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Comment by joshavant | Hacker News Reader

This has always been a difficult challenge when job hunting for me, and I'd be curious to hear how others deal with this in their careers.

Nearly every job offer I've encountered expects a response within a few days. In practice, I'm usually interviewing at multiple places and at different stages of the interview process at each. The 'exploding offer' system makes applying to multiple companies near impossible for the job seeker.

Sure, I see how it creates leverages for the job offerers to get candidates to accept. However, the flip side is that turns the hiring process into a game of forced, snap decision making, which doesn't necessarily seem to be in everyone's interest, either.

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The one time I've been offered an exploding offer, I told them that I couldn't respond in the next two days as I was interviewing elsewhere, and that I was also concerned at the level of compensation. They came back with a higher offer with a longer timeline. I would suggest refusing exploding offers as a matter of principle, and if they merely "expect" a response soon, it's totally fair to push back, say you're still interviewing elsewhere, and give them a rough timeline as to when you think you'll be able to give a response.

If the offer is one you are seriously interested in it is best to not flat out refuse an exploding offer. An alternative I have found effective is to stall a few days through further negotiation of the offer, with steps such as:

- I have some more questions about the work environment, can we setup a phone call with one of the developers

- I would like to learn more about company benefits, can you send me the relevant information about healthcare options and prices for my review

- the salary offer is slightly below my target, but I am willing to consider it if we can improve the PTO offer: is this a possibility

It depends on the job. For a rare skillset the rational strategy is to ignore the explosive nature since it's very unlikely there are any other candidates lined up and the explosiveness is just a way to make you take a worse offer than the current market. In fact, getting this offer is a big clue to shop for better offers. There is no rational reason to go through with rescinding the offer after the deadline so, if it actually happened, you could be relieved that you have dodged the bullet of working at a crazy house.

For a commodity skill it can be legitimate. There are likely other candidates who will take the offer if you pass the deadline. However, the market for these skills is also more transparent so there is usually enough information to decide if the offer any good.

One piece of advice I can give is to try and line up interviews at the larger, more slow-moving places before you do the interviews at smaller firms which move a lot faster. Bigger places have more of a process in place for hiring so it can be a while before they can get an offer out to you, while smaller places can have an offer out in a day or two.

By following the above strategy, you can narrow the window within which you receive multiple offers to a few days, making it easier to ask for more time from any of the companies if you need it.

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