Thanks Gayle! I actually had a couple of conversa...

2011-11-27T19:17:36.795-08:00

Thanks Gayle! I actually had a couple of conversations about this with other folks to read the post as well. There is also another reason why a blind auction is bad for the candidate: we sometimes put values on things comparatively. For example a house might be worth a million because someone else is willing to pay a million for it. So an open auction actually bids up the value. Question is - how do you handle this and still convey that you are excited about the job. It's a tricky situation either way.

The question is - DID she handle it poorly? Was th...

2011-11-25T14:31:24.790-08:00

The question is - DID she handle it poorly? Was this a bad outcome for her? Okay, so you became indifferent to her accepting the offer. But it's still her offer, for her to accept or deny. I doubt that that indifference would make a big difference if/when she started.

It seems that from the candidate's perspective, she had a pretty optimal outcome. She wound up with the highest possible offer from both companies, and could make a decision accordingly.

Blind auctions, on the other hand, wind up with sub-optimal outcomes for the candidate and the company. You don't want to offer your true max, because you might not need to give that much. But if you undershoot, you may wind up losing a candidate who you could have gotten. The candidate, likewise, may accept an offer at a different company simply because they didn't want to go back and forth.

I think the way that this candidate handled it was the way to go.

Comments on Mike's Tech, Business and Life Report - @mikebz: So you got a couple of job offers, how do you nego...

Thanks Gayle! I actually had a couple of conversa...

The question is - DID she handle it poorly? Was th...