Offer deadlines

Receiving a job or internship offer is so exciting, but sometimes it can create a different type of stress when you are waiting for the results of another application.  Unfortunately, the timing between multiple companies (or even teams within the same company) rarely line up just right.  Often, applicants must first negotiate their offer deadline so that they can consider multiple offers.  So the question becomes, “how do I ask for more time from company 1, while getting company 2 to make the offer in a timely manner?”.

Priorities:

• Maintaining a positive relationship with all of the companies.
• Gathering as much information as possible BEFORE making a final decision.
• Operating in good faith, with transparency, and keeping commitments once made
• Maximizing your own opportunities for work based on YOUR VALUES in areas like type of work, salary, location, etc.

HOW TO ASK FOR MORE TIME

• Anytime someone offers you a job, you want to keep your gratitude at the forefront!
  Begin & End any conversation with this employer with APPRECIATION & INTEREST.
  “Thank you again for the offer to work as a ____ at your company. I am truly excited about this possibility”.
• Next, you want to make your ask for what you need to further consider the offer.
  “As you might imagine, I’ve applied for lots of jobs/internships this year, and I’ll be wrapping up interviews for other roles this week.  I understand you have a need to wrap up your process quickly, and I was hoping I could get just a few more days to consider this wonderful opportunity since I’ll be fully committed to a role once I accept.  Would I be able to extend my offer deadline until ___??”
• Wrap it up with the thanks & interest again.
  “Thank you again for the amazing opportunity, I appreciate your consideration.”

ASKING FOR UPDATE
If you have an employer (Company 2) that you are awaiting a decision from after you’ve received an offer from Company 1, you may want to give a status update to, and request info on when their decision will be available.

• Begin with thanks for the interview/assessment, etc.
  “Thanks for the opportunity to interview for the __ role on ___.  I really enjoyed learning more about your organization and the role, and it is exciting to think of the possibility of working with your team.”
• Share your update, and make your ask. The goal is to either get an expedited offer, or to learn how much longer it will be so that you can negotiate the offer deadline, or make a decision on it before it expires.
  “I wanted to update you that I’ve recently received an offer from another organization and need to make a decision by __.  Can you share with me when you might have information on an offer decision available to me? Because I am so interested in the work of your team, I wanted to follow up to get as much information as possible before I have to accept or decline the other offer.”

These conversations can be complicated, and tone is so difficult over email!  Feel free to email our team at csc-careers@ncsu.edu to have your draft message reviewed and edited by a member of our team.  You can also make an appointment or utilize drop-in hours for face to face assistance.