Are you in a situation where you want to delay accepting or rejecting a job offer after all the tedious recruitment-related processes you had to endure?
For a lot of people, it is a lot tougher to talk someone out in spoken conversations than in written ones. But, is it really that much of an uphill battle?
Especially when we are dealing with major life decisions, such as a not-so-ideal job offer, it is indeed nerve-racking to push ourselves to sound confident and polite at the same time.
That might be the case most of the time.
But I guess you are going to change your mind after religiously reading and applying the steps and strategies contained in our post today.
Let’s begin with a concise answer to our inquiry on how to stall a job offer over the phone.
How can we ask for time to consider a job offer over the phone?
To ask for time to consider a job offer over the phone, we need to politely and pleasantly greet the caller, express gratitude for the job offer, request a written copy of the job offer, confidently ask for a grace period of two to three days, and end the call with a positive note.
The implications of asking for time to consider a job offer
For starters, let me give you an idea of how you would be spending your next three to five minutes here at our humble site.
The position I take in this post is that it is generally undesirable to delay a decision after receiving a job offer, whether it is given in written form or over the phone.
But, there are considerable instances that may warrant this kind of behavior, such as when there are unmet expectations.
The catch is you will have to communicate your request as politely and thoughtfully as you can to cushion the blow of this unpleasant situation, as well as to avoid any unwanted repercussions.
Basically, this post would not encourage delaying a response to a job offer but rather look into ways in which we can professionally ask for an extension of time before formally signing up for a job.
Why it isn’t very ideal to delay deciding on a job offer
Responding to a job offer without accepting it usually entails responding to the job offer by asking questions that are directly related to the role you are applying for.
Asking questions based on personal opinions, rumors, and speculations even if you think you have the most reliable source in the world has to be avoided at all costs.
Writing questions and statements with negative connotations is also something you should steer clear of because they are very much prone to misinterpretation, which could inadvertently mislead interpretation.
(You will be able to see some examples of these statements and questions later.)
Again, I’d like to highlight the point that delaying a decision on whether to accept the job offer is not the most ideal approach to take in the business world due to some good reasons.
Although human resource professionals are generally competent in handling this kind of situation, they do not have all the time in the world to twiddle their thumbs for you.
Plus, you must have already gone through several kinds of tests to get to this point, which may revolve around your job knowledge, cognitive ability, behavior, personality, physical skills, as well as honesty and integrity.
Clearly enough, you have already reached a highly critical phase in the recruitment process because you have already successfully outplayed all your other competitors.
You have also gone through the mechanical and tasking process of running over a search on Craigslist and replying to job postings by email or via other job ad platforms.
So, why would you even have the audacity to delay your progress in getting a job?
Some of the most common reasons include, but are not limited to, the following:
Example reason No. 1:
The compensation and benefits package or the sign-in bonus is different from what was initially understood.
This first reason is often just a matter of misunderstanding during the initial agreement because of the use of jargonic expressions related to employment insurance deals and wages.
So, it is recommended that you search what “HMOs” and “401K plans” mean even before you start drafting your cover letter and resume.
Feel free to check out our article on how to write a copywriter cover letter as well as our guide to listing old jobs on a resume to master the first phase of your application.
Example reason No. 2:
There is a need to work on weekends, holidays, or even graveyard shifts.
Another reason is a need to do some work when you should have been taking some rest and spending time for yourself or your family.
What you can do instead is deliberately discuss this matter in advance with the hiring manager during your interview, which also means you need to plan your questions ahead of time.
Example reason No. 3:
The unexpected need to travel within or outside the country from time to time for days.
Unless you are still single and, therefore, free from major familial obligations, you would likely want to avoid business trips that are typically intended for networking, training programs, and conferences.
As an applicant, it is in fact your responsibility to explain these matters in advance to your hiring manager before the job offer phase if you do not want any of your time to get wasted.
Example reason No. 4:
You have simultaneously applied for another job, and you are either currently waiting for your evaluation results or the job offer.
The last, and probably, the most common reason is when you are waiting for other better opportunities to be served on your table.
Even though this, indeed, is an extremely practical action to take, this might also put your impending opportunity at risk.
So, the best approach you can apply is to deliberately choose to apply only for jobs with the most lucrative, reliable, and unruffled employment conditions.
By the way, many scholars agree that only a fool trades his life for money, so you had better look at your job application way beyond financial values.
Steps and strategies in asking for time to consider a job offer over the phone
Now that we have scrupulously discussed all necessary precautions and implications on asking for time to consider a job offer, let us also explore how we could strategically deal with a spoken job offer.
The goal of this section is to help you crack the most polite way to ask for an extension of time or grace period and is limited to that; however, this will not touch on whether you should accept or reject the job.
Like it or not, the decision you have to take in this situation is bigger than what it seems to be, so you had better treat this matter accordingly.
Greet the caller pleasantly
Just like any other kind of formal conversation, giving pleasantries is always the first strategy in having a smooth-flowing discussion.
As you are dealing with a call, you have to do away with overly formalistic language to avoid being misperceived as presumptuous.
For example, it would be awkward to use “Hope all is well with you” because this is a greeting that you would mostly find in emails.
This is a phenomenon referred to as “register clash,” which only makes sense if you intend to inject some humor into your conversation.
That said, you have to stick with the most mundane greeting expressions in English such as the following:
Examples:
As you may notice, the greetings above are mainly responses to an initial greeting coming from the caller. This is because the employer is undoubtedly the one who would call you in this situation.
