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Rank: Advanced Member
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How long can a person reasonably take to accept or decline an employment offer? Here's the scenario - Someone I know has been in the same organization (worked her way up) for about 30 - 35 years - is now being offered a high management level position at a different organization - she's not sure what is considered an acceptable length of time to decide... (she's having a hard time making a decision because she is waiting on another offer)... would the time frame be longer since it is a management level position? Any thoughts? If so, I'll share them with her... BTW, she is not in the library field, but I am not sure this would make much of a difference... thanks!
Check out my blog on Talking Books at http://talkingbookslibrarian.blogspot.com
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For a job in an academic library, it's perfectly reasonable to ask for a week. Anything else would probably mean extenuating circumstances and a chat with the person who offered you the job. But I also think it's okay to say, "I'm very interested in this position. However, I'm also waiting to hear on another offer. Can you give me another week to decide?" And then call the other place and say, "I have an offer from company a, but I'd rather work for you. Is there any chance an offer is forthcoming?"
The only time you have any power is when you've been offered a job. I think you can be pretty straight forward with the people who've made the offer.
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Joan's advice sounds very reasonable, but I'd like to hear more opinions on this too. I was in this situation once before, and when I told library 1 that I was waiting to hear from library 2, they did not react well. It was a few years ago, so I don't remember the details too well, but neither of those positions worked out. I'm currently applying for two positions and I have a second, in-person interview at one of them a week after the other one closes. Since I live out of state, when I submitted the application for the second one, I told them I would be nearby and available to meet on certain dates. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but I'm concerned about how to handle it if I hear from one first. FWIW, both of these are public library positions, and I know they have unfilled for quite some time, since both have been advertised more than once.
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guybrarian wrote:Joan's advice sounds very reasonable, but I'd like to hear more opinions on this too. I was in this situation once before, and when I told library 1 that I was waiting to hear from library 2, they did not react well. It was a few years ago, so I don't remember the details too well, but neither of those positions worked out. I'm currently applying for two positions and I have a second, in-person interview at one of them a week after the other one closes. Since I live out of state, when I submitted the application for the second one, I told them I would be nearby and available to meet on certain dates. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but I'm concerned about how to handle it if I hear from one first. FWIW, both of these are public library positions, and I know they have unfilled for quite some time, since both have been advertised more than once. First, if you are going to put off a library's offer, they will expect you to tell them a specific time period in which you will respond. They will not want to hear "I will tell you after I hear back from X library". They would not be upset that there is competition, but upset that there is no time line. Also, you really do not have to tell them why you need a week (or whatever the time agreed to) as taking a new job is not a decision you should make casually. There are a lot fo things you may need to consider, such as salary, moving, future prospects, travel costs, etc. You may even need to consult with a spouse, partner, family, kids, etc.
Brian C. Gray Head of Reference & Engineering Librarian Kelvin Smith Library Case Western Reserve University http://blog.case.edu/bcg8bcg8@case.edu
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