting for approval one level up). SITC had made me an offer. I was up front and said, I was in the finalist stage at another company, and asked for a week. After a week, I accepted SITC’s offer, and two days later BGFTC informed me that upper upper managment had implemented a hiring freeze. I wound up working for SITC for 15 years. Reply ↓
Epicanalyst* January 7, 2025 at 12:53 pm OMG what a story! This helps me realize that putting boundaries in place helps you to not drive yourself crazy about the what ifs. Company A makes an offer but you’d also like to see if Company B offers. Give Company A a week; if Company B doesn’t get back to you in that time frame and if Company A is a reasonable option for you, go with Company A and don’t regret too much not going with Company B. Because Company B may ultimately not come thru in the first place (in your case) or it might actually have been a nightmare job. You never know! Reply ↓
Great Frogs of Literature* January 7, 2025 at 1:47 pm I have a similar story with a different outcome. In my case, Company A and Company B were different industries, and different roles. Company A was what I’d been doing, and while I wanted to switch, I thought it was a really good company within the field. Company B was exciting and I liked the coworkers, but moving slightly slower in the hiring process. I told Company B that I had a final interview with another company and would be in town; did they want to set up an interview while I was local (I was intending to move to that area) — and that got me a second-round interview. When I got the offer from Company A, I told Company B and they expedited my final interview. Meanwhile I told Company A that I was a finalist for another position; could they wait a week, because I wanted to have my options on the table and feel like I was choosing a job because it was the job I really wanted, not because I was scared of losing the offer. The hiring manager was really understanding, and in the course of that week, the Company A offer went up $10k (which was more than 20%). I felt a little weird about that, because if they wanted me that badly couldn’t they have coughed up the extra money in the first place? (I know now that that’s pretty normal, but I was young and idealistic.) I got the offer from Company B. It wasn’t quite as much money as Company A (after the bump), but it was more the industry I wanted to be in, and I liked their salary transparency and culture. I took the Company B offer and it was great for several years. Reply ↓
NobodyHasTimeForThis* January 7, 2025 at 3:12 pm My husband turned down 2 jobs because he had a verbal offer from Company A. And then nothing. Turns out the people who interviewed and made him the offer had never gotten the requisition approved and there was no job to be hired for. Make sure you have everything in writing before make any kind of commitment Reply ↓
H3llifIknow* January 7, 2025 at 12:51 pm I know it feels crappy to do this, but I’ve done it, and as a hiring manager had it done to me—Take the job that is offered first, a bird in the hand and all that jazz…and if A comes in with an offer, bow out gracefully and gratefully. I have more than once had someone email me on Friday to say “I won’t be starting on Monday, a better offer came through.” I wished them well and moved on to MY second choice of hire. Companies hire their first, then second, then third choice and you’re allowed to do the same–if you’re lucky enough to get offers from both. Good Luck! I hope A comes through first for you and saves you the angst! Reply ↓
ASD always* January 7, 2025 at 1:03 pm Agreed, I’ve been on both ends of it too, though as the coworker covering the role rather than the hiring manager. I don’t at all blame the new starter who quit after less than a week because she was offered a dream job. I may have if we’d actually started the handing off of my extra workload, but we didn’t even have the chance to meet before she was gone. Though there is a company I will never apply to again after rescinding my acceptance of their offer twice in the same year (for different roles), unless I somehow learn that the HR contact no longer works there. She probably couldn’t care less, but I’d feel far too awkward. Reply ↓
Ceanothus* January 7, 2025 at 1:28 pm Yup. This is also partly why you might hear nothing from a company for a long time after final round interviews. They’re waiting for their first offer to start work before they cut the others loose. I know transparency would be better, but I never found a good way to say, “You’re our second (or third) choice, and we need you to hold tight im case First Choice doesn’t work out.” Reply ↓
Oh heck no* January 7, 2025 at 2:54 pm Please please don’t do this. I once hired someone, gave her 8 weeks to wrap things up at the old place before her start date, and just a week or two before she was going to start, she backed out. I ended up having A Very Awkward Conversation with the runner up and offered her the job. She only accepted after coming in and talking to me face-to-face because she was concerned she couldn’t get over the sting of the initial rejection. All that heartache could have been avoided had the candidate asked for a few days to think about it and then asked the other company to hurry up before accepting the role. Reply ↓
