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Career CatalystYou Got Two Offers! Now What?
By Julia Sosenko
BGE Career Strategy & Professional Development
You’ve just accepted a job offer, and now you hear back from that interview you had months ago, and they are giving you an offer as well. You’re happy to hear that you did well on the interview, but you’re more excited about the position you are about to start. What is the best way to turn down this new offer?
The first step is simple, respond! It is very important to acknowledge that you have received the message. If you don’t, it will show that you don’t care about the offer. You should avoid this, as you don’t want to burn any bridges with a potential future employer.
When you respond, it is really important to show gratitude, and to keep the door open for the future. There is no need to share who also gave you an offer (it may likely be a competitor of theirs,) and if they are curious, they can likely find it on your LinkedIn. Below you will find a template that you can modify to send if you find yourself in this situation. Alternatively, you could share this information over the phone as well. Just be prepared that they may ask some questions to see if they could still persuade you to accept their offer!
Template
“Dear [Recruiter/Hiring Manager’s name],
Thank you so much for this incredible offer! I really enjoyed getting to learn more about [employer] and meeting everyone on the team. [Optional: add in some details of what you appreciated throughout the process. Did the recruiter go through any hoops to get you scheduled quickly? Did the team show you presentations about their work that you found interesting?] Unfortunately, at this time I have already accepted an offer with another employer. I remain very interested in the work that [employer] is doing, and hope to keep in touch in the future.
Best,
[Your Name}”
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