I've been in a job search for months without much movement and now, suddenly, have what seems like serious interest from two different companies. I’m near the end of the interviewing process with both of them, but, from what I can tell, one of them is moving much more quickly than the other. I’m open to both, but I’m more interested in Company A. Of course, Company A is the one that’s moving more slowly.
I’m worried about getting an offer from Company B and needing to give them an answer before I’ve heard from Company A. I don’t want to turn down Company B just out of hope Company A will come through with an offer, because if they don’t I’d be glad to go to work for my second choice. But I also don’t want to accept Company B’s offer if I have a chance at working with Company A. How do people navigate this? I assume I can’t tell Company B that they’re my second choice or that I need to put them on hold while I wait for an answer from a different employer. And I know I can’t tell Company A to speed up their timeline (and in fact they mentioned that part of the reason for the delay is that they’re waiting to interview a finalist who’s been out of the country and thus unavailable). If Company B makes an offer before I’ve heard from Company A, how much time can I ask for to think it over before I start to look? Is a week or two unreasonable? And if I do get an offer from them, is there any way I can contact Company A to explain the situation, or will that look like I’m trying to pit them against each other? Last, I guess, what if I accept Company B’s offer, then Company A finally comes through with their own, better one? Can I get out of the offer with Company B? I know I’m getting ahead of myself! For all I know, no one will make me an offer and all this worry will be for nothing. But I’d feel better if I knew how to handle it. It’s a nice problem to have, but it can be stressful figuring out how to make different employers’ timelines line up so that you end up with the job you wanted most, not just the one that made you an offer firs