Velawciraptor* January 7, 2025 at 3:17 pm Same. One of the offices I used to hire for had a guy (before my time) accept a position, ship some of his personal belongings to our office (!!!), then call on his intended start date and tell us he’d accepted a position elsewhere and could we please send him back his stuff. Then, he applied with us AGAIN when I was doing the hiring (with a resume full of job hopping like you wouldn’t believe). This time, he pulled out before we had landed on a candidate, but in such an arrogant way that guaranteed I wouldn’t give him the courtesy of even an interview in the future. Alison’s advice is the best option. Ask for time, immediately contact the other employer to say “I have an offer but am very excited about the position with you. I have to give the other people an answer by DATE. Can you let me know if you’ll have a decision for me by then?” Far less likely to burn bridges, even if you don’t go to the spectacular extremes the guy I dealt with did. Reply ↓
anonymous anteater* January 7, 2025 at 4:50 pm agreed. Depends on your type of company. We are more slow moving, likely to be flexible with candidates to have far-out start times, and also likely to be ok with candidates taking some time to consider an offer. But the flip side is that it’s harder to swallow when the candidate accepts an offer, and then bails. Reply ↓
amoeba* January 8, 2025 at 10:09 am I mean, I’d also first try to get some time for consideration and/or get the other company to move faster, but if that’s not working for whatever reason, I’d absolutely still accept and bow out if necessary. Reply ↓
Bruce* January 7, 2025 at 7:02 pm Agreed, be decent about it but don’t sacrifice yourself to a sense of obligation. As a hiring manager I know things happen. Reply ↓
KHB* January 7, 2025 at 12:58 pm I feel so fortunate that the last/only time I did a full-blown job search, I didn’t have to deal with any of this, because the two offers I got happened to come at exactly the same time: I got my offer from B while literally on my way to interview with A, A asked if I had any other offers and I told them yes, and they made me their offer on the spot. I asked both companies for a week to think it over, and they were both fine with that. I’ve been (mostly) happily employed by A for 18 years now, and I doubt I’ll work anywhere else. Just the thought of another job search exhausts me. Reply ↓
KEWLM0M* January 7, 2025 at 1:01 pm Just wondering – did you accept Company A’s offer on the spot? Reply ↓
Nice To Be Sought After* January 7, 2025 at 1:01 pm I was in a situation where I had two companies I wanted to work for – one more than the other. When the one (let’s call them Blue Co) gave me an offer, I reached out to the preferred one (let’s call them Smile Central) to let them know that I had received said offer but I was really interested in the position they were hiring for, and looked for an update. That sped up Smile Central’s decision-making and they offered me the job. Just before this, I had accepted a position with a different company (let’s call it Holiday Co.) – not my ideal role but it’d do for the time being. When the offer from Blue Co came through, and was talking to Smile Central all in the same day, I had a tough decision to make. After being with Holiday Co for two and a half days, I ended up telling them that I had been offered a role with another company, and that role would start in three weeks. I offered to stay on till then, but they said we could end my employment that day. It felt really bad doing that to Holiday Co, and I know I likely burned a bridge there doing that. I did get the role with Smile Central and had a lovely conversation with Blue Co when I declined their offer. They said to keep them in mind if things open up down the road. Now I’m in a better role – flexible working (both remote and WFH, and flexible schedule), better pay, great people, and a better culture. Good luck! It’s so hard dealing with situations like this! Reply ↓
Insubordinate Clause* January 7, 2025 at 1:04 pm Several times, I’ve had a couple job offers close together. It feels odd but makes sense – you get better at interviewing, more leads in the pipeline, etc. In that case, I decide on my #1 choice. If the salary isn’t what I want – or I’d like other benefits such as more PTO – I go back to my top choice with something like, “You’re my #1 choice, but I have an offer with a higher salary. If you can beat it, I’m happy to accept your offer. If not, want to let you know that I will seriously consider theirs.” I’ve gotten better offers from my #1 choice every time. Reply ↓
Cat support staff* January 7, 2025 at 1:10 pm I had this scenario happen to me close to 20 years ago: in my case, Company B offered a 3- to 6-month contract, Company A offered a permanent position, so I was definitely leaning toward Company A. I had contacts at both places, so they both seemed like good places to land, and Company A had me in their final two for the position. So of course Company B made their offer first. I decided to be up front with them, I declined because I really wanted a permanent position and they didn’t have one. They said they understood, no hard feelings. And then Company A came back and let me know that they chose the other person, but felt we were both strong candidates. Whoops … … except that a month later, Company B reached out again, as they hadn’t filled the position, so this time I accepted. The initial 3-6 months became 6-12, then indefinite, and then someone in a permanent role stepped down, they offered that spot to me, and I accepted. I’ve been with Company B ever since, and in addition to that, I work with a couple of folks who came over from Company A, so this was probably the better long-term outcome for me anyway. This is IT, and even in IT things can vary – this might work in Teapot Sales but not in Teapot Architecture and Manufacturing or Large-Scale Teapot Storage or what have you. Also, I was fortunate in that the Company B role didn’t fill, and that I could “wait” a month (i.e. continue to look for jobs) to see what happened next. Folks who are in tighter situations financially might just want to accept the first offer they get, knowing that if necessary, you can politely turn down Company A and explain that the opportunity was great but you couldn’t risk losing both offers, and maybe in a year or two they’ll be looking again and you can look for a job from what’s hopefully a better situation. Reply ↓
