Job offer U-turn

[alorotom]

Curious on thoughts for this...

I was recently interviewed for a senior position (Director) and was offered it, Thursday last week - great news, ticked all the boxes and the package was excellent too.

Obviously the role was subject to references, DBS, etc... zero problems there.

Fast forward to yesterday, I dropped them a message late afternoon to chase up paperwork as I hadn't had a formal offer or provided refs or details - within 20mins the COO calls me and advises that they've pulled the 3 director roles they have out to market (2 theyd made offers on, one was still in interview stages) - no reasons given and only a "if they come back up im first in line".

Disappointing but im glad I hadn't prematurely tendered my resignation ... Ive never come across this before in any organisation/industry and wondered what others would make of it?

Im really in 2 minds tbh

[sociopath]

It happens, I've had it a few times.

[randlemarcus]

It's exactly why you don't resign unless you have a signed on both sides contract, and a start date Also, you could take this as an early indicator of the way the new company does business...

[anonymous-user]

randlemarcus said:

It's exactly why you don't resign unless you have a signed on both sides contract, and a start date Also, you could take this as an early indicator of the way the new company does business...

Good advice.

I was offered a permanent job recently (I’m usually a contractor/consultant), and took it, but I didn’t give notice on any of my current work until the new job was signed all round and a start date agreed.

I’m not saying I don’t trust anyone, it’s just that I don’t trust anyone

[deckster]

randlemarcus said:

Also, you could take this as an early indicator of the way the new company does business...

This. Bullet dodged, if you ask me.

[alorotom]

Thanks - useful to see that its more common that ive ever seen!

randlemarcus said:

It's exactly why you don't resign unless you have a signed on both sides contract, and a start date Also, you could take this as an early indicator of the way the new company does business...

well thats a fair point and something I am now wondering!

[InitialDave]

Had it before. If you might want to take the role in future, respond with a polite "Ah, ok, let me know", and then get on with your life on the assumption you'll never hear from them again.

If not, tell them exactly what you think of their disorganised messing you about.

[bigandclever]

Not the same situation (contract vs permy) but I had a contract pulled while I was sat in the car park on day 1. Hadn’t even got to reception

Fortunately for me it was very early in my career so while it was short term pain it was a lesson that stood me well, long term.

[anonymous-user]

I've seen this happen a few times, mainly where the company isn't on track to hit it's end of year numbers so the board put an immediate recruitment freeze in place. If the freeze is expected to last some time, or a new board have recently taken over wanting to review every position/company structure, then they can cancel all current recruitment and offers.

[Mr E]

bigandclever said:

Not the same situation (contract vs permy) but I had a contract pulled while I was sat in the car park on day 1. Hadn’t even got to reception

Fortunately for me it was very early in my career so while it was short term pain it was a lesson that stood me well, long term.

My mate had to fire his first ever report within 2 hours of them starting on Monday morning due to a re-org that the business knew about a month before.

He resigned within a quarter of an hour of that.

[QuartzDad]

Not uncommon in the Big 4 IME, forecasts get adjusted and this is the result...

[devnull]

I've been on the other side of this. We required a new engineer, went through the process of hiring, and the budget for the position got cut from head office, for reasons. Sometimes, its just not in our control, either.

[lyonspride]

alorotom said:

Curious on thoughts for this...

I was recently interviewed for a senior position (Director) and was offered it, Thursday last week - great news, ticked all the boxes and the package was excellent too.

Obviously the role was subject to references, DBS, etc... zero problems there.

Fast forward to yesterday, I dropped them a message late afternoon to chase up paperwork as I hadn't had a formal offer or provided refs or details - within 20mins the COO calls me and advises that they've pulled the 3 director roles they have out to market (2 theyd made offers on, one was still in interview stages) - no reasons given and only a "if they come back up im first in line".

Disappointing but im glad I hadn't prematurely tendered my resignation ... Ive never come across this before in any organisation/industry and wondered what others would make of it?

Im really in 2 minds tbh

Could it have been an inside information gathering exercise? The MO is 1 interview goes well, they tell you it's in the bag and invite you to a 2nd interview, at this interview they start asking very detailed questions and most of the time the candidate will let slip information they probably shouldn't. Someone going for a directors role would probably have quite a lot of valuable information.

I've had this happen to me, the role was quality manager, but on the 2nd interview they were asking me questions about my manufacturing engineering background, it became obvious they had issues on the manufacturing side and didn't want to hire someone to sort it out. The company went bust 9 months later.........

[Terminator X]

Any new job is tricky as an offer can be pulled before you start + for the first 2 years you have virtually no employment rights and can be dropped for almost any reason.

TX.

[Roaringopenfire]

I've experienced these things happening in a Q3 or Q4 period when a headcount freeze is imposed. Do you know what quarter they were in? Maybe the drawbridge started lifting just after you were offered the role.

[martinbiz]

Terminator X said:

Any new job is tricky as an offer can be pulled before you start + for the first 2 years you have virtually no employment rights and can be dropped for almost any reason.

TX.

That really does depend on the role and the contract. For a role at director level I would be expecting a fairly comprehensive contract including a severance package starting from day 1

[alorotom]

Roaringopenfire said:

I've experienced these things happening in a Q3 or Q4 period when a headcount freeze is imposed. Do you know what quarter they were in? Maybe the drawbridge started lifting just after you were offered the role.

They run with the normal financial year and had a bumper year to Mar-21 by all reports. Lots of contracts won and increased activity. They have an aggressive expansion plan which may have impacted it.

I don’t know. Maybe they had buyers remorse (lol) with what they offered me and it’s a smoke screen for just turning me down - guess I’ll never know and it’s all speculation.

I’d certainly consider again in the future - but I’d want some sort of contractual assurance / contingency

[Countdown]

randlemarcus said:

It's exactly why you don't resign unless you have a signed on both sides contract, and a start date Also, you could take this as an early indicator of the way the new company does business...

I'm not sure how that helps a huge amount tbh. Even if you've got a signed contract they can let you go for almost any reason during the 1st 2 years so you would just get your notice period.

@OP - didnt you recently have problems with interviews for one of the Big 4? Is this the same company?


These guys...

[InitialDave]

Countdown said:

Even if you've got a signed contract they can let you go for almost any reason during the 1st 2 years so you would just get your notice period.

I suppose that depends what is in said contract.

[alorotom]

Countdown said:

I'm not sure how that helps a huge amount tbh. Even if you've got a signed contract they can let you go for almost any reason during the 1st 2 years so you would just get your notice period.

@OP - didnt you recently have problems with interviews for one of the Big 4? Is this the same company?


These guys...

I did get the run-around from KPMG when they chased and chased and then couldn’t field someone with the correct skill sets and knowledge to interview me ... very farcical and I walked away after they wasted my time a second time.

This is a completely different company and not a professional services organisation. It’s a healthcare provider who also approached me directly.