QSI interview; how long to decide?

[btech]

If one were to have an interview with QSI and is offered a job, but that person wants to see what other options come his way . . . . are you given a set amount of time to think about it before they give the position to someone else?

[National]

If they are at a fair, they will need to abide by the fair's rules for response time. If however, you set up the interview independent of a fair, they seem to expect an answer immediately. You can always ask for more time and see what they say...

[Danda]

We interviewed with them about 5 years ago and they offered us the job a few days later. We asked them for a week to decide and they were cool with that. I doubt they'd give you much longer than that as they have a lot of positions to fill at a bunch of different schools.

[PsyGuy]

At a fair the rule is 24 hours, but schools dont have to abide by it, and most of the times they dont. fairs are short and waiting 24 hours for a yes or no would waste a lot of their time. they need to make their time payoff. Typically you can expect at least a couple hours, or until the next meal break (first thing in the morning, lunch, 5pm, etc). Even in those cases if a recruiter meets a better candidate they can and may still offer the position to someone else.

Outside of a fair it really depends. Just understand that until you have a signed contract, everything is fair. You want to keep looking is fine, but the schools going to keep looking as well and they may find someone they want/like in the meantime. I wouldnt recommend playing the waiting game too long, a couple days/weekend is reasonable, a week is pushing the limits, anything longer then that and your really saying to a recruiter "you dont want the job, but youll take it if nothing better comes around".

[sid]

It's verboten at all fairs to make an offer to multiple candidates simultaneously. I've only seen it happen once, years back, and that school was banned from the fair for at least 5 years.

[PsyGuy]

No, what they say and what happens are not the same thing. Schools have little to fear and worry about, and schools pretty much get to do what they want. It happens every year and all the time that a a school will make an offer and a candidate isnt prepared to accept and the school has to keep looking and interviewing and they may very well make an offer to someone else, and yours goes away. Theyre supposed to give you 24 hours, and the old rule was no recruiting the night before the fair, but that eventually just got changed to allow admin recruiting the night before as a work around (well we dont think youd be the best fit for our HOD position, but wed love to offer you a faculty position).
Search doesnt through money away by banning a school except in extreme cases, and this doesnt qualify.

[sid]

One can never really understand what it's like to live in another's perspective, but I'm really glad I don't believe that everyone out there is selfish, scheming, mean and immoral. It seems to me like it would be painful and depressing. And how much energy it must take up...

[PsyGuy]

I dont think EVERYONE can be described with those characteristics, just a certain sub population that have earned those descriptors.