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I had an offer in hand from Company A. I'm in the final round for five different positions, but reached out to my top 2 - Company B and Company C - to see if they could counter. Neither could make a decision by the deadline of offer deadline (it was an absurdly quick turnaround), but both worked to see what they could do to move things along. I turned down Company A's offer (for professional & personal reasons) and informed B & C.

Now about 2 weeks after the initial offer, I have an offer from Company B. I'm happy with this offer, but Company C is still my top choice. However, it seems desperate and rude to turn around to them again and say "Hey! I have another offer - have you made a decision yet?" Is it appropriate to ask Company C to counter again (am I even in a position to counter), and if so, how would I frame that ask?

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    Do you have an offer from company C?
    – Time4Tea
    Commented Dec 8, 2018 at 23:36
  • @Time4Tea No - last time I spoke with them, they thanked me for letting them know that I declined A's offer and they would be in touch "soon"
    – tiefling-bard
    Commented Dec 8, 2018 at 23:39
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    @JoeStrazzere Yeah, I'm not feeling that lucky - they're also people high up in my field/small circle, so I don't really want to annoy them in case we have an opportunity to work together later.
    – tiefling-bard
    Commented Dec 9, 2018 at 1:27
  • @tiefling-bard Please let us know what you decide and how it turns out
    – Mawg
    Commented Dec 10, 2018 at 9:05
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    @Mawg I ended up getting rejected from Company C before I was able to talk to them, so I didn't need the advice. But this was very helpful!
    – tiefling-bard
    Commented Dec 10, 2018 at 18:57

2 Answers 2

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However, it seems desperate and rude to turn around to them again and say "Hey! I have another offer - have you made a decision yet?"

I'd say the opposite. It's rude of them to be hanging on and not giving you a firm offer yet.

If it were me I'd simply politely but firmly reply along the lines of:

Hello, as per my previous email, can I chase on the status of my interview held on (date)? I now have other offers in hand, and I'll be making a final decision after close of business on (date 48 hours in future). Are you able to make a decision before that point?

If they say yes, fantastic, if they say no or they don't reply, then you're in no worse position than you were to start with, and you can just take B's offer.

(Side note: personally I'd never advise revealing how many offers I had, what companies they were from, and certainly how much they were for.)

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    How is it "rude" of the employer to have not yet extended an offer? What if they're still interviewing? Or otherwise engaged in a legitimate step in their hiring process?
    – dwizum
    Commented Dec 10, 2018 at 15:39
  • @dwizum Perhaps rude is too strong, but it's definitely... bold, if they want to attract good candidates - they'll generally have accepted another in that timeframe. We're not talking a day or two here, we're talking more than than 2 weeks after the interviews have finished. If they're still stalling after that time, then I think it's more than reasonable to give them a firm date and walk if they can't stick to it.
    – berry120
    Commented Dec 10, 2018 at 17:10
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I wouldn't ask company C to up their offer, when they haven't yet given you an offer.

What I would do is tell them that company B has made you an offer and use that to prompt a bit more urgency from C. Find out when you need to make a decision by on B's offer.

I wouldn't tell C how much B are offering (if they ask then tell them how much you want). If they know another company is offering, that should give them a good hint that their offer will need to be competitive. If it's a 'blind' bidding process, then they might actually end up offering you more than they might have otherwise.

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