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I had three interviews. The first two interviews went well but I had not heard back from those hiring managers for days. The last interview, I was given an offer on the spot. Without knowing the outcome from the first two interviews, I verbally accepted the offer after some negotiations as I thought the salary was reasonable (nothing in writing yet).

To my surprise, on the same day after the 3rd interview, I received the offers from the first two interviews, one verbal and one in writing (Offer of Employment). Both are offering much higher salary with comparable benefits (30K-50K difference in base salary if compared to the one I verbally accepted in the last interview), citing my high-demand skills set, and qualification.

I'm torn as I learned that I might be given a low ball with the 3rd. Should I ask to renegotiate with the 3rd company whom I verbally accepted the salary? What would be the strategy?

UPDATE 1: I'm in the US, North East region. The three companies that I had interviews are contractors for same customer/contract vehicle/project. All are trying to fill several opening positions in this contract. The positions I had interviews with the companies are similar in job functions, responsibility.

UPDATE 2: Offer of Employment from the 3rd company is on the way. I'm not planning to sign until things sorted out. Frankly, I'd like the 3rd company better: culture, low bureaucracy.

UPDATE 3: Thank you for all of your suggestions. I'll think over and over the best way to approach the 3rd company in coming days, based on your feedback.

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    Could you clarify what country you are in and if it's customary there to accept an offer without having it in writing? And would you withdraw your acceptance of 3's offer and instead accept one of the other offers if they don't budge on salary?
    – Lilienthal ♦
    Mar 4, 2016 at 16:21
  • That is big difference. Do you really want to work for a company that would low ball that far?
    – paparazzo
    Mar 4, 2016 at 16:46
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    Just to add, if you go into an interview and don't know what you are worth, then you get into situations where you possibly leave (a lot of) money on the table. Its important to know what the "going rate" is for your skill set so that you can identify low-ball offers before you accept them.
    – Ron Beyer
    Mar 4, 2016 at 16:49

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Verbal agreements are only worth the paper they are written on. If you still want the 3rd job, go back to them and say

"look, I have 2 other offers on the table for $X, how close could you come to this number?"

The worst that would happen is they say "sorry, we can't match that" and you then decide whether its worth to go with the lower salary or tell them that you'd rather accept a position with better pay.

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The salary difference you stated is a lot of money to most of us, so your desire to pursue the more lucrative offer is understandable. That said, before worrying about the money, consider which job you would like best. If one is clearly better for you than the others and will pay enough for you to live comfortably, there's a good chance you'll be happier in it, so I recommend accepting that offer. If two - or all three - are close, then you can use the fact that you've gotten offers from all three to try to get a better offer.

If you're in the United States, you can usually get out of a job that you've only accepted verbally. However, depending on where you are, there may be legal issues involved here that are beyond the scope of the site, so you may want to get legal advice.

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