# Job Offer, Then Retraction? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 5, 2017, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608 "2017-12-05T05:46:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/21 "2017-12-05T14:30:38Z")
I had a coworker several years ago who had something similar happen. He interviewed with some financial services start-up, they offered him a job, and he put in his two weeks at our place. The next week, they yanked the job offer. Apparently their management structure was in disarray – either the position didn’t actually exist, or the guy who made the offer wasn’t authorized to do so, or some weird crap like that. Coworker had to sheepishly go to our manager and ask for his job back. On the other hand, the company that screwed him was belly-up in six months, so it probably turned out for the best in the end. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/22 "2017-12-05T14:33:27Z")
From the Amazon Jungle -------- we basically hire Associates and give the drug-screening test (really basic swab) at the same time; you are hired on a “contingent” basis at that point. Often HR goes over its notes and weeds out people they feel will be a bad fit at that point so all of a sudden you go from starting in a couple weeks to not at all thank you for your interest. This is part-time and all and it doesn’t happen often (usually just having a pulse and no obvious issues like your parole officer coming to the hiring with you qualifies you for us) but it does happen sometimes. The real frustration can be that you will NEVER EVER get a why out of them. I had a friend apply who really would have been good; he did not drop my name so it isn’t just that HR doesn’t like me. He is drug-free, has a spotless background, and is a really friendly and likeable person. He get rejected after being hired but before his first day. No reason, no explanation, just “sorry – no thanks” and done. Stuff like you relate seems more common to me and may be a sign of employers at all levels having the pick of the field. But I expect its something here to stay. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/23 "2017-12-05T14:55:29Z")
It doesn’t sound like you actually even had a verbal offer over the phone. My impression is that the head of HR was saying “for you to be given an offer, the next step is the drug test.” ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/24 "2017-12-05T15:04:40Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > and I did let slip with a few select coworkers who my (not-yet-formerly-at-that-point) prospective employer is (was) this weekend at work. That’s pretty fast for the news to travel, but it’s always better to inform after the fact, of course. > [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > It doesn’t sound like you actually even had a verbal offer over the phone. My impression is that the head of HR was saying “for you to be given an offer, the next step is the drug test.” Yeah, I wonder about that. Anyway, the situation sucks. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/25 "2017-12-05T15:08:04Z")
Never, ever give notice to your current employer until you have the new job offering in writing. At least that’s the advise I’ve heard. I’m not sure what you can do if your offer is still yanked… pound the paper at them? Seems silly to try to sue. Anyway, to commiserate, this has happened to me too. Recently. An external recruiter put me in for an opening about a month ago and I interviewed for it. It went well, and a week later, the external recruiter called to say they wanted me and offered me the job. Said I’d get the starting paperwork the following Monday. Monday rolls around and I hear nothing. Wednesday, the client company’s HR system sends me an automated rejection notice. When I was finally able to get a hold of the recruiter, she told me that they’d had some kind of miscommunication and offered the position to multiple people, so had to rescind all but one. No idea how they picked which ones to rescind and which one to keep. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/26 "2017-12-05T15:34:37Z")
That is very strange. When I graduated business school in 2001, a lot of firms were delaying or rescinding offers because they over hired and the economy crashed. But that does seem to be the case here. The OP doesn’t strike me as the type to have a lot of scandalous photos up on social media. What sort of company is this in terms of industry and size and what sort of job was this for? As I said, this is very strange. Unless the OP has something in his past that suddenly came to light, it may just be that the group suddenly had budget revoked or their number one candidate was suddenly available. But either way that is extremely unprofessional to pull an offer without an explanation. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/27 "2017-12-05T15:44:10Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > My FB page is, IMO, pretty benign; YMMV. OMMV. I do have one quasi-rant about my current employer from over a year ago. So…possible, I suppose. That can be a huge red flag, and IMHO, would absolutely explain a retraction. No company wants to deal with a problem employee, and a rant can put you squarely in the problem employee category. That’s why you never bad mouth your current employer (or any previous employer) in an interview. Delete it. Today. Now. This second. Don’t send out another resume or go to another interview until that rant is dead & buried. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/28 "2017-12-05T15:44:24Z")
