Disadvantage to sitting on return offer? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Received a return offer from my NY biglaw firm, with a response deadline by October 1. Is there any disadvantage to sitting on this for a few weeks, even though I'm almost certainly going to accept? Will they think I'm looking to jump ship?

[walking-paradox]

Received a return offer from my NY biglaw firm, with a response deadline by October 1. Is there any disadvantage to sitting on this for a few weeks, even though I'm almost certainly going to accept? Will they think I'm looking to jump ship?

Sitting on an offer is completely normal. For all they know, you could be deciding between firms and just using the time to speak with other people (which is pretty common for people with numerous offers). There isn't a fear you're going to jump ship. I don't think any firm has a 100% conversion rate wrt to making an offer and having someone accept it and join the firm. However, if you know youre going to accept it, why are you sitting on it? Are you interviewing with other firms?

[Anonymous User]

Received a return offer from my NY biglaw firm, with a response deadline by October 1. Is there any disadvantage to sitting on this for a few weeks, even though I'm almost certainly going to accept? Will they think I'm looking to jump ship?

Would caveat that this is firm and practice group dependent.

But at my firm, this is a bad look. It only really makes sense if you split firms and are deciding between two return offers - then we understand if you need some time. But if we know that we were your only SA, then it is clear that the only reason you would want to delay is to shop other offers. We also receive periodic updates from recruiting on who has accepted and who hasn't (the idea is that we'll reach out to folks who haven't accepted yet) but it makes it very obvious if you become the only person on that list for multiple weeks.

My office generally expects people to accept their offers quickly. But I think more important than how long you wait, is how you communicate / handle the situation. We had a summer use almost the full amount of time a few years back but the real issue is that they came off as entitled in their follow-up conversations. While we didn't pull the offer, the hiring committee generally came to the position that we didn't want this person to accept and we ceased all follow-up.

If you handle yourself gracefully, your results may vary. And I'd imagine that the larger the SA class, the easier it would be to take more time without actual attorneys becoming aware or caring.

[Definitely Not North]

In my experience, people definitely talk about which summers are sitting on offers and will remember it. It's a bad look (save for split summers, like the anon above mentioned), and is generally read as a signal that you're probably going to jump ship soon after you don't have to repay the firm for bar expenses (which can work out to be a self fulfilling prophecy). If you're going to accept, just accept.

[Anonymous User]

How long is too long to wait, or is the cat pretty much out of the bag for not immediately accepting?

[Definitely Not North]

Ideally you accept on the spot (that's another thing people will remember, but in a good way). If that ship already sailed, maybe like a week or two before it starts to get stale/noticeable, but who knows really.

[Anonymous User]

How long is too long to wait, or is the cat pretty much out of the bag for not immediately accepting?

I'm the same anon that replied above. If you are OP, I'd suggest you just accept now.

In my view, much better to accept now and then renege later if you find a better opportunity.

[enibs]

So interesting to hear that this matters to anyone. At my firm, we’re happy to have you accept whenever you’re comfortable accepting. Just want you to show up enthusiastic about your decision and ready to work.

[Definitely Not North]

So interesting to hear that this matters to anyone. At my firm, we’re happy to have you accept whenever you’re comfortable accepting. Just want you to show up enthusiastic about your decision and ready to work.

A guy in my summer class waited until the absolute last day to accept his return offer, long after everyone else had already accepted (I think everyone else accepted on the spot). That meant that at every weekly partner meeting between the offer and the deadline, the recruiting coordinator would give them all an update that included "and XXXXX still hasn't accepted his return offer". This 100% was what all the partners remembered about him when we came back, the dude promptly got a bad rep (in part because they all figured he didn't want to be there and that he probably struck out at 3L OCI), and then he was out the door as soon as bar fees didn't have to be paid back.

Folks here STILL bring it up 6 years out, often when there's a more recent summer sitting on an offer.

[enibs]

So interesting to hear that this matters to anyone. At my firm, we’re happy to have you accept whenever you’re comfortable accepting. Just want you to show up enthusiastic about your decision and ready to work.

A guy in my summer class waited until the absolute last day to accept his return offer, long after everyone else had already accepted (I think everyone else accepted on the spot). That meant that at every weekly partner meeting between the offer and the deadline, the recruiting coordinator would give them all an update that included "and XXXXX still hasn't accepted his return offer". This 100% was what all the partners remembered about him when we came back, the dude promptly got a bad rep (in part because they all figured he didn't want to be there and that he probably struck out at 3L OCI), and then he was out the door as soon as bar fees didn't have to be paid back.

Folks here STILL bring it up 6 years out, often when there's a more recent summer sitting on an offer.

That’s crazy. So glad I’m not at your firm.

[Anonymous User]

So interesting to hear that this matters to anyone. At my firm, we’re happy to have you accept whenever you’re comfortable accepting. Just want you to show up enthusiastic about your decision and ready to work.

A guy in my summer class waited until the absolute last day to accept his return offer, long after everyone else had already accepted (I think everyone else accepted on the spot). That meant that at every weekly partner meeting between the offer and the deadline, the recruiting coordinator would give them all an update that included "and XXXXX still hasn't accepted his return offer". This 100% was what all the partners remembered about him when we came back, the dude promptly got a bad rep (in part because they all figured he didn't want to be there and that he probably struck out at 3L OCI), and then he was out the door as soon as bar fees didn't have to be paid back.

Folks here STILL bring it up 6 years out, often when there's a more recent summer sitting on an offer.

Do you know if this is typical, or if your firm is an outlier? I'm thinking about looking for other positions and getting kind of paranoid about getting a bad rep.

[LBJ's Hair]

^never heard of getting fired over it (although sounds like this guy had performance issues too) but recruiting circulating the "people who haven't accepted their offers" list is pretty typical.

if you want to check out other places, that's fine, but you should assume (a) that people will notice that you haven't accepted, (b) that they're, you know, not idiots, and get that you're recruiting, (c) that will annoy some people

I don't think "annoying people" is the end of the world, right, but it's something to keep in mind