Interviews While Offers Coming In?

Interviews While Offers Coming In?

Anon (guest) 23 Nov 2010 02:10

Hypothetical situation, what would you do?

You had job interview A. Fast forward several weeks (you knew it would take them at least a month to make a decision) and you get job interview B. Just a couple days before you leave for job interview B you get an informal (or formal) offer from job interview A. You are given 2 weeks to accept offer.

What do you do? Still go on interview B? Try to prolong negotiation process of A while waiting for B?

It seems like it would be too late to back out of B….and you might be interested.

I imagine that this type of situation may happen quite a bit as we head into the busy part of the job season.

anon III (guest) 23 Nov 2010 02:31

I think it depends on how interested you are in job B. If you think you might prefer job B over A, then I would suggest going on the interview and mentioning your time constraints to them at the end of the interview process. Sometimes they can give you a sense for where you stand if you have to make a decision quickly. However, if you are fairly certain that you prefer A over B, then I would recommend canceling the interview at B, even if it is somewhat short notice. I don't think anyone would want to waste their time if there is no chance you will go there.

Anon Again (guest) 23 Nov 2010 03:23

This situation happened to me. I went to interview B and made it very clear that I had another offer and what my timeline was. My plan was that if B seemed appealing I would see if I could prolong A's negotiation (and/or get B to speed up their process). When I went to interview B it was very clear that it wasn't as good an option as A, so shortly after returning I emailed the department and told them I had taken the offer at A.

(I should note, you should have two weeks from when you get your FORMAL offer. You don't want to make decisions based on informally what you are told.)

Re: Interviews While Offers Coming In?

vd 23 Nov 2010 03:33

I agree with Anon Again's approach: Go to interview B but let them know that you have an offer, and do not make decisions on the basis of an informal offer.

Re: Interviews While Offers Coming In?

da_dude_abides 23 Nov 2010 14:44

Another aspect that might have been overlooked is the reimbursement. If an applicant doesn't fly out for the interview it'd make the process more difficult. Do go for the experience and/or to encourage negotiations. Be forthcoming at the end of it (i.e., that you were given a verbal offer and are waiting on the hard copy to be sent). Just remember that everything is fair game until you have a paper offer in hand. That's when the clock starts ;)

anon (guest) 23 Nov 2010 17:03

Thanks for all the replies!!!

dev.anon (guest) 23 Nov 2010 17:42

I would not cancel interview B unless I had paperwork in front of me to sign for School A. Have heard of one to many cases where an offer was rescinded before anything was signed (due to funding getting pulled at last minute for the position in most cases). Plus, it would be harder to negotiate with School A if that's your only offer.

anon (guest) 23 Nov 2010 18:54

So the negotiations at school A could be drawn out a little bit to allow for some time to either see if B offers or actually get to interview B…right?