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I have been made an offer by company A, whilst still going through applications with companies B and C.
Company A has asked me to verbally accept an offer, and as part of that, to cancel all other applications.
They haven't sent a contract yet though, so I think that it would be against my interest to withdraw from other applications.
My thinking is that I should only withdraw from the other applications when company A has sent a contract and I have signed it. Thoughts?
You are absolutely right. Company A is trying to improve their odds at your expense, because if you drop everything else they can low-ball you and you'll be pressured to accept due to lack of alternatives.
Definitely do not stop searching or drop anything until you have a signed offer.
Perhaps even move company A a few steps down the list for trying this, because it speaks to the character of the company that they would suggest it. But that's up to you.
The tricky part here is "what do you say to company A".
You should continue your search until company A is fully committed, i.e. you have a written offer in hand. The question is: how to best communicate this to A without jeopardizing your offer?
Some options.
This may be harmless: Creating a written offer can be process heavy, i.e. take a lots of time, effort and money and they simply want to make sure that this effort isn't wasted if they kick it off.
Still, it's a bit of an odd request, so some care is advised. Personally I would go with option three and see what happens. If this kills it, it's probably for the best. A company can NEVER stop you from looking, so it's kind of a dumb request.
DO NOT ACCEPT THOSE TERMS.
Any serious company I've ever interviewed with understands that a good candidate is going to have multiple offers, and tries to be the best one, not the only one left. It's perfectly normal, and in fact polite, for the company to ask if you currently have other offers extended so they can decide whose interviews and contracts need to be scheduled soonest when working out people's schedules. It's also normal to have some sort of a deadline when an offer is presented (ie. if you accept this offer, you must do it no later than X/Y/2021), and companies I've interviewed with that wanted to give me an offer always made sure to inform me when they needed to have a response and to work with my schedule to allow me to finish other applications I had ongoing and compare offers.
It is NOT normal or acceptable for them to demand that you stop searching elsewhere before they actually give you an offer. That is a very serious red flag, and signals that they either don't treat you seriously, and are going to lowball you and try to force you into a disadvantageous contract, or are a toxic workplace that relies on churn and underpaying people, and are going to lowball you and try to force you into a disadvantageous contract. I'd be extremely wary of that company and treat any offer you receive from them with suspicion and consider it dishonest unless proven otherwise. If you haven't done this before, now is the time to research them as a workplace on Glassdoor and similar, and look very hard for any indication of this being a problematic workplace. Chances are, their pre-offer tactics aren't the only thing that's off.
An important thing that many people seem to forget is that, unless you're in a really desperate position and forced to accept any job, a job application is a two-way process. You're trying to convince the company to hire you, but the company is also trying to convince you to join them. If they don't treat you seriously, it means you shouldn't want to work for them.
Never say that you will stop your search. If you say that, you will be back here in a couple of weeks wondering why they're so slow to send you the actual written contract. I've seen that kind of scenario play out on here too many times (See this example).
No, instead. Ask that they overnight you a copy of the contract, then you'll make your decision then.
By a copy of the contract, I mean that you need to know the final terms, salary information, starting date, job title, the benefits package, any probationary period, possibly the employee handbook (if the contract refers to it), etc. This way, there are no last-minute surprises. Do not accept anything less than that.
Again, if you're too eager to accept a "verbal" offer, expect to be placed on the backburner and to have some of the terms changed by the time they're written into your contract (just like in this second example).
Let me ask you a question. If you were selling a house, but a nice couple wants you to stop you from showing the place to others to give them enough time to put their paperwork together. Would you? Of course not. At least not without a deposit, a firm price, and a written deadline, this would only incentivize them to delay the paperwork as much as they can, while they continue to look at other houses. It's psychological. Once you remove the possibility of losing you, then you become their backup plan and they can continue searching for a better (or cheaper) option elsewhere with less fear. Do not become anyone's backup plan.
In addition to the other answers, I would be very worried about this company. Either they want you or they don't.
I once rejected an interesting job offer because they put in the contract that I will provide the payslips from my previous company. WTF? I asked them why and they said it is normal, they want to make sure I was telling the truth. I told them not to call me anymore.
It may be something that exists somewhere in the world, certainly not in my country (they are from here as well).
Such unusual requests are an alert. It means either lack of experience, or some kind of trick. You do not want to start on that foot.
If I were you I would simply ask "why?"
They haven't sent a contract yet though, so I think that it would be against my interest to withdraw from other applications.
The concern I have is that you're only submitted an application to the other company. You're only showing interest of the other company's job posting so it's not like you're going to follow through it or they're going to follow through it.
I also never heard of withdrawing your application from a company. Usually you just apply and wait to hear or not hear from them. There's no "withdrawing" it unless it is very far along and you have a written offer from them.
It's sort of like finding someone on a dating app and they want you cease all communications with others on the app. They're not asking you if you have a relationship with someone but rather preventing you from even pursuing others before they even tentatively commit to going on a date with you.
My thinking is that I should only withdraw from the other applications when company A has sent a contract and I have signed it. Thoughts?
I'd be a little concerned of Company A's direction. You're right that you don't have a written contract/offer yet, but at the same time, you also don't have one anywhere else. So you're kind of stuck in the middle of no where.
I would ask Company A why they want me to cease all my applications. I would write the email as follow:
"Company A, I am very interested in employment with you. I am waiting on a written contract prior to ceasing my job search. Thanks."
You can answer "OK, I will."
It seems reciprocal to give a verbal response to their demand, containing as much detail as their verbal offer contained.
If their verbal offer contained concrete details for salary, benefits, and conditions of employment, then this approach doesn't seem fair. But if they didn't include any details, then your general statement that you "will" is true as long as you intend to withdraw from other applications after you come to a concrete agreement for this job.
Any upside of you shutting out other companies only has an upside for Company A. There is nothing but downside for you. Be very wary of accepting a lopsided win-lose situation.
You have to do what's best for you. You're interested in Company A, but it would be unnecessarily risky for you to shut down alternatives before things have been settled with Company A.
There's nothing wrong with telling them that, either.
"I'm very interested in working here at Company A, and I'm looking forward to having an offer letter. Until then, I'll be making sure that my job search can move forward in case for some reason things here at Company A don't work out. I'm sure you can understand my situation."
Pushing back will probably advance the conversation, too. They might say "Our concern is that we're very interested but we can't give an offer today because..." Go forward from there.
I guess like all of these questions the answer is "it depends".
The answer really is about what the company wants and it's true that they do this to make it more likely that you will accept their offer. Be warned though that this is often a show of commitment by you so saying "no I'm not doing this" may lead them to withdraw their offer. This might leave in the position of no job offers.
In terms of verbally accepting the offer you have a few things you could do:
My suggestion is to just tell them that as you are in the middle of the application process of the other companies you wish to at least finish those processes as it would be unfair if you were to quit those processes half way through. I've done this myself and the company was willing to hear me out. Some companies may be unreasonable and withdraw unless you accept immediately. To me this is a red flag as it shows the company doesn't want a fair process when it comes to recruitment.
There is a risk that if you don't agree exactly to what they are asking for they will pull the offer but during any recruitment that's always a risk. It's up to you if you what risk you wish to accept
