In the current white-hot job market, new college grads may have the upper hand, but recruiters are trying to even the score.
Recent grads and college placement personnel say more companies are using "exploding offers" - job offers that expire after a short time. If the student doesn't accept the offer within that time, it's withdrawn. Other companies proffer fat signing bonuses that decrease with every day or week that passes. Eventually, the bonus disappears, along with the job offer. Other "vanishing bonuses" may be the offer of a particular training program or office location.
Career services pros fret about exploding offers. "It puts the student in a horrible position," says Jaime King, associate director of MBA services at the University of Texas in Austin. "But I understand why they're doing it. It's a very hot market, and companies are under a lot of pressure to increase their yield rates. They'll do it however they can. Some companies just don't care how it will affect their relationship with their new employee."
Protecting Students
Schools often try to place some kind of limit on exploding offers. Ann Browning, associate director of recruiting at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, says Kellogg plans to insist that firms agree to give students until mid-January or three weeks, whichever comes later, to decide on a job offer. "Even with that policy," says Ms. Browning, "there's not a lot we can do. If a company ignores our guidelines, we have no recourse. We're not going to throw a company off campus because they give exploding offers. That's not fair to our students."
Amy Yamashita, director of recruiting at the Career Management Center at UCLA, says the school does confront firms that give exploding offers, "but they will often say 'Look, Amy, it's very competitive, and we're losing the talent.'"
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