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I was offered via phone last week and then sent a formal offer letter the next day. I would like to make a counter, but the note only gives me 2 business days to respond.
A) Is 2 days to accept an offer standard practice? We'd have to move for the job, so my family and I are a little stressed about the lack of time to discuss all relevant issues.
B) Is countering via phone an acceptable practice? I don't like the idea of countering via e-mail or letter.
C) As part of the counter could you request add'l time to make the decision or does that hurt your negotiating position?
A) Is 2 days to accept an offer standard practice? We'd have to move for the job, so my family and I are a little stressed about the lack of time to discuss all relevant issues.
Were they not informed you sought this position? If so, were they ok with it, against it, or neutral?
I understand perhaps wanting a bit more time, but not for this issue, as this one should be put to rest when first submitting a resume for consideration.
Anyone can counter, but no one can guarantee their rebuttal.
a. Does it really matter at this point if it is "standard practice"? This is how they choose to handle it. And what are the relevant issues you need to discuss other than salary? As bobtn pointed out, most of this probably should have been hashed out before now.
b. I would think countering by phone would be perfectly acceptable.
c. Asking for more time and countering a salary are two completely different things.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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If they only allowed two days, it probably means they have other well qualified candidates and are anxious to fill the position as soon as possible. They may not be open to a counter offer in those circumstances. We recently had such a situation,
as it turned out the person was waiting for an offer from another employer to compare and rather than grant extra time we went with the #2 candidate, who turned out to be a great choice. If you want the job I'd suggest calling right away, and
be prepared to make a decision quickly if the counter is refused. You really should think about the relocation issues well before you are even interviewed, and decide the salary you are willing to accept in order to make that move.
If they only allowed two days, it probably means they have other well qualified candidates and are anxious to fill the position as soon as possible. They may not be open to a counter offer in those circumstances. We recently had such a situation,
as it turned out the person was waiting for an offer from another employer to compare and rather than grant extra time we went with the #2 candidate, who turned out to be a great choice. If you want the job I'd suggest calling right away, and
be prepared to make a decision quickly if the counter is refused. You really should think about the relocation issues well before you are even interviewed, and decide the salary you are willing to accept in order to make that move.
Well said, it really does not feel OP thought things through.
Is the salary they offered acceptable? Are they offering relocation assistance?
In calien's defense, there are a lot of factors outside of salary alone that come with an offer. And many questions a potential employee may have that they might not voice before point of offer since asking about benefits etc. during interviews is generally frowned upon.
For example, medical insurance (what kind, when does it start, copays, etc), telecommuting, days off, 401k, maternity/paternity leave policies to name a few issues one would consider.
If the offer were amazing, obviously someone would take it, but generally an offer is going to have some pros and some cons and it's hard to decide ahead of time without all the cards on the table at which point, needing more than 2 days to make a major life decision seems fair.
I was offered via phone last week and then sent a formal offer letter the next day. I would like to make a counter, but the note only gives me 2 business days to respond.
A) Is 2 days to accept an offer standard practice? We'd have to move for the job, so my family and I are a little stressed about the lack of time to discuss all relevant issues.
B) Is countering via phone an acceptable practice? I don't like the idea of countering via e-mail or letter.
C) As part of the counter could you request add'l time to make the decision or does that hurt your negotiating position?
As soon as you counter, from a legal perspective you reject their offer and present your own offer. If you counter offer, they have no obligation to give you their original offer if they don't like your counter. Essentially, if you request additional time to make the decision, they have every right at that point to rescind their original offer and give the job to someone else.
That is not to say that is what will happen, but that is the legal perspective.
As soon as you counter, from a legal perspective you reject their offer and present your own offer. If you counter offer, they have no obligation to give you their original offer if they don't like your counter. Essentially, if you request additional time to make the decision, they have every right at that point to rescind their original offer and give the job to someone else.
That is not to say that is what will happen, but that is the legal perspective.
And from a legal perspective can they not rescind the offer for any reason they want at any time? Even after it has been offerred and accepted?
And from a legal perspective can they not rescind the offer for any reason they want at any time? Even after it has been offerred and accepted?
That gets fuzzy only if they do not specify a time period in which you need to make the decision. In the absence of a written time period, they should give you a "reasonable amount of time" to consider the offer (I forget offhand, and don't have the time to dig into my notes, I am pretty sure it is two weeks in cases like this), after they have given it in written form. What constitutes a "reasonable amount of time" would be up to a judge to decide.
Since they said, in writing, that the OP has two days to decide though, they can give the offer to someone else after two days. If they gave it to someone else and rescind the offer after only one day, then the OP would have a case.
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