I had an interview with this firm yesterday. At the end, the partner and his senior manager underling told me in an uninterested (even a disinterested!) manner that the process would take a few weeks (I’ve heard this before…
), but then they asked me if I was interviewing with any other firms. I said I had 3 firms up in Boston. They said for me to give them a call if I get a job offer in the next few weeks before I accept. I mistakenly came off as a little arrogant (I was having trouble contexualizing the fact that the firm specializes in low income housing finance and valuation), and they really didn’t seem that interested, but then they told me to call them before I accepted an offer. Is this just friendly BS at the end of the day?
Nope - it’s a good sign. If you don’t get any offers from the other places, you might want to consider, um, well, making a phone call to those nice men.
That’s probably a good idea to give them a call if nothing happens on any ends; got nothin’ to lose.
If you want the job, call and tell them you have an offer on the table from one of the places in Boston. I recently went to a second round and the senior editor asked me if I could come back again, I told him that I had an offer on the table and I needed to decide asap - got an offer that day. just my 2
jpm, funny you mention that because the recruiting process at my now-former job was supposed to take a few weeks and I told them I had 2 IB offers. The next day I got an offer. Too bad.
Kkent - I’ve experienced the same (getting a better response with other offers on the table). I treat jobs like women…if they know others want you (you’re desirable) they want you that much more. However, you need to be prepared to have your bluff called just in case it gets to that.
yeah, make sure you have another offer that you’d definitely take if you didn’t get the one you’re currently interviewing for…because unless you are a stellar candidate, it won’t help you to pressure the potential employer. actually, employers generally dislike it when candidates do this – lots of candidates think they’re hot shots and sometimes they even bluff just to try to get the employer to act quickly. but if you’re not their first choice, they’ll tell you that you should just take one of the offers you’ve already gotten (if this is the case)
not totally related, but a couple years ago i was pretty far along in the interview process with three firms, and i expected to have offers from each of them over the course of a few days. one of them over breakfast told me he wanted to offer me a job. when i asked how much time i could have to get back to him, he asked me what else i had. i told him that i had one offer and expected another offer from the third firm by the end of the week (which i got, by the way, when i told them about the other two firms). instead of sending me a formal offer letter, he wanted to wait until tuesday of the next week, after i got the offer from the last firm. when we spoke on tuesday, he told me he wanted someone who was firm in his commitment to his firm, not considering other firms, and never actually offered the job. it turns out he was kind of a weird guy and i’m glad i never went there. i guess the moral is that sometimes when you try to use one offer as leverage to get another, it can backfire a little.
Yeah, it’s definitely going to be a balancing act. I just wish there were a book to read with all the answers (When an employer mentions other firms, his level of interest is 80%, which means you need to use the R-squared equation to properly balance your enthusiasm).
Not to mention that it is a small world. If he asks who the offer was from and you spit out a name, it is possible that he knows people that work there. That would be really bad if you were bluffing.
Very true. That would suuuuuck. Then you lose out on both ends.
Do not ever lie about other offers. I have seen, my own eyes, people play this game and even get offers, get company badge, direct deposit,the whole 9 to get it taken away in two months because the truth came out. People are less anoymous than they realize. And another benfit to bloomberg is that news travels fast.
I don’t plan on lying about any offers; but I’d rather work in DC than in Boston, so I’ll gladly update them on the process.
I hear you kkent – good luck. I just wanted to make sure no one out there misreads anything on the thread and possibly makes a preventable error of judgement. And keeping people in the loop is certainly advisable, esp when they have shown interest. Matter of fact, even if you decide to take another offer, keeping in touch is a great way to build a network. Once you get in a field you will more than likely be seeing these people at conferences, on sites, off sites etc. so why not. Plus, you never know…
That’s some good advice. Wish I had done that back in May after I got my offer for the firm I wanted (before resigning after a few months). Live and learn.
kkent, you started that job a few months ago? Why did you resign?
Suffice it to say that I didn’t like the company or the work. I knew it wasn’t the place for me.