Comments on: The New Trend of Contingent Offers for Law Students

By: ouij

ouij — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 03:12:49 +0000

@Josh, Yeah, that was a little weird right there. I’m not used to being a sock-puppet :P

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:46:40 +0000

@ouij, Whoa, weird bug there. I’m gonna have to check on that code when I get home.

By: ouij

ouij — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:45:44 +0000

@ouij, I suppose I’d take “desirable, yet available” over “available.”

By: ouij

ouij — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:12:34 +0000

@John, “desirable, yet available” is nice on Friday night, but on Monday morning, I’d rather be employed and paid.

By: ouij

ouij — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:11:59 +0000

I wish I had even a contingent offer. As matters stand, I’ve got–oh, that’s right. No offers.

Bitterness aside–Contingent offers are old hat for me. In the UK, university admissions depend on contingent offers: “We are pleased to offer you a place, provided you score at least X on your upcoming examinations.”

Someone with a better grasp of game theory might be able to give you optimal advice here, though.

By: John

John — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:19:46 +0000

I think it puts you in the best possible situation, so long as you sell it right. Receiving a contingent offer states that you are valuable enough that someone wants to hire you, but you haven’t been locked into anything yet. Desirable yet available.

I would be very upfront. State you have an offer, say why it is contingent, and make sure to remind them that firm offers are more appealing to you than contingent ones.

It’s a bad lie to get caught in if you act like it’s a bona-fide position. Not only do you seem untrustworthy, but now you also aren’t on the mind of the person searching for an employee if something comes up in the interim.

If you were going to stretch the truth with contingent offers, the one tactic I might use is to never state that you’ve accepted a contingent offer, only that you have one. Accepting a contingent offer and holding the offer really aren’t any different, except that one makes people act like you’ve committed to a job.

By: Tweets that mention The New Trend of Contingent Offers for Law Students -- Topsy.com

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 08:28:06 +0000

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