Dealing with multiple interviews / offers

I was in a similar situation not long ago when. Just like you, I finished the process with one company much earlier than the others. So here is what you should do:

1. Thanks them for the offer. Ask for 10 days to take your decision.
2. Speed up the process with the other companies. Tell them you have an offer but would prefer working with them.
3. Stall for the entire 10 days with the first company so you can have the other answers.

That's the theory. Here is what happened with me :

1. After the common small talk (thanking for the good news, specify that you're really interested and so on) I explained to them that i needed some additional time to make my decision as I would like to finish the process I have in order to have the full picture. So I asked for 10 days to take my decision.
2. They refused (lot of other candidates, etc.) and they gave me two days to decide. I have to say that as of this moment, I started to dislike a bit the company. Because that's not ok to try to put pressure in such a way on a candidate and discredit his situation. So while staying correct i started to lean towards joining one of the other company.

There was no way to finish the process with the other company in the meantime. So after many discussion with people I applied this strategy:

1. I accpeted the offer. Refusing an offer in hope to get another one (without any certainty) is crazy. In particular during those uncertain time. If you don't like the job don't take it. But don't refuse for an hypothetical hope.
2. In the meantime, I sped up the process with the other companies. I was transparent with them, telling them that i needed to take a job since we first discussed but would be extremely happy to join them and would like to.
3. I scheduled the interview in the late afternoon and early morning (finish before 9am or starting after 6:30) so it wouldn't come into conflict with my new job.
4. In the meantime, I commited fully to the job I took in order to see if I liked it or not.
5. I ended up (three weeks after starting with the first company) with an offer with one of the remaining company. I immediately stopped all the remaining process as it was my first option since the beginning.

Before accepting the offer, I explained to them I was already enrolled with another company and would need few months (I asked for 10 weeks) to leave decently while not putting my current company in a problematic situation. They understood and accepted.

I took the time to really think of my decision and decided to accept that new offer. So I told my first company that I would like to quit and explained why to them. I was "honest and transparent" (but not too much). And i told them I would like to quit but also tell them that I'm willing to stay for up to two months until they find someone to replace me. Tell them I was sorry but that asking for someone to take such an important decision in two days indeed put me in a tight spot. I also told them that i enjoyed my work with them (which was true) but that it just wasn't enough for me and wanted more.
 

So that's how it turned out for me. Hope my personnal experience will help you.

ohh myy..so many choices will spin anyone's head  :). Celebrate this and feel happy firstly. Its a great spot to be in otherwise very difficult times. Here's some tips to help you make the decision:

1. If you can, do what you really want to do which will make you joyful & happy. This feeling comes from your heart/inner voice/sixth sense. Sleep on the decision, remove the emotions and see how you feel. Often people end up in jobs for all the wrong reasons- peer pressure, money, impatience etc etc

2. Don't plan too far ahead. The situation of the world and economies is unknown and the best scientists/leaders/politicians have no clue. Good to be cautiously optimistic and take it in short windows at a time (perhaps 6-12 months)

 3. As with every situation/event/choice in life, nothing will be perfect. Be mindful of this and work accordingly. Regardless of which job you take, there will be ups and downs and you cannot make that perfect choice as there will always be something a little better. So remove this pressure

4. Do your best and let things happen. If you over analyse things, making the choice will become difficult. If one of your lower priority options comes through, am sure you can buy a little time (1 or 2 weeks) to make your decision. Take a risk, go back and tell your preffered option that you have an offer elsewhere but are super keen on them, so you will be grateful if they push the process

Good luck choosing!

Given that your last round interviews are all lined up in the coming two weeks, I would try to play hardball with your P3 in case you get an offer. Asking for 2 weeks consideration time is not over the top. If you're still worried that they might push you for less, I'd reach out to the other companies and ask them if it's possible to have your interviews there earlier. It's perfectly fine to explain the situation to them and tell them that they would be your first choice.

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the offers!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:

I would highly advise you to opt for the option that better aligns with your professional (and maybe even personal) mid- to long-term goals. In order to make an informed decision, I would advise you to do the following:

• Weigh the different criteria that are meaningful to you independently of the current options (e.g., prestige, culture, international exposure, compensation, location). After that, score the two options based on your criteria and their weighting, resulting in two scores. This way, you have covered the left-brain perspective.
• Critically assess your initial reaction to the outcome of the scores. For instance, if you feel the urge to tweak the numbers, this is a solid indicator that you do not want this decision to become reality. This way, you have covered the right-brain perspective.
• By doing so, you will be able to integrate both parts of the brain into the decision-making, guaranteeing a higher chance that you will still be happy with it years later.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to address your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi there,

First, appreciate this problem! What a fantastic problem to have (think about how many people are dying for just one interview).

Now, in this situation, you have 3 options (in order of operation):

1) Ask the offering companyif you can have more time to think about the offer (have them push back their deadline)

2) Ask the upcoming interview company to move the interview up. Tell them you have an offer, but that they are your top choice so you need to move up the process.

3) If the math of 1+2 still don't work, you do have a decision:

• You can not sign if you're confident of your chances in the other company(ies)
• You can not sign if you realize you would just hate to be there regardless
• You can sign if you're doubting your chance and are risk averse
• You can sign if you're ok with reneging on the signed contract when/if you receive an offer from a more desireable company (consider implications here of course)

Good luck!

Hi there,

Ideally you can speed up the process with the other firms. 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 you can’t accelerate the process with the other firms, your only option is to sign with the first company and complete the process later on with the others. If you get a better offer and you are fine with quitting, you can then switch later on. Not ideal but there is zero sense in rejecting an offer hoping to land one in the future.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Hello!

Indeed, that situation can make everyone´s head spin. However, it´s a good problem to have. 

TBH, is less problematic than what you may think, since, if the situation happens in which you get the lower-priority offers first, you can leverage that to accelerate the process in the priority interviews. 

Best, 

Clara

Hello!

This is a very difficult question indeed and I hope that in the end, you will make the right choice for yourself.

You have not yet been answered on priority 3, as I understand it. Therefore, it may be too early to worry, it may take them a little longer than you think. If you do get invited on priority 3, try asking them for a couple of days or a week. I don’t think you can be very successful in a company that you don’t enjoy.

Further actions need to be planned, depending on what answer you will be given.
Contact the managers of your priorities and try to rush them into making a decision. Or try to at least learn about your results.

How well do you feel, how well did you do the interviews on your priorities?
Maybe you shouldn't worry at all?

GB