If it was something objective like that, the HR lady could have said so, instead of this “long-term fit” line that meant “There’s something that a decision-maker just doesn’t like about you, but we can’t expose ourselves legally by telling you any more.” ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/29 "2017-12-05T15:46:52Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Fair enough - and I agree, I don’t think it would be very useful - IMHO, I would still do it just in order to have the last word - and to go on record as questioning/rejecting whatever their bullshit reason might be (I don’t know if there’s any real risk that they could ever cause you any kind of future trouble of the type “well, he didn’t protest”, so it probably is unnecessary). How would they cause the OP trouble? Like why would any hiring manager even think to talk to this company about why they pulled his offer? It works both ways too. If I were ExTank, the first thing I would do is go to this company’s [Glassdoor.com](http://Glassdoor.com) profile (assuming it has one) and in the “Interview” section, indicate how they revoked his offer. People do read that stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/30 "2017-12-05T16:16:34Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > That can be a huge red flag, and IMHO, would absolutely explain a retraction. No company wants to deal with a problem employee, and a rant can put you squarely in the problem employee category. That’s why you never bad mouth your current employer (or any previous employer) in an interview. Oops, I missed this on the first read through. **muldoonthief** is totally correct. If that rant was publicly visible, it would have absolutely axed the process. I’ve done a bunch of hiring (and some firing), and smaller red flags have been enough to file applications under “G.” ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/31 "2017-12-05T16:40:02Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > My FB page is, IMO, pretty benign; YMMV. OMMV. I do have one quasi-rant about my current employer from over a year ago. So…possible, I suppose. Kill it with fire. Now. It may or may not have anything to do with what happened, but companies don’t like employees who post about them without prior permission. In fact, look at your posts and take out any that reference past employers, even if they’re positive. I have worked places where we were not allowed to do even that without training and being on the “approved” list. In terms of the withdrawal, you may also have been the victim of a hiring freeze. It happens. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/32 "2017-12-05T16:42:22Z")
Thank you all for the advice and feedback, and good thoughts. I’m filing this under “lesson learned,” and hope others read this thread and likewise take away some good job-hunting wisdom. The FB quasi-rant is gone, deleted, per other’s advice. My own efforts have yielded another great opportunity; I just completed a pre-employment drug screen, and I have zero worries wrt that (unless someone’s been slipping the marijuanas or heroin into my food and drink w/o my knowledge!), so, finger’s crossed. My recruiter/headhunter just this morning came up with two more opportunities, as well. As far as my current employer, it’s paper, and international; 'nuf said. The formerly-prospective employer is a competitor in the same industry. The paper industry overall is kind of incestuous, in that people routinely “hop companies” all the time, often coming back to their original employer every 5-10 years or so. As such, and I don’t want to sound paranoid (or think one of my professional references deliberately “tanked” me!), it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that someone in my current job/dept. called someone they know at my “new job” and pissed in that someone’s ear about me. As I said earlier, our dept. (Maintenance) is very lean to begin with, and short-staffed to boot; my (or really anyone’s) leaving is going to put a _lot_ of work-demands (overtime, weekends) on the remaining staff. ETA: off to bed I go; gotta be up and at work tonight by 7. G’nite y’all! And thanks again! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/33 "2017-12-05T22:20:23Z")
Not sure it is the case here, but some job offers need several levels of management approval. HR might have assumed the top person would sign, HR might be wrong. Projections for the next year might have come in low, so they stopped hiring. Or it might have been the FB page. But you’ve learned the most important lesson - never quit until it is in writing, final, and you have a start date. I’ve seen this happen for tenured faculty jobs also, so it is across the board. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/34 "2017-12-05T22:46:55Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > Never, ever give notice to your current employer until you have the new job offering in writing. At least that’s the advise I’ve heard. I’m not sure what you can do if your offer is still yanked… pound the paper at them? Seems silly to try to sue… Yep. In some states, like CA, they cant ask you to take a drug test unless the job is yours if you pass. Check your states laws. