Postdoc offer timing question — is it okay to mention another offer to my top-choice lab?
Hi everyone, I’m curious how people usually handle this situation.
Say you get a postdoc offer from your second-choice lab first, but your top-choice lab is still in the interview/decision process. You genuinely still prefer the top-choice lab because the project fit is better and you’d really like to work with that PI/team.
Would it be reasonable to email the top-choice lab and say something like, “I’ve received another offer, but I’m still very interested in your lab/project and wanted to ask whether you have any updates on the timeline”?
Could that help expedite their decision, or would it come across as pushy/threatening?
I’m asking partly because I come from a more hierarchical culture where mentioning another offer can feel like applying pressure or being too forward, so I’m not sure how this is usually perceived in academic hiring/postdoc contexts, especially by PIs or hiring managers in the U.S./Western settings.
Would appreciate any advice, especially from people who’ve been on either side of this.