2 Emails Telling A Potential Employer You Have Another Job Offer

It’s a good and bad situation when you want to tell your potential employer that you have a competing job offer. The first thing that comes to mind is, should you do this? The second thing that comes to mind is, are you risking both of your job opportunities? This can be a stressful time.

We’re going to go through this situation in full and give a full guide on what to do and when to do it, in terms of informing two companies that you have competing job offers.

Let’s get started.

Why Might You Inform The Other Potential Employer You Have Another Offer

The reason why you might like to inform one company that you’ve received another offer is when you’d like them to either give you an increase in salary or find another benefit to provide. That’s the real reason why you’d be doing this. Other guides will tell you this is simply in good taste to inform the other company, but it’s because you want to benefit from it in reality.

It’s important that as we go through this guide, you recognize that it is best to engage in this when you have an actual employment offer from Company 1 before engaging with Company 2 about the other offer. Be sure that you aren’t eliminating the opportunity of working with a great company instead of a slight bump in salary. You’d be surprised how many people end up in a worse environment over $5k/year in salary and end up hating their job, wishing they would have taken the first offer.

Keep that in mind. Weigh your pros and cons of each job, have an employment offer and be sure you are ready to engage in the conversation with both potential employers before proceeding.

Here’s some basic reasons why you might want to inform the potential employer:

• You want them to increase the offered salary.
• You want them to provide you additional time making your choice on the employment offer.
• You want them to respond to earlier questions you may have had (placing a small amount of stress on them).

How Do You Inform The Potential Employers Of This Situation

To inform Company 2 about Company 1’s offer, it should be done by email or by phone. An email will be the easiest for you since it will eliminate many of the potentials for stress. It also provides ample time to think about your communication before you send the email.

Be sure that you are in the employment offer stages before you start to engage in this conversation. If you are interviewing and the employer asks you, “Are you interviewing with other companies?” be sure that you answer by saying that you have options but are very enthusiastic about working with them. During the interview is not the correct time to inform the employer that you have another offer.

When you inform the employer, do it by email and follow these steps:

• Use a friendly email subject line.
• Refer to the hiring manager by their first name.
• Inform the manager about the other offer.
• Mention that you would prefer to work with them but that the other offer has benefits for your career that are unique.
• See if you have a potential ask that the employer can fill.

What You Should Be Sure You Have Before You Send Your Email

Again, you must have an employment offer. Because in the instance where this goes south, you can always back up and say that the original employment offer is just fine. You can apologize, say that working with that company is more important than any other task you might have, and say you’d be willing to sign the original employment offer.

This gives you some steady ground to negotiate. While not having that employment offer puts you in a position where you might not receive one in the first place.

2 Best Email Examples Telling Your Potential Employer That You Have Another Offer

Here are two emails that you can use as samples or examples for engaging with your potential employer about the competing job offer.

Example one

Hi (Hiring Managers first name) —

I’m very excited about the opportunity to be working with you. There are a few major pros to signing the employment contract. Working with (Company) will advance my career. I do have another offer with (Company 2), and it provides advancement in skill sets that I haven’t used enough.

Is there any way that you could help support the development of those skill sets in this role?

Thank you so much,
(Your name)

Example two

Hi (Hiring Managers first name) —

I’m very eager to be signing the employment offer with (Company). Clearly, there’s a vast amount of benefits that will advance me in my career. I received another offer from (Company 2), and it was unexpected. The salary offered was substantially higher than this offer. And that is making my decision difficult.

Is there any wiggle room in salary?

Thank you so much,
(Your name)

4 Best Email Subject Line Examples Telling Your Potential Employer About Your Other Offer

Here are some of the bet email subject lines you can use to initiate the conversation with your potential employer about the fact that you’ve gotten another offer.

• “Regarding (Your name) employment offer”
• “(Your name) employment”
• “(Your name) potential employment”
• “Question regarding (Your name) employment”

Job Offer Resources

• Learn how to decline a job offer after you've accepted it - How To Decline A Job Offer After Accepting (With Sample Email)
• Learn how to decline a job offer after you've accepted it - How To Decline A Job Offer After Accepting (With Sample Email)
• Learn how to accept a job offer by email - Accepting A Job Offer By Email (Examples, Subject Lines, More)
• Learn how soon after your interview a job offer might be made - How Long After An Interview Is A Job Offer Made? The Answer Here
• Learn how to tell an employer that you have another job offer - 2 Emails Telling A Potential Employer You Have Another Job Offer
• Learn how to tell an employer that you want an extension on your job offer - How To Ask For An Extension On A Job Offer: Full Guide
• Learn how to send a "thank you" email after your job offer - Best Job Offer Thank You Email Or Letter (With Examples)
• Learn how to accept an internship offer - How To Accept An Internship Offer (With Example Email)

Similar resources

• How to Accept an Internship Offer
• Job Offer Thank You Letter
• Reschedule Job Interview Examples
• How to Tell a Potential Employer You Have Another Offer
• How Long After an Interview is a Job Offer Made
• How to Decline a Job Offer After Accepting
• How to Turn Down a Job Offer