Build leverage and manage timing

Your strongest leverage is a credible alternative: another offer, a good current job, or a clear willingness to walk away. Negotiation theory calls this your BATNA - best alternative to a negotiated agreement. The better your alternative, the more confidently you can ask.

• Run processes in parallel. Start interviewing with several companies around the same time so offers arrive together.
• Manage the pace. It is normal to ask a fast-moving company for a little more time, and to tell a slow one that you have an offer and a deadline.
• Know your walk-away point before the conversation: the lowest offer you would accept, given your alternatives.
• Be honest. Never invent a competing offer. Recruiters often ask for details, and a bluff that is called ends badly.

Exploding offers come with a short deadline to pressure a quick decision. It is reasonable to ask for an extension - “I’m very interested and want to make a careful decision; could I have until Friday?” Many companies agree. If one refuses any reasonable extension, that tells you something about how it treats people.