Calling a person’s name is also a strategic act that would make you gain the upper hand, and thus, it is advisable to explicitly call the name of your caller out whenever appropriate.
Express gratitude for the job offer
Once you have established rapport and confirmed that the employer is officially offering you the job role, you need to explicitly express your gratitude as an immediate response.
This would demonstrate your understanding of what has just been explained, and it would therefore inform the caller that you are on the same page.
Now, you can use neutrally formal language in letting the caller know that you sincerely appreciate their decision to offer you the job.
You may use any of the following statements to overtly convey your appreciation, and these are ordered in increasing formality levels:
Examples:
Always remember to let the caller finish what he or she is explaining first before interrupting so as not to derail the conversation; doing so also allows you to take down notes on the key details.
Also, make sure to grab a pen and paper so you could jot down notes while simultaneously listening to your caller.
Request a written copy of the job offer
Right after expressing your gratitude, make sure to deliberately ask for a written copy of the offer so you can review the details accordingly.
This is because you do not want to just commit to something that you have not completely read and understood.
Arranged in slightly decreasing politeness levels, here are some key statements that you can use to communicate such an intent:
Examples:
Note, though, that the written job offer may sometimes be treated contingently by the employer, especially when findings of medical results are still unavailable by the time the employer calls you.
This is at least the case for external job offers, which are relatively more rigid when compared with hiring or promoting internal candidates.
For internal hiring and promotions, the hiring manager typically contacts the candidate, and then the job offer is put into writing later.
Ask for an extension of time confidently
Now that you have explicitly expressed that you want to request a written copy of the job offer before making a decision, you also have to give the employer an idea of how long they should be waiting to hear from you again.
As a courtesy to your prospective employer, you are professionally and ethically indebted to them in this case because you are the one requesting the favor.
Technically, you do not have to explain why you are asking for an extension of time because
most employers are aware that they should provide ample time for their applicants to deliberate on the job offer, hence the name.
The most ideal period you can ask from them is two or three days, but you can also ask for a week-long grace period if you have a good reason to do so.
However, you have to expect that your potential employer will attempt to negotiate the amount of time you are asking depending on the urgency of the job, which is why “sounding confident” is nothing less than crucial.
Here are some possible scripts that you can use to request for some time consideration:
Examples:
If you noticed, the statements explicitly mention the amount of time being requested, as well as the reiteration of the request for a written copy of the job offer.
You really have to be extremely keen and clear with what you want to achieve so as not to mislead your listener.
Again, you do not have to explain why you are asking for an extension of time, but it is still better to prepare a good rationale just in case you will be asked by your caller.
End with a positive note
Last but not least, you should never, ever forget to wrap the call up with a positive remark, just like how you should initially respond to your caller.
Ending with a positive note is not only a way to express politeness to your caller. It is also a means to balancing out the undesirable nature of your request.
You may end the call with these statements:
Examples:
As you may figure, ending a call is slightly less challenging than ending an email professionally because you do not necessarily have to be overly formal with your language.
However, we should still bear in mind that going “too casual” is also disfavored by most, if not all, business professionals, until a deeper connection is established.
Statements to avoid when asking for time to consider a job offer over the phone
To help you become more confident with what to ask or say, here are also some bonus statements that you have to avoid at any cost.
Albeit considered polite in other contexts, the following statements and questions contain off-putting connotations that will likely make someone’s eyebrows go up north.
I cannot decide right now. I’ll get back to you later.
Although this might be how you would exactly feel, straightforwardly telling your caller that you will just get back to him or her at a later time conveys impoliteness.
Saying something along these lines would likely inform the employer that you are overtly indecisive and you may not be able to communicate politely.
I’m still waiting to hear again from another company with a more lucrative job offer. Can you wait until next week?
Not only is this disrespectful, but it could also indiscriminately convey some degree of greediness, which is generally repulsive.
Of course, you can inform your prospective employer that you are waiting to hear from another company but not in this manner.
To deal with this, you may ask the existing employer to give you a deadline instead of you leading the request for an extension of time.
I cannot accept the salary you are offering. Could you please increase it?
Obviously enough, this one communicates obnoxiousness which is inarguably inexcusable in any business context.
To effectively negotiate on salary adjustments, you had better provide your overall value to your target employer rather than simply stating that you do not like the salary being offered and asking for an increase.
Frequently Asked Questions on “Responding to Job Offers”
How can we ask for time to consider a job offer by email?
We can ask for time to consider by email simply by saying “Since this is a major decision for me to take, I would like to request three to four days to deliberate on the job offer.”
Can we ask for a week to consider a job offer?
Yes, we can ask for a week-long period to consider a job offer, but we have to prepare a good counterargument as to why we are requesting this especially if we know that that the role is urgently needed.
How can we delay accepting a job offer while waiting for another opportunity?
We can honestly inform the prospective employer that we are still waiting to hear from another company that we applied to first. Then, we can let the employer decide on a deadline as to when they would need to know our final decision.
Conclusion
The key to effectively responding to job offers lies in our ability to use language politely and persuasively.
Needless to say, we also need to be able to go through this kind of conversation and correspondence repeatedly to really master the art of negotiation and persuasion.
Hey fellow Linguaholics! It’s me, Marcel. I am the proud owner of linguaholic.com. Languages have always been my passion and I have studied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics and Sinology at the University of Zurich. It is my utmost pleasure to share with all of you guys what I know about languages and linguistics in general.