"We're working on putting together an offer for you..."

IfOnly

I have a potential job lined up, went through a few rounds of interviews and was told about a week and a half ago that they want to make me an offer.  Great! The recruiter told me that he's working on putting it together for me and would be in touch when he has an update "hopefully soon".

...what now?  I haven't heard anything since.  Does it make sense to follow up with him at this point and see where things are, or should I wait a bit longer?

BetaTester

Stalling tactic.  They may have a few candidates and want you to put off accepting other offers.  None of this talk matters untill there is a solid and honest offer on the table.  If another job comes along with an offer you like, it is worth more than vague promises.  Only listen to real offers.

al2682

If this is an external recruiter (does not work for the company), there is no harm in bugging that person.  Typical recruiting compaines have two folks in that position.  One working on behalf of the final employeer and one working with the "talent".

If this is the actual company, I still think it is appropriate to reach out since it has been a week and a half.  Obviously with the appropriate tact and respect.

It also gives you a chance to say that you really want this job (of course, that depends on the offer, but you can always assume good intentions or pay in this case).

IfOnly

Ugh.  Sent an e-mail asking for an update...and got an auto-response that he's on vacation today, tomorrow, and Monday.  So it's gonna be another week or so until I hear anything.

I HATE JOB HUNTING.

The_Dude

I am constantly appalled at how long our company takes to go from a decision to actually making a formal offer.  It can be months (not exaggerating).  The larger the company the slower they move.  No harm in checking in every week or so.

IfOnly

@Chief_TC‌ -- I am currently working, but have been underpaid for a while.  Trying to get a better paying job b/c our finances have been way too tight for way too long.  There's been nothing easy about this...I've been at it for about a year now, have come *thisclose* multiple times, but haven't been able to secure an actual offer yet.  It's beyond frustrating.

IfOnly

IfOnly said:

Ugh.  Sent an e-mail asking for an update...and got an auto-response that he's on vacation today, tomorrow, and Monday.  So it's gonna be another week or so until I hear anything.

Got a reply from him over the weekend that he expects to have everything together by Wednesday.  The main holdup has just been vacations (both his, and the hiring manager's).  So, giving some extra wiggle room, I'll probably have the offer by the end of the week.  Now, hopefully it'll be a good one.

IfOnly

IfOnly said:

Got a reply from him over the weekend that he expects to have everything together by Wednesday.

...and now it's Friday, and still nothing. And it's a holiday weekend, so unless I hear something today, I'm gonna have to wait until at least Tuesday.

Ugh.

Tiger

The thing about job hunting is that it really sucks right up until it doesn't.

It's all negative until you finally get to the end of the process and get the right offer, then it's all good.

Until get there though, you just have to suck it up and keep grinding away.

Angeline

Hope you get good news today!

IfOnly

Thanks, @Angeline‌ , me too!  

I did get a request for a phone interview with a different company, so the day's starting out pretty good so far!

IfOnly

Still no offer from the first company, but the phone interview with the second one ended with us setting up an in-person interview.  

It's something.

IfOnly

So...the offer came in.  It's about 10% above what I make currently.  Not really what I was hoping for, but if I can negotiate them up a bit so that it'd be a 15-20% increase, it could be worth it.

Interview is still on with the 2nd company tomorrow. If I'm lucky, they'll like me and want to make an offer as well, but I may need to push them a bit for a decision, since I do need to give a response on this existing offer by next week.  I'm not putting much thought into the current offer until after the interview tomorrow, though.

The_Dude

If you counteroffer you should be ready to accept if they do. And you almost always counteroffer in my experience. 

IfOnly

Interview with company 2 went well.  As of right now, I think they'd be my top choice.  The tough part is that I'm the first (or one of the first) people they interviewed, so it could be a couple of weeks before getting to the next stage.  Meanwhile...I need to give a reply to this offer from company 1 by the end of next week.  I didn't mention the offer when I was in the interview today, but I am going to send an e-mail to the HR person I spoke with to see if there's any chance for me and/or if it's possible to accelerate things a bit on their end.

Ugh.  Can't wait to be done with this.

IfOnly

Well, company 2 suggested I take the other offer stating that they have an "intense" hiring process and are just getting started with it.  

So I suppose that gives a bit of focus to what I need to do now, mainly: can I negotiate a higher salary w/ company 1?  We'll see what they say.

Ignatius

Be careful how you play the two companies against each other. It can work to a point, but you can also go overboard with it and scuttle both opportunities. I think you're thinking along the right lines, you just have to use caution. 

Good luck!

IfOnly

Not really pitting the two companies against each other, just letting the second company (where I just completed my first real interview) know that I'd prefer to work for them, but need to respond to this offer I was given.  Based on their response, company 2 is out of play now, so it's just a matter of negotiating a better salary from company 1.

Ignatius

I would do everything I can to let Company #2 know I'm still interested. If things fall through with Company #1 (and I've seen things fall through for reasons totally uncontrollable having  nothing to do with you, such as the company decides to restructure or an underperforming department screws up the budgets of other departments) you want to make sure Company #2 still has you on their radar. Is there a way you can do this?

IfOnly

Yeah, I haven't shut the door on them entirely yet.  I'm going to keep them in play (if I can) until I make my official decision with Company #1.

HildaCorners

It's also possible to accept Job #1 and "have something come up" if #2 makes an offer you like better.

I had this happen many years go (in a galaxy far away). I got two offers, accepted one, politely turned the other down. Job #1 turned out to be so awful that in less than a week I called #2 back to see if their offer was still open. It was, and I was happy there for several years. [#1 was so bad that when I told my boss I was quitting after 3 days, she screamed swear words at me for 15 minutes straight. I was warned to expect that, so I mentally stood back and watched the show.]