YAJT - asking for extension on decision deadline

[Special K]

I was made a very good offer (call it company A) and was initially given 2 weeks to decide on it. During that 2 weeks, I interviewed at another company B for what sounded like an equally good job, if they were to extend me the offer.

I asked company A for an extension on my decision deadline so I could hopefully have an answer from company B before making a final decision. They extended my deadline from today to the beginning of next year.

Last week I was contacted by company C for an interview for a position very similar to the first two, but they cannot even bring me in for the interview until a week after my extended deadline from company A.

Would it be bad to ask company A for another extension? The jobs sound equally interesting to me, and the offer made by company A is very good given my position, so at this point choosing an offer from company C over the offer I was already made from company A would come down to location and other factors.

I'm thinking I shouldn't ask for another extension since they already extended it by 2 weeks.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

yes. sh!t or get off the pot. If I were my company and you asked for another extension, I'd rescind the offer.

 

[newb111]

Magic 8-ball says: don't count on it

 

[Krazy4Real]

I think they're being pretty generous giving you an extension in the first place. Asking for another extension is probably not a good idea. If you want to pursue company C, you should be prepared to lose the offer from company A.

 

[FoBoT]

fish or cut bait dude

the grass is always greener, make a decision and get to work

 

[classy]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
yes. sh!t or get off the pot. If I were my company and you asked for another extension, I'd rescind the offer.

The first time I would have pulled it back. 2 weeks is plenty of time. If your this bad at making a decision I don't know if I would even want you working at my company.

 

[Special K]

If I had no other outstanding offers, I would have already taken the one from company A. The only reason I hesitated is because of the contact from company C.

Looks like my gut instinct was right not to ask for another extension.

 

[jiggahertz]

I take it you're going to be a new college grad in the spring? It's pretty common for students coming out to have to juggle multiple offers over a long recruiting season. Most companies I've interviewed with have asked me what other opportunities I'm pursuing and when I'm looking to make a decision. That being said, after asking for an extension, I would make a decision during that time period. If for some reason you feel the position at company C is much more desirable than that at company A, you could always rescind your acceptance. I'm assuming this is at will employment.

 

[Specop 007]

Originally posted by: classy

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
yes. sh!t or get off the pot. If I were my company and you asked for another extension, I'd rescind the offer.

The first time I would have pulled it back. 2 weeks is plenty of time. If your this bad at making a decision I don't know if I would even want you working at my company.

I agree. If you cant make up your mind within 2 WEEKS whether my offer (Or my companies) was good enough for you or not you probably wont get a chance to decide after those 2 weeks, I'll offer it to someone else.

Kudos for having the nuts to ask for an extension in the first place, although I think you did it for all the wrong reasons.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: jiggahertz
I take it you're going to be a new college grad in the spring? It's pretty common for students coming out to have to juggle multiple offers over a long recruiting season. Most companies I've interviewed with have asked me what other opportunities I'm pursuing and when I'm looking to make a decision. That being said, after asking for an extension, I would make a decision during that time period. If for some reason you feel the position at company C is much more desirable than that at company A, you could always rescind your acceptance. I'm assuming this is at will employment.

Yes this would be my first job out of grad school, and after talking to the recruiters, they seem to understand that most candidates will be talking to multiple companies and possibly considering multiple offers.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Don't ask for another extension. If anything, ask Company C to interview sooner as you have an offer deadline you cannot change.

 

[NuAlphaMan]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Don't ask for another extension. If anything, ask Company C to interview sooner as you have an offer deadline you cannot change.

Righto! you've already been given one extension. Don't press your luck! If anything, accept the offer and if you need to, rescind your acceptance later.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
yes. sh!t or get off the pot. If I were my company and you asked for another extension, I'd rescind the offer.

:thumbsup:

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: NuAlphaMan

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Don't ask for another extension. If anything, ask Company C to interview sooner as you have an offer deadline you cannot change.

Righto! you've already been given one extension. Don't press your luck! If anything, accept the offer and if you need to, rescind your acceptance later.

