Close to an Offer? Don’t Mess It Up!

During the interview process, when prospective employers talk about what a good addition you’d make, that’s a great feeling! You are on track for an offer, so don’t mess things up. A few thoughts to stay the course:

1. Do not engage in substantive negotiations until you have offer in hand. You may think you are just having a conversation about the job, but the employer may instead find it presumptuous to discuss the following unprompted: title, expected comp, hours available to work, days in office vs. remote, vacation schedules, and doing anything beyond the job description that you’re interested in (managing others, picking up other responsibilities, etc.). These are fair topics for discussion, but timing is everything.
2. Research the company and industry so you can give reasonable compensation parameters when asked. Before employers go through the arduous process of a formal offer, they will generally ask what kind of comp candidates are looking for. Do not surprise them with out-of-line requests at this last stage.
3. Line up three references, which should include at least a couple recent managers. Think about people you’ve worked with who can speak about relevant skills and would say great things about you. Have people ready to go because when employers ask for references, they are usually ready to make the offer and don’t want to wait days for you to dig up folks. The longer it takes the more the company sees your delay as a red flag because why is it so hard to find people to talk about your work?