A job offer versus an interview

July 30, 2013 10:00 AM

My friend has two job opportunities that are both interesting, but the timing of interviews & offers isn't quite right to make a decision between the two.

A friend has a job offer from Company A, and an upcoming second interview with Company B. Both opportunities would have similar compensation, but he's potentially more interested in the job with Company B.

Company A wants to hear back from him about the offer the day after his interview with Company B. What's the best strategy to take so that he winds up with the best possible outcome?

1) approach Company B right away and let them know another offer is on the table, to see if that would speed up their decision making process.

2) wait until the interview with Company B to tell them about the other offer, and hope that they are interested enough to make a decision quickly. The difference in time between option 1 and option 2 is on the order of days rather than weeks.

3) try to postpone Company A until Company B can make up their mind without losing the offer?

posted by beepbeepboopboop to Work & Money (5 answers total)

You can do any of these. I would tell company B "I have another offer on the table and they would like to know my decision as soon as possible, so is it possible to reschedule my interview for an earlier date?" and simultaneously tell company A "I am very interested but there is another company I am also interviewing with so could you wait a few extra days?"
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 10:09 AM on July 30, 2013 [7 favorites]

I'm with tylerkaraszewski. Company B will not be annoyed that your friend is wanted by someone else, and it is likely that their interview schedule isn't driven by anything in particular, so changing it won't matter. Company A will also not be annoyed that your friend is looking at other companies (after all, they're presumably looking at other candidates), but they might get annoyed if he isn't up front about it (and they'll know what "I need more time to think about it" really means).
posted by Etrigan at 10:14 AM on July 30, 2013 [1 favorite]

Any recruiter knows what postponing your decision on an offer means. Either be up front about having another offer or accept A's offer (if he wants to anyway) and then rescind later if a better offer comes in from B.

If these are reasonably large comapnies (as in, not a mom & pop) either of these situations happens enough that no one is going to be offended or hurt, everyone understands.
posted by magnetsphere at 10:18 AM on July 30, 2013

I'm a hiring manager. I think it is much better to tell company B that you have received another offer but are very interested in working for them. They will speed up the process as much as they can if they are interested in you.

Accepting an offer from A, interviewing with B, and then rescinding A's offer later if you get an offer from B is just unprofessional in my opinion. Just be up front with B.
posted by elmay at 10:33 AM on July 30, 2013 [2 favorites]

A job in the hand is worth two in the bush. (dear god, I shouldn't try to tailor the old wive's wisdom)
Let Job B know the score, but if he to either accept Job A or lose it, and maybe end up with nothing, then he should take job A. If he has to cancel on it later, so be it. Job hunting is not always a clean and pretty process.
posted by SLC Mom at 7:17 PM on July 30, 2013