cat herder* January 7, 2025 at 1:15 pm This happened to me recently! My proverbial Company B (with their quick offer of temp-to-permanent-hire) only gave me two days to make a decision. I was unemployed at the time, but Company A was moving so slowly (I had had three interviews and was waiting for over a week to hear back, and it was a permanent placement role with benefits, so waaayyy better than temp – both companies would have been decent to work at, though). Since I couldn’t let a solid job offer slip, I accepted Company B. I then told Company A I had an offer, and after a frantic few days of nail biting, they finally extended a formal offer one week before I was due to start at B. In the moment I felt really icky about the whole thing, but B completely understood my rescinded acceptance of their offer when I told them A was permanent placement (not temporary). So I don’t think the bridge is burned (hopefully). B told me “this happens all the time” so maybe they’re even used to it, with hiring temps? TL;DR: “Companies act in their own interests all the time, you get to do that to.” 100000% YESSS Reply ↓
I Have RBF* January 7, 2025 at 1:47 pm I had one place where I started a temp job, then a permanent offer, with benefits, came through. I told the temp place about the perm offer, and they were unhappy, but understood. Reply ↓
cat herder* January 7, 2025 at 2:38 pm Yeah I think that’s just how it goes in Temp Land. Maybe agencies move more quickly on offers because they know it’s a revolving door of talent, and strong candidates (the ones who ultimately WANT perm placement) are going to be difficult to hang onto. Reply ↓
Mallory Janis Ian* January 7, 2025 at 1:22 pm I was recently in this situation. Job 2 made an offer via email, so I immediately emailed Job 1 and explained that I had an offer, but that they were my first choice and if they could let me know what my standing was, it would be helpful information for me to have. They weren’t at the stage of having made any notifications to the candidates yet, but they did me the courtesy of letting me know that they had a first choice candidate (not myself) that they were going to make an offer to. So I was able to take my second-choice job without any worries about what if the other one came through. It eliminated me from consideration if their first-choice candidate fell through and if I was, perhaps, the second, but I was able to gladly accept Job 2 without feeling like I’d left something on the table with Job 1. Reply ↓
GammaGirl1908* January 7, 2025 at 5:12 pm Exactly this happened to me late last year. I got an offer from Company B, and let Company A, which I preferred, know. Company A then essentially let me know that I was their second choice, despite previously having told me, “sit tight, you should be hearing from HR shortly.” Apparently the first choice was dithering around about starting dates and when to leave their old job. I was glad to know, and took Company B’s offer. I would have been happy to go to Company A even though I was their second choice, but that’s not how it worked out. Reply ↓
Judge Judy and Executioner* January 7, 2025 at 1:35 pm Many years ago, I was working with a recruiter for company B but was going through the interview process for company 1. I knew I wanted company A, but B made the offer first. I told the recruiter I wanted the other job more, and she said it “was like turning down someone to a dance because someone better might ask you.” With that type of advice, and me having just been laid off, I accepted the offer for company B and did the mandatory drug test. Then a day later or so I got the offer from company A and had to inform the recruiter. She was NOT happy with me, and I never worked with that recruiting firm again. I worked at company A for 3 years and it set me up for a successful career in a more niche area. Years later, as a hiring manager at company C, I had an individual back out of an offer when his current organization made a counteroffer. That was also for the best for both him and me. He got a promotion and a raise, which allowed me to post the job again. I found an excellent internal candidate who worked out of a different location. The internal candidate is still thriving in the role, although I no longer work at C. A business will NEVER care about you as much as you care about your job. Do what’s best for you and your family. Companies will do what’s best for them, and many won’t hesitate to lay you off if they lose sales/business. Reply ↓
