How long do you have to respond to an offer?

Question

Hello!

I was wondering how one balances the possibility of multiple offers. I have interviews at two firms (Bain and BCG) and the first-round interviews are about a month apart--if I make through the first and final rounds with the first firm, I will likely have an offer before the first-round at the second firm even begins. How long do I have to respond? It is common to ask to wait 2-3 weeks to find out the results of a second set of interviews, or do most people take the first offer they get?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi there,

Here are my thoughts:

Ideally you will be able to speed up the process with the other firm. If you call them and explain that you have an offer, they may be able to accelerate the process. That’s what I did with BCG after landing an OW offer. I called them, told them I had an offer and managed to complete the whole process in four days instead of the usual 3-4 weeks.
If that doesn’t work, you can ask the company that made the first offer for more time.
If that doesn’t work, your only option is to sign with the first company and complete the process later on with the other if that is more interesting for you. If you get a better offer and you are fine with that, you can then switch. Not ideal but there is no sense in rejecting an offer hoping to land one in the future.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Answer 2

Hey there,

Francesco already provided a MECE answer. I would like to add to his option 2, that extending the deadline to sign should not be an issue.

MBB spend tens of thousands of USD per candidate hired. Once they established that they would like to hire you, they will not drop the offer if you ask them for an extension to sign.

All the best with your prep and interviews!

Cheers,

Florian

Answer 3

Typically firms will give you 2-3 weeks.

Building on Francesco's answer, here's one more suggestion:

If you get the 2nd round invitation from the frist firm, push out the scheduling of the 2nd round interviews by a week or 2. That way you'll reduce the time between offer decisions.

Answer 4

Spot on answer by Francesco!

Answer 5

Hi there,

Francesco gave a great answer, but let me just add one thing:

Cross that bridge when you get there.

Don't spend any more time thinking/worrying about this. If/when the offer comes, reference Francesco's comment (which I fully agree with). But, before then, try and focus more about just passing the interviews!

Answer 6

Think of this as a process with a few dependent steps.

Firsly try to use your offer as a forcing function on your other companies to get them to commit. Firms are very used to exploding offers and speeding up their processes for candidates with multiple offers.

If this happens, then try to buy some more time with your first offer on the same basis.

As a rough benchmarks 2 weeks is fine. 3 weeks just about okay. Anymore then that, caveat emptor