Is it okay to speed up a job offer process and then reject because it's not as good?

Question

I am waiting on a decision from one of my preferred employers. In the meantime, while I was waiting, I still did other interviews. I think I might be close to getting an offer from another employer.

When and if that happens, I would still like to know what decision my preferred employer has made, and if its positive, I would still like to evaluate their job offer and compare to this other one I get.

For this purpose, if I get this other offer, I plan to inform my preferred employer, so that they can finish the process and let me know of their offer sooner, if any.

My issue is, if after the preferred employer has made their offer, I still find it to be not as good as this other offer, is it okay to refuse the offer from the preferred employer then? I ask this because, it would feel weird that I rushed them to make an offer, and then I refused, right? Or is that okay to do?

Mainly I want to know what's a good approach in this scenario, to end up with the best offer, but also not to leave a bad impression with the employer whose offer is not accepted. Do I negotiate with both against what the other is offering and then decide?

Any tips?

Answer 1

I ask this because, it would feel weird that I rushed them to make an offer, and then I refused, right?

That's precisely why it is called "an offer". You are free to accept or reject it, it's your decision.

Letting your preferred employer know that you are having other opportunities is not a bad thing, rather it portrays your intent to keep going with the organization if you accept the offer (rather than bailing out in the probation period for a better offer). No one wants to be in a "losing" relationship, so it is pretty evident that if you're not happy with a part of the relationship (the remuneration / compensation), it's not going to last long. You are at least showing positive effort to make it work by opening up a clear discussion.

If they are willing to match the compensation from other organization - good. If they don't (or, can't) - you still have the other offer.

Answer 2

A kiss is not a promise. Evaluating an offer is not pre-accepting it. You know you'll likely get another offer and you want to have both so you can compare. This is perfectly fine ethically speaking.

Once you get both offers, you can try make your preferred employer match the other offer. I fully recommend listening to the Salary Negotiation episode of the Kalzumeus podcast, which directly applies to your situation:

At that point, you say, “I think we’re close here. It’s important for me to let you know that while I would really love to work for your company, I’m fairly decent at what I do, and I’m obviously searching for a lot of offers in parallel. There’s another offer on the table from a peer organization.”

[...]

A peer company has put an offer on the table which I felt was very fair, and I don’t want to have to make the decision to work for that company just based on numbers. I would love to work for you so much, so do you have any slack on your offer?

Answer 3

Every firm has their process and steps in place so that they don't make mistake of hiring wrong person. That being said sometimes process can get slow and can be a problem so its better to ask about the status and see if it can be completed soon.

Best is to extend your joining date and get offers from whichever companies you wish to get hired or are interested in.

Even if they speed up their process upon your request you are under no obligation to accept it and they probably will not make any such assumption.

Answer 4

I would recommend making sure that everybody knows the situation. Make both companies aware that you are interviewing because you find both positions interesting. I do not consider this disrespectful. If they really want you, then they will consider this as impetus to make a better offer and to move faster.

Now that I am on the hiring side, I would hate to have a candidate inform me that they are dropping out of the recruitment process because they got another offer. If I think they are good, then I would bend over backward to meet their conditions.

In effect, letting both companies know that you are likely to get an offer from the other should have the effect of making the companies compete against each other. The net result should be that you receive a better offer.

If one of the companies cannot meet your timeline, then I would take this as a sign that they do not want you that much. If they really want you, they will be flexible.

Background: I had three simultaneous offers from 3 very big multinationals before which I parlayed into the best offer. In the end, all of the companies were willing to meet the terms of the others, meaning i essentially just got to pick which job I would like most.

Answer 5

You're clearly happy with the current offer you have.

Don't burn any bridges or step on any toes and just accept it. Pushing your luck with the other company is just going to ensure that you don't get an offer.

If you do get an offer and it happens to be better, depending on contract, you could just quit the job you accepted and accept the new offer but be warned this will pretty much ruin your chances of going back to the company you just quit.