anon4this1* January 7, 2025 at 1:36 pm I have been in this position and hired people in similar positions. Unfortunately, where I work now we can’t speed up the process. HR is HR and they are slow. I can do what I can on my side, but whenever I advocated for a speedy timeline, HR pushes back and takes their time. I would work late, I can do the reference checks, but how we do it HR does all the reference calls (which I find frustrating as a hiring manager). This is why I try and give offers on a Thursday if I am able and give someone the weekend to decide usually saying give me an answer by Tuesday. If they ask for a week that is fine, but I can’t give more than a week (HR won’t allow it either). My partner had a similar situation and the President told him he was the choice and getting a written offer from HR. My partner called me, so excited, and then pulled out of another finalist position because this President was so certain. I still remember this call and saw the message that was sent later. Then, crickets. My partner contacted HR a week later when they hadn’t heard anything and was told they still were going through with references. Needless to say they never gave my partner an offer, never told them they didn’t get the role, ghosted them, but hired… one of my partner’s references for the role! It was crushing and I assume they said something about my partner in order to get the job themselves. Anyway Karma does her thing and this person was out of that role a year later, so clearly not a good fit. I googled the reference person (probably shouldn’t do that) and they moved cross country, took a lower level job, and look to be (now) unemployed. The biggest concern were these long complaints/rants that sometimes were really political on LinkedIn. Employers don’t want to see/read those! My parter is doing excellent and happy in their career and current role. BUT lesson learned-pick your references wisely, no job is guaranteed unless you have an offer in writing, and karma will do her thing. Good luck, OP! Reply ↓
Nicosloanica* January 7, 2025 at 1:40 pm I hate when HR does the reference calls! They never know the nuances I’m interested in. Reply ↓
GammaGirl1908* January 7, 2025 at 5:14 pm Ouch. I’m glad karma came for the reference, but … ouch. Reply ↓
Nicosloanica* January 7, 2025 at 1:39 pm I must be in the minority on this one; in my field, asking for a week to think it over (after receiving the full offer with all the details) would be weird. I haven’t seen people do it in jobs I was hiring for; at most, they ask for the weekend to review the offer fully, but it’s more like they get the offer email, review it, and then respond in a couple hours usually. TBH if someone said they needed a week I’d figure that was a no, but in future I’ll try to reserve judgement now that I’ve read this. Reply ↓
Melicious* January 7, 2025 at 2:16 pm Yeah, in my experience, people are suspicious you’re waiting on better offers if you ask for more than a few days. Reply ↓
Melicious* January 7, 2025 at 2:17 pm Not that that’s really a bad thing. They’re a desirable candidate, and it’s not uncommon for everyone to be happy with how a second choice turns out. Reply ↓
GammaGirl1908* January 7, 2025 at 5:25 pm And frankly, maybe they are, which they are allowed to do. It makes perfect sense that they have had multiple interviews and have heard or are expecting to hear from another employer, who is equal to your company. It’s not an insult. Just like an employer interviews and considers more than one candidate, the candidate is not wrong for considering more than one employer, and they shouldn’t be forced to accept or reject an A- offer on the spot when they don’t know yet whether the other offer will be a B or an A. It’s also not an insult that your offer might be an A- for them. It’s not anyone’s fault that your offices are 45 minutes further away from their home or that your health insurance doesn’t meet their needs or that their high school bully works in accounts payable. Further, as discussed here, it’s really difficult for a candidate to gracefully get multiple offers to line up timewise. How else are they supposed to manage it? Reply ↓
lanfy* January 8, 2025 at 10:17 am If companies can wait more than a few days to see if they get any better candidates, they shouldn’t really complain about candidates doing the same :) Reply ↓
Pretty as a Princess* January 7, 2025 at 2:36 pm We hire a not insignificant number of people out of federal service. It is more often than not that they need some time to crunch numbers on the tradeoffs between costs & availability of different types of benefits, PTO accruals, and their options regarding accrued sick leave and pension status. (And time to speak with our benefits specialist who covers our health benefits in a specific geographic market, which can take a few days to pin down due to candidate availability. Our recruiter sets up all these conversations.) They also often have questions about details of specific benefits that are well documented in our handbooks, but are not laid out to every detail on our public website, or about the specific eligibility date for specific benefits based on a specific start date. A week is pretty common; I think our standard offer letter expires in our system at either 7 or 10 days. It’s rare that time goes by without the candidate and the recruiter touching base more than once about details, too. Reply ↓
Sola Lingua Bona Lingua Mortua Est* January 7, 2025 at 3:32 pm That’s about my experience, too. I think I got 48 hours to review my last offer; it was just enough time for one more rushed interview for my Company B, but when they weren’t ready to pull the trigger, I had no choice but to go with Company A. I can’t even process having a full week to mull an offer over. Reply ↓
