Hi All,

I am in a predicament. For sake of discretion, I am going to avoid using names.

I was interviewed by Company 'A' and Company 'B' and the final interviews went very well.

If I was given a choice, I would join company A, for various reasons. However, I got an offer from company 'B'.

Now, I still havent heard from Company A and I was informed, I did pretty well, I will be chosen, if there is no1 better than me. I hope there isnt

Company 'B' wants an answer soon. Incase company A takes their sweet time to reject me and B moves on to some1 else, I am scr**d.

My gf suggests I should call company 'A' and ask whatsup (of course professional ). And I want to as well. But then again, professional etiquette's suggests other wise. I was told by company 'A' they will let me know ''soon''

What do you guys think ? What should be my approach.

Firstly were you open and communicate to company A that you are at late stages with another company? If so it definitely helps the next stage.

It also depends on when company B expect your answer by. When did you last speak to company A?

I would call company A, inform them that you have received an offer from another company however they are your first choice. Let them know that you are expected to inform the other company by what ever deadline you believe there is then it’s down to them.

If they offer you the job because you’re still the best candidate great, if they cant offer or decide in time at least you gave them the chance and can accept company B without a bad feeling or loosing both opportunities.

However if you only spoke last with company A in the last day or so it can look a bit too pushy and impatient.

A bird in the hand...

I've taken to heart a lesson learned through a couple of painful, "wish I hadn't done that" experiences where I turned down one job that was actually being offered because someone else I thought I could trust dangled the possibility of a better one in front of me but in the end never delivered.

Many people and companies will say a lot of things to keep candidates on the hook for as long as possible. In fact if we were really the one they wanted they would be making offers to us. The thing we get caught up in is the idea that if we give them just a bit more time they'll realize we're the one they want.

My advice to you is that you make your best decision with the information you have available to you at the time you need to decide, instead of hoping to get something better in the near future.

For me the absolute worst thing was, having said no to a real offer, finding myself left with no offers and a lot of regret over what might have been.

Good luck

Thx L,

I have informed them that I am in between interviews and have not made the final decision yet, however, was honest to tell them that Company 'A' was my first choice.

They are willing to wait for until another week.

I spoke to them during the time I was interviewed around 20ish December. However. they were closed for the last week of December. So today will be like the 5th working day after I was interviewed.

It makes sense to do so. I am just worried not to be construed as an impatient guy.

LeeD's advice is right on the money. Call Company 'A' and explain that you have another offer and that you are under time pressure to give them a decision.

Having said that, I would not decline the offer from Company 'B' unless I had an offer in writing from Company 'A'.

Good luck in any case!

Thanks D,

My aim for this thread was nothing but to hear some familiar situations and how they were dealt.

Sorry for your situation back then, but I am sure you are learnt a lesson and shared it to likes like me to do the same.

It makes sense what you said about they keeping us on hook and if we were d best they would offer us jobs already.

I am going to take an educated decision based of what info I have and being honest. In the end, its only fair for them to be honest as well.

Thanks
S

Thanks VI,

Taken a note of ur suggestion. And will apply in my approach.

Cheers
S

Don't know what anyone else said, but IMO professional ettiquette is simply to call company A and say, "Look guys, I really would like to work with you (assuming that is true), and I've received an offer from company B and need to reply to them. Could you let me know the status of my application please?".

Clear mind, clear communication!

Call Company A and tell them you received an offer from somebody else but prefer to work with them and so you need an answer by X date.

Call Company B and tell them that you would prefer to work with them but another company has indicated that they are willing to pay you more and so you will need to think about it carefully and will give them an answer by X date.

With any luck, you'll either get an offer from Company A or an increased offer from Company B, or both, in which case you can use the revised offer from Company B to shape the final offer from Company A.

Or A will say "no thank you" and B will say "you cheap git. No thanks."

I'd only go back to B if A had made an offer in writing. This approach means that you could lose the offer that's already been made by B.

This all sounds like a GCSE maths exam... or maybe a "hedge funds" exam...

Thanks P,

However, i feel, it could be a bit dangerous if B says,we cant offer more and A says we found some1 else. But then again, if spoken diplomatically, this approach can still keep the Company B's door open.


Thanks C,

I think it would better if I would use this approach of having it in written and be safe from company A and then let company B go off.

I guess next week will make it clearer after i talk to A and let them know the situation with B. I have until friday next week with B.

Call company A and just ask them whether they have made a decision and if not try to pin them down to a definite date when you will hear from them. If necessary, say yet to B.

Do what Carlos R said. Can't say it any better myself

Oooo. Makes me feel all warm and gooey...

Ignore what Carlos R said. He's a bit creepy

M back again.

I have another 3 days to confirm with Company B if I am going to accept their job.

Taking the sensible advice from some EFer's, with a nice prep of what I am going to say, I tried calling HR of company A on friday, yesterday and today. But no luck, getting in touch with the HR manager in charge.

She is out of office, probably sick. Her colleagues have no idea why she is out. They keep telling me, ''may be'' tomorrow she will come. So today I ask for any other manager to assist when she isn't there, since time is of the essence. However, she was not very keen on taking such decisions, not make any suggestion, which was miles away since she didnt even listen to the entire situation I was planning to describe her.

Call it thinking out of the box, of being foolish. I am tempted to call my ''possible future'' manager (PFM ), since he was part of the interview.

A quick flash back, after the interview, the HR manager was going to accompany me to the door and thank me for coming, d usual HR thingy. The PFM told her, he will take me out. And while on the way, he said, I did very well in the interview and was impressed with etc etc etc. He didnt have to do that, but he did coz it seemed he did mean it.

Back to reality, the job advert is open until end Feb, and the HR manager told me in 3rd week December, that they will conduct some more interviews with other possible candidate, which makes sense for a company since they dont need any1 before March or April I guess. I was able to find the contact number of my PFM, and I am tempted to call him, describe him how the HR aint responding and I need to make a call regarding company B.

I do not want to the construed as a smart ass or pushy guy. But I need to know.

What do you guys think, is it smart to call the PFM if HR doesnt respond tomorrow or is it a bad idea ?

The point is somewhere else. Company A cant be bothered to give you a decent answer and dont seem to care about your need of a job. Moreover, the internal communications sucks. No idea why she is out

Do you really want to work for a company like that?

Yup no doubt I wanna work in that company.

Nothing against HR, however, I have worked at multinational companies before, and they have not always been pleasant. So I aint surprised when soemthing like this happens. I am just looking out a way to deal with it, with minimum or no damage to my chances to work for it.

And it seems unfair to take out 1 persons lack of enthusiasm on the entire company. . I have a feeling they know d reason why she is out, may be an emergency, however, if I was them, I would also not mention it to potential employees of the future, with wat reason, however, i agree, I would do better than what I was told. If d job was in the HR department of that company, i might be worried, but for now, I wanna work with them, no doubt.