[jnwatson]

Especially for a small company, the biggest reason for an exploding offer is there might be a second-best candidate in the wings. The longer it takes the first candidate to make up their mind, the longer the company has to hold off the second candidate.

[mjevans]

A fair wrinkle; I want there to be some way for all sides involved to have a fair and equitable process.

As I see it there are three stages of truth that might exist. I am not a lawyer, what's a good way for the company to signal during these contexts?

After a candidate passed the final interview:

# other interviews still ongoing

# others passed too

# all parties waiting

As a pre-requisite, an active communication feedback loop is a base requirement, even for rejected resumes at the filter stage.