I had interviews at a number of firms recently and one of them just offered me a job.
I understand that the firm would want a reply to the offer as soon as possible, however I don't want to accept the offer before I have heard back from all my other interviews.
Obviously, interviews happen at different times and some companies have several interview rounds before making offers so I don't know if the other firms would be able to give me an answer immediately.
How long is it generally acceptable to delay giving a reply to that company without appearing unprofessional?
Flatfish
Aug 10, 19 1:37 pm
It depends on the firm and how anxious they are to fill the role. Most will be ok with waiting a week or two, if you explain the situation. Some will need to move on before that - possibly in as little as a few days.
Sometimes you can use the fact that you've got an offer to gently speed up the other firms in giving you an answer one way or another - especially if you can honestly tell one of them that they're your first choice. You just contact them and say you want to reaffirm your strong interest in the position with their firm, but you have another offer and need to give them a response within the next few days - can they give you an indication of whether you should accept that other offer.
It's sometimes the case that you'll need to move forward with accepting or rejecting an offer before you do have responses from all the others, because some firms can take a month or longer to make a decision - typically the more senior the role the longer it can take to get an offer, and sometimes they're also holding off on a decision until they know if certain projects are going to move forward, or if other candidates are going to accept positions, etc.
I had interviews at a number of firms recently and one of them just offered me a job.
I understand that the firm would want a reply to the offer as soon as possible, however I don't want to accept the offer before I have heard back from all my other interviews.
Obviously, interviews happen at different times and some companies have several interview rounds before making offers so I don't know if the other firms would be able to give me an answer immediately.
How long is it generally acceptable to delay giving a reply to that company without appearing unprofessional?
It depends on the firm and how anxious they are to fill the role. Most will be ok with waiting a week or two, if you explain the situation. Some will need to move on before that - possibly in as little as a few days.
Sometimes you can use the fact that you've got an offer to gently speed up the other firms in giving you an answer one way or another - especially if you can honestly tell one of them that they're your first choice. You just contact them and say you want to reaffirm your strong interest in the position with their firm, but you have another offer and need to give them a response within the next few days - can they give you an indication of whether you should accept that other offer.
It's sometimes the case that you'll need to move forward with accepting or rejecting an offer before you do have responses from all the others, because some firms can take a month or longer to make a decision - typically the more senior the role the longer it can take to get an offer, and sometimes they're also holding off on a decision until they know if certain projects are going to move forward, or if other candidates are going to accept positions, etc.