Understanding exploding offers and how to handle them

“Great news! We’re extending you an offer. Your base, equity, and bonus are x, y, and z. We’d like to hear back in two days; otherwise, we’ll have to move forward with another candidate.”

We call these exploding offers—any offer with a very short deadline to accept. The deadline can be 24 hours, two days, or one week, but the result is the same: the clock is ticking as you decide.

Here’s how to handle offers like these.

Why do companies make offers with a deadline?

This hiring tactic artificially incentivizes candidates to make a quicker decision and weeds out candidates who may be using their offers to shop for other offers at other companies. Try not to take it personally. 

It’s also very common for smaller companies and startups to employ this tactic to gain an advantage over larger/FAANG companies, which tend to have longer hiring processes and take longer between stages.

What do I do if I receive an exploding offer?

At Formation, we tell our Fellows to communicate their timelines with companies clearly from the very beginning. If you’ve been upfront about when you’ll be making a decision, the company should be working on your timeline, not the other way around. 

If you’ve been clearly communicating your processes and timeline at each step, some companies who want to make an exploding offer will ask you when you’ll be ready to make a decision and hold off on giving any offer details until you’re within that window, that way it’s fair for both sides.

If this isn’t the case for you and you’ve received an exploding offer, here’s how to handle it. 

If you have other opportunities you’re waiting on:

If you receive an exploding offer and haven’t heard back from other companies you’ve gone onsite with, you need to ping all of those companies immediately and let them know you’ve received another offer with X deadline and ask if there is any possibility they can speed up the process as you’d like to consider them in your final decision.

Example language:

Hi [COMPANY], it was great meeting the team [YESTERDAY/LAST WEEK/TWO WEEKS AGO]. I’m excited to hear back and wanted to let you know I’ve received another offer. They’re asking me to make a decision by [DECISION DEADLINE], and I was hoping to consider [COMPANY] in my final decision. I understand it can take time to gather feedback from the team, but I wanted to ask if there is any chance I could hear back soon. Again, I’d love to consider [COMPANY] in my final decision!”

If you have other offers or other interview processes that you’d have to cut short:

You can use their short deadline as a negotiation tactic! Suggesting you can cut all your other interviews off and “sign today” is a highly compelling negotiation tactic to get what you want.

Example language:

"Thank you so much for the offer. I’m excited to make my final decision. In full transparency, I have three other interview processes in progress. I’d be willing to cancel all my other interviews and sign with you today if you could improve the base salary by [AMOUNT]. I’m extremely interested in joining the company and know I’ll be able to make a strong impact and hit the ground running."

Best case: Avoid exploding offers

As mentioned earlier, exploding offers are typically avoidable. It’s imperative that at each stage of the interview process, you end by discussing the next steps and timeline. Be upfront with companies about what stage your interviews are at and a 1-2 week range for when you expect to make a final decision. This should avoid exploding offers or at least give the company an opening to mention they usually have offer deadlines.

Example language:

"I’m excited to move forward in the interview process! I want to let you know that I have a few other interviews that are also moving to the on-site stage. I’m trying to schedule those over the next two weeks. I expect to hear back from everyone by the third, maybe fourth week, and I expect to make my final decision in 4-5 weeks. Does that work for you?"

Keep in mind:

Don’t disclose how many interviews you have. Some companies may consider hearing too many other interviews a bad signal. It means you’ll be more challenging to close, and they may also think you’re only interviewing to shop offers.

Don’t disclose the names of the companies where you’re interviewing. If a company asks which companies, be wary of divulging other company names, especially if you’re talking to a small startup and then mention a FAANG. Many companies hear FAANG and immediately assume they won’t be able to compete with those companies and cut the interviews short.

That said, if you’re interviewing with a competitor, it can be advantageous to mention them at the offer stage. For example, if you have offers from both Lyft and Uber, mentioning you have an offer with Uber to Lyft may act as strong leverage.

Slow down to make the best choice for you

While it can be tempting to react under the pressure of a ticking clock, take a moment to evaluate your options carefully. Remember, your ultimate goal is to make the best decision for your career, not to simply secure an offer quickly. 

Ultimately, staying true to your career objectives and maintaining clear communication and confidence will put you in a stronger position to make the best move. 

Get holistic interview prep and negotiation support with Formation

The Formation Fellowship gives mid-level and senior engineering job seekers everything they need to land their dream roles—including personalized skill brush-ups, unlimited mock interviews with experienced software engineers and hiring managers from top-tier tech companies, and offer reviews and negotiation support. 

Apply here for unconditional support from a team of engineering mentors, technical recruiters, career coaches, and more.