I have never, ever heard of an HR person requiring a yes/no on the spot, within moments of the first offer. After an exchange of counter offers or after a period to consider, yes; but not on the spot.
It would be VERY unusual for the interviews with the staff to include the details of an eventual offer. You probably know within some range what the salary offer will be, but you don’t know the particulars until the HR person actually makes the offer. There may be other considerations as well – annual leave, quality and value of other benefits. etc. At minimum you need time to sit down with a calculator and figure out the total value of the package compared to your present gig. And you just can’t do that until you know the details, which the HR person finally gives you.
Unless this is a dream job that you want in a real bad way, it is only reasonable to have time to consider. You were absolutely correct to decline.
I also agree that you should send a polite note to the person you would have been working for, thanking them but explaining you simply could not accept ANY offer made under those terms.
To be honest I can understand the HR person’s attitude, not that it forgives an unpleasant manner. The whole interview process had started at least 2 weeks prior. Possibly there were only 2 decent candidates and if Rediff, stalls and then says no they may be back where they started. And honestly over that period of time I would expect an applicant to have already discussed the prospect of taking the job with their spouse.
They pulled this crap on me for my very first professional IT job back in 1981. ‘Give me your answer right now’. I took it, but I didn’t like it and the job in general sucked. The boss was a world class dick.
No way I’d ever do that again.
Just like high pressure sales, my default answer to such things is: NO.
I figure, and have learned from personal experience; If they’re not willing to give you time to think it over, they’re trying to cover up something seriously wrong that you’d figure out if you did have time to mull things over.
And if they’re serious about wanting you, or wanting the sale, then they’re willing to wait a day or two for you to think about it.
I’m with nearly everyone else here. It was sucky of them not to have given you a day to think about it. I don’t know why they would refuse that. I’m inclined to think they weren’t that fussed whether they got you or not - surely if you were keen as the employer in this situation, you would allow this simple request - in which case screw them.
I wonder whether you could possibly have gotten away with accepting verbally over the telephone and then changing your mind the next day after thinking it through overnight…
Well, I haven’t been through the interview process in 20 years, and it was a job I wanted so I accepted immediately. All details concerning pay, etc were discussed during the interviews.
Obviously, the procedures have changed.
It would be nice to have time to consider an offer, especially if you are juggling other offers. But I wouldn’t expect to be granted the time.
Alot of it depends on the job. If you are a candidate for Chief of Surgery at a large hospital, you could probably take as much time as you wanted.
But if it’s busing tables at Outback, you probably won’t get that option.
I’d quibble on whether that was the right decision. Not for the job itself but the decision to decline one job then accept the other. I’d have accepted first and then called to decline. That way you wouldn’t have risked losing out if the west coasters had lost patience.
Well, I’m going to disagree with most of the posts here.
Looking at this from the companys’ point of view, this process has been going on for nearly 3 weeks now, they have had this applicant in for 3 different interviews, have spent a lot of staff time on evaluating resumes, holding interviews, checking references, etc.
And now when they make an offer, the person is going to start ‘thinking about it’?
What was she doing for the last 3 weeks? Why did she keep going back for interviews if she wasn’t sure she wanted the job?
I can see where the company might feel that this applicant has been ‘stringing them along’, and now isn’t sure she actually wants the job. And I can see where that would make them annoyed, and possibly get a bit snippy. (This is typical behavior for an applicant who is just looking for an offer to use to get a raise from her current employer.)
That said, I’d still think that if a company has already put 3 weeks into this process, they could wait one more day. But then, I’m not an HR person.
My experience with job offers is that when a company wants you, most any reasonable request will be considered. And 24 hours to make a final decision on a job offer? That meets my definition for reasonable.
The other thing that bothers me is that, in my experience, the only people who refuse to let their ‘marks’ think over any kind of business deal are con-artists. Being told that HR needed the decision right effing now would raise so many flags for me I’d have left skid marks declining the job. (But, remember you’re getting this commentary from someone who’s borderline paranoid. That does color my perception of things. It doesn’t invalidate my concerns, but… <shrug>)
Until you get it in writing, a job offer is meaningless. A job offer tendered over the phone should be answered by, “I’ll give you my answer as soon as I get the offer letter.”
