Just a reminder that all interview invitations and offers deserve and require a prompt response from you.
At this point, you should be familiar with the NALP rules governing the holding open of employment offers. Three key features:
• Offers extended by employers to students who were not previously employed by them will automatically expire 45 days after the date of the offer letter, or on December 30th, whichever comes first.
• The 45-day rule, however, does NOT apply to offers extended to students who were previously employed by the employer making the offer. Those offers, regardless of when they are extended, will remain open until November 15th. After that, they will automatically expire.
• You cannot hold open more than five offers at any one time. For each offer received that places you over the offer limit, you should, within one week of receipt of the excess offer, release an offer.
It is possible to request extensions of the 45-day rule, but employers are not required to give them. When the time comes, if you feel like you need an extension, feel free to contact a CDO attorney-counselor for advice before approaching an employer.
Remember that, while an offer will automatically expire after 45 days, as soon as you know that you would not accept it under any circumstances, you should affirmatively contact the firm and politely decline it (advice on how to decline an offer can be found here). Don’t just ignore the offer and let the clock run out on it. You may think you are sparing yourself an awkward conversation at the low expense of violating one of the basic rules of courtesy. But, it’s more than a matter of mere politeness. Doing nothing would damage your professional reputation and may prevent a fellow student from receiving an offer that he or she values more highly than you.