When the hiring manager has decided that you are probably the best candidate for the position, you will start to see some buy signs. These might include the following:

• Enthusiastic discussion of the organization, the department’s exciting goals, the fine opportunities for you, the wonderful colleagues, the great chances for promotion, and so on
• Eager inquiry about your views so far, your salary needs or expectations, any other positions you might be considering, and when you might be able to start
• Interest in setting up a meeting with the boss or other senior people
• Providing names of people you might wish to speak with about the organization
• Asking for your references

Clarifying Offers

While it’s gratifying to be treated with such respect, now is not the time to throw caution to the wind. You still want to make sure this is the right job for you. You still want to preserve your bargaining position. And you still want to establish the expectations, goals, and responsibilities of your new role. You want the company to make an offer first. If you volunteer your expectations first, you may be naming a salary or other requirements (e.g., flex time, a commission, or a title) that remove you from consideration, even though you might have found their offer acceptable.

Or you may be asking for less than they were willing to give. In that case, you’ll not only shortchange yourself, but may even cause them to think that you aren’t quite as valuable as they had believed. So, get them to define the position, the responsibilities, and the compensation first, preferably in writing. Then do your negotiations. Suppose you find the offer totally acceptable? You’ll still want to do some negotiating, even if you decide to accept the original terms. This is to prevent buyer’s remorse—maybe you’ve been offered too much! Maybe the salary review should be delayed beyond the normal 6 months to compensate!

Weighing Your Own Requirements

Earlier, we recommended that you prepare a weighted list of must-haves and nice-to-haves as part of your preparation for interviewing. Now’s the time to refer to that list. How does this job measure up? Is it a 95, an 85, or maybe a dog of a 35? If it’s a dog, why are you considering it? Something better should come along soon, if you keep working at it in the ways we recommend. If it’s a 95, why keep looking? Nothing’s perfect, and very little is 95! But if the job rates somewhere in between, you have a tougher decision.

Perhaps you have one offer, several prospects, and a few more distant possibilities. Try using your rating scale to see what’s good and not so good about each. Then try to clarify whether the apparent differences are real and whether you have omitted any factors that are important to you, but are not named as one of your must-haves or nice-to-haves. If you’re considering several positions that are within a few points of each other and well into the 80s or 90s, there probably is no wrong choice. Just develop all these opportunities to the best of your ability. You may find that some of what’s attractive about one position (tuition reimbursements, moving allowances, sign-on bonuses, etc.) can be negotiated for another position.

Dealing with Multiple Opportunities

You may find yourself in a position where you have several opportunities, and perhaps the most desirable one is not yet a full offer. In this situation, you’ll want to delay offers A and B so you can look at offer C if and when it comes through. What can you do? You can certainly present the situation to the hiring manager in charge of offer C and see whether you can get some indication of his or her interest. If it’s strong, perhaps he or she can accelerate the process. You can reasonably delay things by asking for offer A in writing, having a follow-up discussion with that hiring manager, and perhaps requesting a meeting with the manager’s boss.

And finally, of course, you can ask for a few days to a week or so to choose between
two or three very appealing situations. Of course, if you push it too far, be aware that the hiring manager may seek to develop a backup candidate—and may decide that the backup candidate is
preferable. The hazard here is that the backup candidate has fresh appeal, while too much haggling with you may have tarnished your luster. So you could lose out. Hopefully you’ll realize this and gamble with time only if you have a good backup situation in the form of other prospects. You need to weigh these factors—and live with your decision. That’s business for you: making decisions with incomplete information!