Jim Guckin

Question:

I know this is more of a general question than a technical question, but I expect end of next week to have two offers on the table from companies that are under a lot of pressure to get their positions filled. There is also third company, probably my favorite, which doesn’t seem to be under the same pressure and is moving at a very leisurely pace.  What is the proper etiquette for handling multiple offers and how can I best use that fact to leverage the other firm to move things along, if at all

June Moodie
Fort Lauderdale, FL

Answer:

    To be honest there isn’t a simple answer to question, it all comes down to if you like playing safe or not.  While doing some interviewing a while back, I had a candidate that happen to be in a similar situation, and he actually let me know he was very interested in the job and was expecting an offer by another company prior to my deadline to select a candidate.  I think letting a potential employer know is a must.  For one, if you are one of their top choices and they really want you, maybe they are willing to bend, though you always run into the situation of it backfiring.  The bottom line here is open communication and honesty and a little luck and you may land the dream company.

    I wish there was a simple answer or even a formula that I could give you to try to figure out to wait or not, but there isn’t.  Something I do, regardless of a pending acceptance, is tell the potential employer at the interview, that I am interviewing around and that if offered I usually take a week to accept to make sure that I take time to make sure that I am a right fit for that company.  For me this isn’t really something I just say, I know the pain of getting someone hired and trained to only have them leave shortly afterwards, and I want to avoid doing that to another company.  In your situation this may just help by you the time you need.