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I interviewed with a company I'm really interested in.

All went well, I really liked the team, and the recruiter just called with the standard questions to prepare an offer letter - yay!

On the other hand the timing caught me a bit by surprise.

I'm in the final stage of the interview process with few other companies (I already scheduled two onsite interviews for early January) and I'd like to give these other companies a fair shot, as they already invested a fair amount of time in interviewing me. Also, I'd like to give my current employer a chance to match or exceed the offer.

I'd like to ask them some time to sort things out but nothing ain't going to work in a reasonable time frame since everyone is closing down for the holiday season.

  • What are my best options for stalling without annoying them?
  • What could have I said to the recruiter to explain the situation and buy more time? It won't help me but could help other people... next year

Note

I haven't received an offer yet. I wonder if my best option is to ask them to delay the preparation of the letter until Jan, so that the clock won't start ticking until then.

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Simply state that you have family commitments over the holiday season and that you'll respond to any offer letter in the new year.

The company will also be in "go-slow" mode, so this shouldn't be a problem at all - the chances are that you won't get a formal offer letter until after the holidays anyway.

Relax and enjoy the holidays.

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    Don't lie. If you actually have family commitments, than that's ok. If not , don't say that you do.
    – Hilmar
    Commented Dec 18, 2018 at 15:05
  • "family commitments" could be a day of self-remembrance for your long-lost great-grandma, it's hard to lie about something so vague.
    – dandavis
    Commented Dec 18, 2018 at 18:59
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It is fine to try to manage the situation to allow other companies an opportunity to get past the holiday slowdown before conducting their interviews.

In many places the people that need to generate the official offer letters will also be on leave, so if it doesn't come in the next few days it might not appear until the new year. It should also allow you to delay any deadlines by stating that you are out of town.

You could tell the company after you get the offer that you are preparing to go out of town, and will not be able to review the offer until the new year. Then ask them for a delay. I wouldn't try to tell them before getting the offer letter, becasue in the places I have worked the recruiter has little control over how long it takes HR to generate the official offer. So it could still arrive tomorrow, or next month.

Also, I'd like to give my current employer a chance to match or exceed the offer.

This is a different issue. If you tell them you are looking then your current job is put at risk. If you tell them you have x days to make an offer or I will leave, they might say we will match it, but then start looking for your replacement. In my experience almost all employees who forced a counteroffer left anyway within a year.

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