HSE Compliance* January 7, 2025 at 2:09 pm It would be very interesting to have a survey done to see if there’s any meaningful differences by industry, region, level of position, etc. *with data*. I’ve backed out of an offer before for a different offer and don’t regret it, though likely I burned that bridge. I’ve never been given less than a week to think over an offer either, and asking for an additional weekend over that week was never an issue. Reply ↓
Pretty as a Princess* January 7, 2025 at 2:45 pm I would think that the level of position & specificity of expertise matter a lot. The more viable candidates that exist and are in your pipeline, the more an employer can afford to offer you only a limited amount of time before moving on to choice #2 or #3 or #4. Reply ↓
A Book about Metals* January 7, 2025 at 2:10 pm I had this situation come up once. I accepted the first offer when I really wanted the second but they were a bit slower. Before the start date of the first one, the second offer came through. I had to call company A to tell them I wouldn’t be accepting the job after all. Bridge burned, but in my case that wasn’t really a huge issue since I’m in a big field in a big geo so one burnt bridge wouldn’t matter. But YMMV there And also – the job I did take wound up being the worst fit of any job I’ve ever had – I was miserable and was fired after 18 months! So be careful what you wish for :) Reply ↓
Melicious* January 7, 2025 at 2:15 pm Ugh, this happened to me once. After EIGHT MONTHS of no offers, I got THREE within a few weeks of each other. OF COURSE in reverse order of preference. I felt comfortable turning down Third Choice since Second Choice was all but a sure thing; they weren’t happy that I asked for a week to get back to them, but First Choice did get back to me in that time. They were a large academic institution with the expected slow process, so it was stressful! Reply ↓
JanetM* January 7, 2025 at 3:01 pm It kind of depends. Seven years ago, I was offered a job out of the blue on a Friday afternoon. I hadn’t interviewed for it, I hadn’t applied for it, and it didn’t exist until it was offered to me. I asked for the weekend to think about whether it was a change I wanted to make, talked to my current manager, talked to my husband, talked to a friend, and accepted on Monday afternoon. Months later, at our division annual meeting, the CIO called me out, by name, as the only person he’d met who had NOT accepted a job offer immediately. It wasn’t mean-spirited on his part; he sounded more puzzled than anything else, so I didn’t really mind, but it did surprise me. Reply ↓
Adam* January 7, 2025 at 3:15 pm Yeah, I’ve been in this situation and I’ve always just been up front with people. When you get the first offer, you can say, “I’m partway through the process with other companies and would like to see those processes through before making a decision. When do you need an answer by?” And then you immediately go to the other companies and say you’ve got an offer in hand but you’re still interested in them, but you’ll need an answer soon. At least in my industry, everyone knows people have options and they’re willing to wait a reasonable amount of time to let things play out. Reply ↓
CubeFarmer* January 7, 2025 at 4:52 pm I’d also chop off a few days from Company B’s offer window just so you have enough time to consider any potential Company A offer. Reply ↓
Deja vu* January 7, 2025 at 6:18 pm This is funny timing as I just submitted a similar question, and same situation of interviews being very close together, but mine was same parent company making things even more complicated with both potentially sending offers I did end up having the same struggle of worrying about the best job offer happening too late. Luckily the more desired job ended up sending the offer before the other job, and I just started working there this week :D Reply ↓
JugglingJobPipelines* January 7, 2025 at 6:49 pm Hmmmm, I’ve rarely found companies willing to wait more than a few days for an answer. Many have wanted it more-or-less instantaneously and it’s taken effort to get even a few days. One thing you should always do is reply to verbal offers with something like “great! I’m looking forward to getting the written offer to evaluate”. This can take some time at some companies and allows you extra time, plus it’s just the smart thing to do generally. I second the comments about telling company A about the offer from company B. Know that it might not help. I once put off accepting an offer for a few days and was given a deadline of COB on Day N. I called the company that was supposedly interested and told them, and also told my friend who worked there and recommended me for the job. They’d told me they were interested when I first called them after getting the other offer and reiterated that when I called with the deadline. They asked if I could put it off another day and I said no, but I would wait until 4:45 to accept the other offer. When I hadn’t heard back I tried calling them again around 4:30 to find out what they were going to do and couldn’t get through. I accepted the other offer at 4:55. I got an offer from that company at 7pm. I was so upset. That was the worst case, but I’ve had to juggle a few other times. And I’ve also gone more than 1.5 years between jobs. It’s a crapshoot. Reply ↓
lanfy* January 8, 2025 at 5:18 am This has happened to me more than once. Although it’s a ‘good’ problem to have, it is incredibly stressful! My solution has always been to ask Company B for a few days to consider the offer, and immediately contact Company A to tell them that I want to work for them, but I have another offer on the table and they need an imminent answer. What Company A tells me then determines what I do. Reply ↓