17 year veteran recruiter in manufacturing industry. Negotiations are a sensitive topic. It is your first decision on the job and if you think the new company is not paying attention, you are kidding yourself. Playing one offer off another is not recommended. As a society we have moved into a realm where "negotiations are a part of the process". That is unfortunate IMO. If the company you want to work for makes you an initial offer that you want to accept, then accept it. If you know the number you want, and your recruiter is on board, tell him/her that number and ask your recruiter to work with the company to come out of the starting gates with that number and you will accept the job.

One rule in negotiations that I stand firm on is this:
"Candidate, in order for this to be a win/win, you must give to get. What that means is, tell the company, "I am accepting the offer, if you can reach this dollar amount (or up the vacation, etc.)"".

Good info, thanks.

I would definitely not feel comfortable playing one off another. We all know the general salary range for engineers of my experience in this area & I think all three salary offers will be fairly close.

Of the three, the job I like the least (they all appear to be good jobs) is at the company which seems most on the ball - in terms of moving the process forward.

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king of the road says you move too slow
KING OF THE ROAD SAYS YOU MOVE TOO SLOW

IMO, telling the company you want the most, that the other companies are moving quicker is fine.

Two thoughts. One is "a bird in the hand..." The other thought is if company #3 seems on the ball and is moving the process forward, then they may be the best managed company and the hiring manager may be a good manager to work for/with.