Should I tell my recruiter about pending offers?
By: Michelle Feder
Imagine this: At the end of your job search, you have an offer—or three! What’s the best way to seal the deal, responsibly, with your employer of choice? Our recruiters give you the word on how to do it right.
Yes, it’s very important that you are up-front with your recruiter. A recent experience with a candidate stands out and I think it’s worth sharing with other JobsBlog readers:
I was working with a candidate who received another offer from a company prior to his Microsoft interviews. He was under quite a bit of pressure to accept the offer, so he did, thinking he wouldn’t receive an offer from Microsoft.
As a surprise to him, the candidate ended up doing very well in the interviews and ultimately received an offer from us. Unfortunately he couldn’t proceed with our offer for a few different reasons (the most important: he already committed to another company!).
If this candidate had been honest with me about his pending offer, we could have expedited our interview process and made a final decision ASAP. As a result of the lack of transparency on the candidate’s part, he missed out on an amazing offer to work for his “dream company.” --Colleen
Without a doubt! Transparency regarding other offers allows Microsoft or any other company to work around any deadlines you may have. This will allow you more choices at the end, which is always a good thing. At times, I think candidates may be worried that they can come across as not being passionate about a company if they mention interviewing or having offers with competitors. But don’t worry. It’s common when someone is in the job market to be considering multiple opportunities.—Anne
5 Comments
blake said:
This is very true. I got the opportunity to interview with microsoft and i told them of my pending offers and my interview process was very fast, flew out within a week! Unfortunately, i didnt get an offer. But it was very quick. Hopefully next time though!
Josie Donahue said:
Thank you for the insight! It's great information to have, especially from a recruiting source.
Matias Fidemraizer said:
Basically I'm agreed with your thoughts.
I've been in this situation a lot of times. Most of the times I try to be transparent and let interviewer know that I've other offers.
Actually, I believe that's very important because maybe you really want to work for his/her company and telling the interviewer that you've other offers but his/her offer is very interesting for you could make things faster.
Good points... :)
ahmed el kilany said:
The shortest way is to be transparent & honest.
Axel Hannappel said:
well done Ann, that helps