February 2010
Q: Dear Prudence, sorry I just had
to! I've received two offers and am waiting on a third. One with CED the other with Graybar.
I've been told by the third company, a local independent, that they're going to make an offer but they told me this a week ago and I'm running out of time.
All told, they all came in around the same so it's more about two questions; in your opinion, who's the stronger distributor and do you have any ideas on how I can speed up the third?
Joe
A. Dear Joe, first
congratulations as lots of people are struggling to find one offer. Who's the 'better' distributor? I can't really answer that because the two are very different and both are extremely successful and well run. It really depends on what type of corporate environment you've come from and work best in; a more corporate entity or a more autonomous one. They both have a track record of sustained success and growth and both offer great career path inside the company. I'd suggest you take out a piece of paper and list the pros and cons of each, it should become clear pretty quickly which is the best 'fit' for you.
I'm glad you asked your second question because it's something that I'm faced with all the time. A candidate has an offer, but really wants to see if the next company can make a better offer, typically candidates present this to me as wanting to make sure they're looking at all of their options. I get
that, but the message to the company is that you're shopping the best deal and that can be taken as a ploy to play one distributor against another and is something in my experience that backfires. It's a little too late in the process for you now but in the future, if you're in this situation, make sure that in the early conversation you've let the company you're interviewing with know that you've got other interviews. They're more likely to be expedient in their decision in that situation than in one that feels like pressure. Best of luck, and let me know where you land!
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