How not to commit to a post-doc offer while waiting for another?

Question

I have received acceptance at University A and I have been told that the contract is being prepared (which takes some weeks e.g. 3 or 4), in the mean while I received an offer from university B stating that I need to reply them within one week. I want to keep all chances by my side, and want to know if I reply to university B by email saying that I am interested in the offer (while waiting to sign contract with University A) will that commit me to signing the contract with them afterwards?

Answer 1

Some basic advice:

1. Let university A know about the competing offer from B and the deadline it comes with. Ask them if they can expedite sending you the contract (strongly hinting that they are your preferred choice, but without saying anything certain), or failing that, at least provide sufficient assurances that you will be receiving a contract that would enable you to take a leap of faith and reject the offer from university B.

2. Ask for more time to reach a decision from university B, citing a pending offer you expect to be receiving soon from another university, and your desire to make an informed decision that takes into account all relevant information.

Writing these sorts of emails is a bit of an art. The precise tone of voice and details you share need to be carefully controlled. You don't want to make the people at University B feel like they are your backup option and that if you accept their offer it's only out of fear that you will not have better options. (If they get that feeling they may well decide not to extend your deadline so they can cut their losses early and go make an offer to someone else who likes them better.) Similarly, when communicating with A, you want them to feel a healthy level of pressure to motivate them to get you your offer, or assurances of an offer, as fast as possible so that you are not forced to accept an offer from another place because of a deadline. But you don't want them thinking that you will definitely accept their offer, since then they won't be motivated to make their offer as attractive as possible in terms of salary and other details. Plus there's always a chance that you may in fact decide to accept the offer from B, and you don't want the people at A to feel like you've misled them if that happens.

Good luck, this is a tricky situation and needs to be handled with tact and diplomacy. Oh, and it's not a great idea to post things on a public website using your real name, since people from universities A and B may stumble upon this discussion.