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/35 "2017-12-05T23:44:46Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > How would they cause the OP trouble? Like why would any hiring manager even think to talk to this company about why they pulled his offer? Why are you asking? I already said I don’t know. For me, I think it would feel like I need to be on record as explicitly _not_ having quietly accepted their judgment. I fully acknowledge the OP disagrees, and that it would probably have zero actual effect. Just seems to me like the right response. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/36 "2017-12-05T23:47:18Z")
I’ll vote for upper level management playing games. I’ve seen this twice in recent memory at my very large company. Got all the way up to the offer stage and then all sorts of games would happen. Temporary hiring freeze or just moving around the numbers for the number of employees allocated to each particular manager or department. I know we’ve left two good potential employees twisting in the wind while these sorts of games were being played. I don’t think one buried facebook rant is the cause. At least at my company, HR or people managers are not actively browsing the social media accounts of applicants or employees. There is too much information on social media that could influence HR or managers, religion, sexual orientation, family plans, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/37 "2017-12-06T00:08:40Z")
Employers are forbidden by law to comment on your performance. They are restricted to only saying whether you are eligible for rehire or not. That said, a disgruntled employer might have hinted that you aren’t all that or even said something that was improper. If so, you’ll have a hard time proving it, since the prospective employer isn’t likely to own up to it and could be dragged into a lawsuit. Anyway, good luck. Doesn’t sound like you’re lacking for opportunities. I was also in the facilities and construction management games and never had trouble finding work. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/38 "2017-12-06T00:31:16Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > In terms of the withdrawal, you may also have been the victim of a hiring freeze. It happens. That’s what happened to me. I had just been laid off at the time so I didn’t put in notice at a current job. I interviewed with a company that was in the process of being acquired. There was an open requisition and the manager told me that he was going to hire me and to await paperwork. The company doing the acquisition said, “sorry, Dude, I don’t care about the req, there’s a hiring freeze until we figure things out.” The manager was very apologetic about the whole thing though and told me exactly what was going on. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/39 "2017-12-06T00:31:32Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Employers are forbidden by law to comment on your performance. They are restricted to only saying whether you are eligible for rehire or not. I don’t believe that is true. First, anecdotally, I have no problem giving a bad recommendation if it comes down to it, and my HR team knows this. I’ve also been given bad feedback about a potential hire from my contacts. More importantly, a little Googling finds any number or credible articles that say things like [this…](https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/what-can-employers-legally-say) > [@](#): > > Many job seekers think there are laws out there restricting what former employers can say about them. A lot of folks may be confusing the word “law” with the word “policy.”… > > …While many companies have internal policies that define what employees can and cannot say about current or former employees, those policies fall far short of being laws in any sense… > > For example, numerous job seekers wonder, “What can a former employer legally say about me?” If that question is taken literally, the answer is “anything.” I’m not aware of any laws that restrict or bar employers – or anyone else – from exercising their First Amendment right to free speech. And [this…](http://employment.findlaw.com/hiring-process/is-a-former-employer-s-bad-reference-illegal-.html) > [@](#): > > Generally, an employer is not prohibited by law from providing truthful information about a former employee to a prospective employer. The law has little reason to discourage employers from providing their honest assessments of an employee’s performance, regardless of whether this assessment is good or bad. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608/40 "2017-12-06T01:24:01Z")
Maybe the person who previously held the position you were going to fill changed their mind about leaving and asked for their job back. And maybe that happened because the great job they thought they had been offered was pulled out from under them. And maybe that happened because the person whose job they were go)no to take changed his mind about leaving, because their job offer was rescinded… it’s rescintions all they way down! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-offer-then-retraction/803608.md?page=3)