Negotiating and Finalizing Offers
Choosing Between Job Offers
Exercising the Options
Often the most agonizing, though desirable, part of a job search is deciding which offer to accept. You may face the tough dilemma of whether to take your first offer or wait for your top-choice employer to arrive at a decision. There are no easy answers, as almost every situation differs. The lack of any consistent hiring timeline by public service employers makes final decisionmaking a particularly difficult part of the search process.
You can almost always buy time after you have received an offer. Since most job offers do not have to be accepted on the spot, you have the chance to consider all of the factors, such as responsibilities, salary, training and supervision.
Upon receiving an offer, you should thank your employer for the good news, enthusiastically reiterate your interest in the job and ask when the office needs to hear back from you. You may automatically have a week or more to decide.
Obviously, once an employer has made up his or her mind to hire you, he or she will be anxious to know whether or not you accept the offer. You can extend your decision-making time by asking to revisit the office and meet some of the people with whom you will be working directly or by requesting the names and telephone numbers of students who worked at that office in the past in order for you to speak with them about their summer experiences.
Gauge how much time you can wait by how soon you are expected to begin work, how many job openings the employer needs to fill and whether or not you will be compensated. An employer who asks you to volunteer for the summer will be fairly understanding when you tell her or him that you need a few weeks to secure funding before accepting an offer. In the meantime, you should begin calling any employers from whom you are waiting to receive potential offers and tell them that you have received an offer and are hoping that they might make a decision before your acceptance deadline. Often employers who are dragging their heels will speed up their selection process if they risk losing a worthy and interested candidate. At least they will give you an idea about the status of your application.
Be honest with your contacts. Let them know why you need more time and that you do not want to lose the opportunity altogether. Finally, ask them what the final cutoff date must be for you to reach a decision.
Asking to Split the Summer
If you cannot decide which job to take for the summer, you may not have to. Many students split their summers between two jobs, whether they are a lucrative firm job and a nonpaying public service position or two jobs within public service. You should be careful, however, not to discourage employers by insisting right away that you cannot spend your whole summer at their organizations. Wait until you have received a job offer before you broach the subject with a potential employer.
It is possible that you do not have to split your summer officially. Most law students have fourteen weeks off in the summer. Most firms only require that you work for seven weeks, thus you still have five weeks to work at another job with two weeks left over for vacation. Some firms have strong public interest and pro bono programs and will allow you to spend part of your time at a public interest job while on their payrolls. See OPIA's Guide to Law Firms Sponsoring Public Interest Summers for a list of firms that offer this option. If you cannot work the minimum amount of required weeks and still want to work at both jobs, then you should tell your employer that you are considering a split summer before accepting the position. You can base your decision about whether to accept the job offer on the response you get. Just be prepared to do some negotiating.
Splitting your time between a paying and nonpaying job is an excellent option if money is a major factor that keeps you from pursuing public interest or government work. Finding a public service employer who is willing to hire you for only part of a summer should be somewhat easier, particularly for those offices unable to afford summer stipends. Because you bring your own funding for the summer, nonpaying public service offices are generally flexible about the length of time that you work for them. Keep in mind that the timing of your internships can make all the difference in your experience, depending on the work you seek. For instance, Capitol Hill and therefore much of Washington, D.C., becomes quiet in late summer. An internship during that time would not be as exciting and informative as one beginning in May or June.
Finally, remember the downside of splitting: it will be harder to get a sense of the work and to forge strong relationships in half a summer than if you had spent a full summer with the employer.
Letting Employers Down Easy
Even good employers have to be turned down sometimes. Whether you want to work in a different city, the employer cannot pay you enough or you simply received a more attractive offer, you may find yourself in a situation where you need to reject an offer.
Always make an effort to turn down the employer without burning any bridges. Remember, the public service world is not boundless; you may find yourself looking for a job with the same employer or hoping to make a networking contact through someone from the office with whom you really made a connection while interviewing. Just because you will not be working there now, do not assume you will never be in touch with the office again.
First of all, keep your promises. If you said you would call the employer with your answer by a certain date, do so. Always contact the person who offered you the job directly to let him or her know your decision.
Never leave a rejection on voice mail, email, or with an assistant unless you have been instructed to do so. Make sure to thank the employer for his or her time and offer an explanation for your refusal. Follow up on your final conversation with a letter. If you are still interested in working for the organization in the future, leave the option open by noting in the letter or conversation that you will contact the organization during your next job search.