I think its totally unreasonable, you should at least get until the next morning, its a simple courtesy to show that they want their #1 more than their #2. The only exception would be if this were a min wage retail job, which it isn’t. Even if you’ve had all the details of this job for weeks, we presume their are other opportunities, the details of which are constantly changing. So you didn’t miss anything here, I think it’s more than just the rude HR person behind this. If the hiring manager really wanted YOU then the HR person isn’t going to go back to them with a story like that.
What would have happened if you missed the call and she got your voice mail? Would she just not offer the job to you at all?
Our company doesn’t do that. The wage/salary information is communicated by the hirer and benefits information is available. After you are hired (and start) you get a “Congratulations on beginning work as a such-and-such for $such-and-such” letter.
Really? They’re probably losing some applicants. I would require an offer in writing before quitting one job to accept another. Probably not if I was unemplyed at the time, though.
Interviewing is, ideally, a two way street. They’re not just interviewing some slack jawed boob who is desperate for a job and will take the merest crumbs thrown their way (or at least, they should never treat their applicants that way).
No, they are interviewing a human being who should be actively considering whether or not the job, the company, the corporate culture is a good fit for them personally. They’re also probably interviewing someone with other job prospects who has to weigh those prospects against the current offer.
Interesting responses, my concern besides the commute was basically if that was their attitude when I started it wasn’t going to get any better. I work part time and do OK and I want a good fit.
I could also understand if she thought I was holding them up for more money. I will admit I am not the best negotiator and when I’ve asked for more money after the interview I never have got it, but I figure it’s all good for learning. But as I said they made it clear the job only pays this much and that is it, take it or leave it, and that was from the first day. And the salary was Ok with me.
But I was thinking if this is industry standard now, I would just say “YES” and then think it over and turn them down after 24 hours. I mean demanding someone say yes then and there, while I can maybe understand their point, will just make people do say yes then decline in 24 hours and in the long run it solves nothing.
Like another poster I have never had a job offer in writing, it never occured to me to ask, I may try that in the future.
I think you should do your thinking about it before you apply. Once you apply, the prospective employer is entitled to believe that you actually want the job. If there are multiple applicants, I don’t see why they should have to wait around for somebody to pull a Hamlet routine once they get the offer. If you’re not prepared to immediately accept the job, don’t waste their time by applying.
Just because you apply doesn’t mean you want the job, and I don’ think the employer is entitled to assume that. It means you would consider it if the terms are good and you seem to get along reasonably well with the folks in the interview process.
LOTS of people apply for jobs to get a better sense of their market value. In fact, at some jobs your ability to get a raise may hinge on whether you can get a better offer from a different prospective employer. My sister is a programmer at a Big 10 school, and one of the criteria for getting a salary increase is that they may choose to match a competitive offer. But you have to go to HR with the competitor’s written job offer specifiying their terms. Not to say this is a guarantee, of course – they may simply say, “Well, we can’t match that. Good luck at your new job.” Even then, it’s not too late to keep the old one, until you formally resign. It doesn’t (or shouldn’t, at least) count against you at your current job if they know you are actively looking for another.
I’m not familiar with standardized pay situations, but in general they are going to start ‘thinking’ about the offer not the job. I show up for an interview and market myself as an employee – if they want me, they can make me an offer. Now the ball is in my court – I can accept or decline based on how long it took them to respond, what it is they are offering and any other reason.
To put it another way, imagine that at the end of an interview (could be first, second or third) you bluntly say “If you are interested, I am going to need an offer within five minutes or please don’t call me again”. That might be Ok sometimes but I can imagine the look you’d get most of the time.
Man, that attitude used to drive me crazy when I was trying to hire programmers. If you don’t want the job, don’t apply for it! Otherwise, you’re wasting my time and taking me away from my work just to help your feeling of self-worth.
And I don’t care what your manager tells you. If you’re actively looking for another job, it counts against you. If I knew one of my people was job hunting, he’d never be considered for promotions, raises, or long-term projects, and the minute I found out he was looking for another job, I’d be looking for a replacement. I’m very loyal to my employees, but if I know you have no loyalty to me, I’m going to go and find someone who will.
NOTE: The situation is different for students. If you’re working for me in a low-paying entry-level job while going to college, then I know you’re going to need a better job when you graduate. If I can’t find one for you in my company, then I’ll be happy to help you find one elsewhere. I’ve even helped my workers write resumes and made calls on their behalf in that situation.
