Hi there, and sorry to hear the uncomfortable situation you find yourself.
I must say though this situations happens quite often, for several different reasons:
- Market slowdown and consequently unstable market situation leading firms to be cautious about recruiting targets
- Overall recruiting schedule review (sometimes if one firm does the others follow)
- Lack of agenda with Partners/Aps/Managers to actually do the interview (this actually happens)
Unfortunately there is not much you can do, since you also do not want to be pressuring their HR even before getting the offer. What I would do though, for sake of full transparency, is:
- reach out to the firm's HR very politely and explain again your situation, that they would be your preferred firm (if thats the case) and that you will have to move on with the other processes
- if they are not able to offer you an earlier interview, continue other processes, and if the delayed one is really your preferred, try to postpone whichever deadlines you get from other firms
I would avoid refusing other proposals without having an offer from the firm you ultimately want: this will increase a lot the pressure over your shoulders and may jeopardize your performance. Given the uncertainty of the time we live, what if they end up changing the recruiting strategy and recruiting less people?
Again, not much you can do in addition to politely reach out to them and try to postpone other deadlines. And keep your case prep routine to remain confident and feeling prepared. Use the fact that you already have an offer as a way to release the pressure (this should help).
Good luck with that, and keep us posted.
Good to know what’s possibly happening backstage! Thanks for the insight