Is it alright to request for a few days to consider when receiving an offer?
I have a friend who just received an offer from a place and the HR allows her to consider for 3 days. However, on the second day, HR called my friend saying that they would like to rescind the offer after some discussion with the team. Is this common in the industry? Do interns have the right to request for a few days to consider the offer? Or should interns grab onto whatever that is given to them immediately?
This is not normal. Many firms have deadlines, although these are usually more in the “few weeks” range. “Good” firms will work with a candidate, usually a deadline makes sense because the firm has to manage their recruitment (make sure they have the right number of people joining the intern class, etc.) and they usually have people “on hold” in the case that they have fewer people accept. But like I said they’ll usually work with reasonable timeframes, at the end of the day it is silly to force a candidate to accept your offer (without being able to interview at other places) and then either back out or regret this and not want to join your firm.
I prefer to give candidates time so that if they decide to join my firm they are doing it because it is what they want to do (they like the culture, people, work, comp, etc) as opposed to just doing it “for now”. It usually ends up being a better candidate for us.
One thing I would check with your friend is whether they sent any communications or spoke with anyone at the firm. Like I said, what you mention is not normal, so check to see if they somehow said/did something to piss off the firm.
Thank you for giving candidates time to think about their options, but I can assure you that there are some employers, including at least one that is often mentioned on this forum, that request candidates decide on the spot. IMO, it's an incredibly dumb practice that makes no sense and is leading to more students reneging. Another example is the other thread, where BBs are making diversity students commit for sophomore and junior summers to "lock them in".
Imagine if this is how it was for colleges, where students had very limited time to either accept or decline without knowing the outcomes of their other applications.
You see I disagree with this. I never look at an offer as “giving someone a chance when no one else would”. I view this as someone I want to work with, I give offers to people who I think will add value to our firm and who I think are good fits along a lot of attributes.
If someone wants to shop the offer around, go for it. If someone chooses a different firm, it could be for many reasons but it can usually be attributed to one of three things: 1) there are things at my firm I need to change (we are underpaying, we can’t match benefits, we aren’t offering the right culture or responsibilities), 2) the candidate values things that would probably make them a bad fit over the long run (choosing short term comp over long term, etc) or 3) the candidate is looking for a different role (I.e. more interested in tech than finance, etc).
I am fine with those outcomes, and #1 worries me the most (making sure we have the right roles and benefits, etc). #2 and #3 are totally fine with me, lower long term cost for me if we can figure this out now rather than after training someone for a year, investing in them, etc.