0

I have interviewed three times with a potential employer. One introduction, a technical interview and final cultural fit interview. All seemed to go very well.

However, during the 2 1/2 hour company fit interview, towards the end, I was asked a couple of times if I had any offers and was asked to let them know before accepting any other offers. A couple of days later I got a follow up call as promised but they said the hiring decision has been postponed for a couple of days. I was told they had two more interview to complete.

So my question is, what is the point of asking if I have other offers? I have never had a company remind me several times to basically let them know about my other offers before I accept them.

My feeling is that I am a top pick but they continuing the rest of the interviews for completion and to validate their decision.

What are the reasons for asking about other offers?

thursdaysgeek
  • 46,181
  • 21
  • 99
  • 168
Jeff Christman
  • 853
  • 1
  • 7
  • 14

2 Answers2

9

If you have other offers or pending offers, they may need to expedite their process if they want to give you an offer. Otherwise, you may accept another offer and not be available.

It's generally advised, if you get an offer but you're more interested in a place where you are still interviewing, to let them know. That way, if you are a top contender, they can speed things up. Otherwise, they risk you taking the offer on the table.

This sounds like the same thing, except they are asking you instead of waiting for you to tell them.

thursdaysgeek
  • 46,181
  • 21
  • 99
  • 168
2

An excellent response is to deflect their question by asking them 'Is there an offer on the table?' Then stick to your guns and not reveal any more information. That puts the ball firmly in their court that the hiring process is currently waiting for them to offer you the position.

My guess would be they want to feel out what kind of salaries you are being offered so they know where to price theirs. This is the same as 'How much are you making currently?', which is none of their business but companies that know this dollar amount will tailor their offer to maximize your saying yes for as cheap as possible.

Jim Horn
  • 3,462
  • 10
  • 19
  • 2
    In other words, they're trying to determine how desperate you are (you'll be pretty desperate to accept their offer if you have no other offers) or how cheaply they can hire you (if you have an offer at $50k, they might offer you $55k instead of the $75k they were originally budgeted for). I agree with Jim, you need to make your discussion with them about your potential employment relationship with them, which is based on your skills and how you fit their needs, regardless of any other offers. – dwizum Mar 23 '18 at 18:41
  • 1
    ^^^ Agreed. Companies also do this to new college grads if there's a situation where they like multiple people, and it's a matter of 'I can get person X for $50k but I like getting person Y for $45k better, even though person X is marginally better qualified. – Jim Horn Mar 23 '18 at 18:47
  • 1
    Two other possibilities ... (1) Only a small handful of people made or passed the 'cultural fit' interview and they are really determining who of a small handful of people to hire, or (2) They are really bad at speedy hiring due to burdensome HR processes / decision makers out of town / lack of motivation to make this quick. – Jim Horn Mar 23 '18 at 19:08
  • ugh. Jim's comment above is on it - they know they're going to take a while and are trying not to lose someone. this response is not very excellent - it's too aggressive for a pretty standard question, and a question that isn't aggressive either. – bharal Mar 23 '18 at 20:23