Wouldn't rescinding be even worse than asking for another extension? Is it an accepted practice to "accept" an offer, then back out later? I mean there's really nothing they can do about it, but it sounds like a pretty bad thing to do.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: NuAlphaMan

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Don't ask for another extension. If anything, ask Company C to interview sooner as you have an offer deadline you cannot change.

Righto! you've already been given one extension. Don't press your luck! If anything, accept the offer and if you need to, rescind your acceptance later.

Wouldn't rescinding be even worse than asking for another extension? Is it an accepted practice to "accept" an offer, then back out later? I mean there's really nothing they can do about it, but it sounds like a pretty bad thing to do.

You're right, rescinding your acceptance is a bad thing to do, and I'm glad you recognize that. However the potential negative consequences for you are likely minimal, so from a selfish perspective I think NuAlphaMan is right - accepting the job and backing out later would work out better for you, because if you ask for another extension they might rescind their offer.

You could take the selfish approach, or you could consider how you would like it if a company offered you a job, then after you rejected all of your other offers they rescinded their offer. Of course many people will say you should never feel any kind of loyalty or obligation to an employer (or potential employer), and it's not surprising that so many of those people hate their jobs.

Karma.

 

[Rayden]

It's a tough situation. Someone at the career counseling center talked about it at my school last week. You really want to avoid situations like this.

This is just me, but I would be very hesitant to accept an offer you did not fully intend to actually accept. Dishonesty won't help anything.

How is there anything wrong with asking for an extension once? They know you are talking to lots of companies and it is unfair of the company to not expect that.

Sounds like asking company C for an earlier interview and explaining the reason is the best bet. If not, either ask for an extension or choose company A. If your plan is to choose company A, then you might mention that to company C when asking for an earlier interview. "I would like to interview with you, but I have an offer I must decide on before the scheduled interview. Would it be possible to interview sooner? If not, then I'm afraid I would be unable to interview due to other obligations."

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: Rayden
It's a tough situation. Someone at the career counseling center talked about it at my school last week. You really want to avoid situations like this.

This is just me, but I would be very hesitant to accept an offer you did not fully intend to actually accept. Dishonesty won't help anything.

How is there anything wrong with asking for an extension once? They know you are talking to lots of companies and it is unfair of the company to not expect that.

Sounds like asking company C for an earlier interview and explaining the reason is the best bet. If not, either ask for an extension or choose company A. If your plan is to choose company A, then you might mention that to company C when asking for an earlier interview. "I would like to interview with you, but I have an offer I must decide on before the scheduled interview. Would it be possible to interview sooner? If not, then I'm afraid I would be unable to interview due to other obligations."

I already tried to schedule an earlier interview with company C - they cannot do it because the date they gave me was the earliest date they would have a full staff on site to actually conduct the interview. Unfortunately, this date is a week past my deadline for company A.

 

[Tiamat]

If they are all similar, take the first one. If C is guaranteed to be much better, then you will have to toss Company A from your list. Nobody likes being left hanging while they could be looking for alternative people.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: Rayden
It's a tough situation. Someone at the career counseling center talked about it at my school last week. You really want to avoid situations like this.

This is just me, but I would be very hesitant to accept an offer you did not fully intend to actually accept. Dishonesty won't help anything.

How is there anything wrong with asking for an extension once? They know you are talking to lots of companies and it is unfair of the company to not expect that.

Sounds like asking company C for an earlier interview and explaining the reason is the best bet. If not, either ask for an extension or choose company A. If your plan is to choose company A, then you might mention that to company C when asking for an earlier interview. "I would like to interview with you, but I have an offer I must decide on before the scheduled interview. Would it be possible to interview sooner? If not, then I'm afraid I would be unable to interview due to other obligations."

I already tried to schedule an earlier interview with company C - they cannot do it because the date they gave me was the earliest date they would have a full staff on site to actually conduct the interview. Unfortunately, this date is a week past my deadline for company A.

So, man up and, either tell company C thanks but no thanks OR tell company A the same. Do it now believe me later.