in
Forums
What is the best thing to communicate to a company if I come to believe that I'm unlikely to accept an offer?
I'm looking for a new job and have been interviewing with a few different companies. None have made offers yet, though I expect that some will do so soon. One of the companies I am now less excited about, so I am tempted to drop out of their process; but then again, I don't have other offers in hand yet.
I have already done 9 interviews with this company and was pretty unimpressed by some of the people I spoke with. Now they have asked to schedule an additional 4 interviews (the "next round") and I don't really want to commit that much time. On the other hand, it feels premature to quit the process if I don't have another offer to accept. And I feel like I don't have a good reason to give for why I would end the process now.
What I'm thinking is that I could say that for scheduling reasons I won't be able to fit in the next round of interviews until a few weeks from now, and hopefully by then I would be able to say that I have accepted another offer.
Any thoughts/opinions about this?
Listen to your gut
Depends how urgent the job change is.
If it is not urgent, listen to your gut. 13 interviews seems a bit over the top...and may indicate that they are still not sure about you.
Best way in m.h.o. is to be professional and upfront about it. Don't waster their and your time.
Be polite, say something nice about the company and inform them that you will drop out. You don't even have to give a reason. Usually, and in my experience, companies appreciate it, if a process is not unnecessarily extended!
if they want a reason, than there is been a shift of focus and priority that has led you to reconsider your next career move; and thank them for their time!
Best thing for me is to communicate it clearly and early
Context: very high C in very C-friendly roles, during candidate's markets, with mostly high-C-type hiring managers
For instance, on one contract, a peer to my manager indicated he really wanted me to stay on, as an employee on his team. He showed me a draft offer letter, as a starting point for negotiations. I thanked him warmly, of course, and let him know that other constraints in the household kept me from being open to W2 work for the coming year.
A few other times, during an interview process, I'd come to decide I'd not take an offer from that particular organization. I contacted each manager to let them know I was bowing out, and why. Some could be remedied or better compensated, some not. I felt it worthwhile to not waste our time, yet stilll add value with potentially useful data.
I would (and did) stop the interview process
I had this happen. Had a great interview so much that they wanted me to fly out to meet VPs in California. Thing is, I really didn't like the area that the job was located in and, after discussing with my wife, realized that there was no way that I could accept that position (this was ~10 years ago, long before remote is as accepted as it is now). As such, I bit the bullet and told them that the fit wasn't right at this time and politely shut it down. They were disapointed but appreciated my candor.