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Is The Practice of "Job Rescindments" Becoming More Common?
In a tough employment market, there are those who seek to take advantage of those looking for work.
But perhaps even more disturbing in today's employment market is when your candidate has the skills and interviews well, is offered the job, given a start date, and then you never get confirmation from your client's HR department.
The job just disappears and the offer is essentially rescinded. WTF!
Imagine the PR disaster in the making: You've presumably dealt in good faith with both the candidate and the client. The candidate may have quit another job to take the job offered -- and surely made a lot of plans and situational changes to accommodate their supposed new employer.
Now you've got one seriously P.O.'d candidate -- who has every right to drag you and the client through the mud through all those social networks they and you are connected to and perhaps into court in some circumstances.
I know, "stuff happens". And there are no winners in this scenerio. Just food for thought -- I believe that it is vitally important for recruiters to require clients to deal in good faith from the moment they get the order as well -- or assume that they can personally take the "unintended consequences" of their part in the play.
What do you think?
But perhaps even more disturbing in today's employment market is when your candidate has the skills and interviews well, is offered the job, given a start date, and then you never get confirmation from your client's HR department.
The job just disappears and the offer is essentially rescinded. WTF!
Imagine the PR disaster in the making: You've presumably dealt in good faith with both the candidate and the client. The candidate may have quit another job to take the job offered -- and surely made a lot of plans and situational changes to accommodate their supposed new employer.
Now you've got one seriously P.O.'d candidate -- who has every right to drag you and the client through the mud through all those social networks they and you are connected to and perhaps into court in some circumstances.
I know, "stuff happens". And there are no winners in this scenerio. Just food for thought -- I believe that it is vitally important for recruiters to require clients to deal in good faith from the moment they get the order as well -- or assume that they can personally take the "unintended consequences" of their part in the play.
What do you think?
Tags: Phil McCutchen, candidates, consequences, employment market, good faith, rescind, rescindments, work
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Phil McCutchen on -
Sandra,
The candidate was given an offer letter with salary and start date through the recruiting firm by the company. Then the client company delayed the start date. Then the client company stopped returning calls from the recruiting company. Then, after several weeks' delay, the recruiting company told the candidate that, as no calls to client company were being returned, that candidate should consider the job rescinded.
This is not the first time I've heard of this, or something similar, happening.
Certainly no way to run a business.
Sandra McCartt said:Phil,
This sounds weird. If a candidate is offered the job and given a start date did the company send an offer letter with salary, and start date etc, signed by them to the candidate or to you to be sent to your candidate? If you or the candidate did not get a written offer letter to be countersigned by the candidate and returned why would they quit a job? Or think that they had a formal offer if it were just verbal?
Was this a situation where a hiring manager said they would like to offer the candidate the job, asked for a start date then went to HR to get it approved?
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Permalink Reply by pam claughton on
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I had one rescinded job offer back in October when the stock market tumbled. However, it was a financial firm and they rescinded it within five minutes. I got a call back that they'd jumped the gun and another signature was required and it was no longer a 'sure thing'. Next day the call came that all hires were frozen, but the client also called my candidate directly, and apologized profusely and fortunately he was holding another offer which he was able to move forward with.
I've never heard of a company just fading away and ignoring a confirmed start date. Sounds fishy to me.
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Permalink Reply by Thomas Patrick Chuna on -
Not sure how one can require a client company to act in good faith..written and verbal agreements can be cast aside, especially with candidates and recruiters.. after all we're like buses right? - miss one, another will come along.
Things like this happen, and it happened to me once.. I just do my damndest to make sure my candidate has more than one client of mine to interview with..the first client to move quickly and follow through wins.
Maybe the best thing to do is to find out who the final authority is on the whole deal before the "final interview", and not consider anything to be official until that person signs the offer sheet.
the above scenario reminds me of the old story about dealing with the dancing monkey, and not the organ grinder. We should always know who's calling the tune. Maybe this resulted from the recruiter doing an end run around HR, and HR is punishing everyone.. just thinking out loud.
As far as taking "unintended consequences" if my client acts in bad faith, I don't set the stage for those by positioning myself as "working exclusively for the client company"..I make no bones about being a middleman trying to help make an opportunity happen, if it's meant to happen..both sides know how hard i work for them, and as such, they've never held me responsible when one side drops the ball.
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Permalink Reply by Phil McCutchen on
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No corrected start date letter. All verbal contact was through the recruiting agency. In this particular case, there are ongoing attempts by the recruiter to resolve the issue with the client firm (the recruiter IS actively working in good faith on behalf of the candidate), but at this time the candidate is still in limbo -- and still looking for a new job.
Sandra McCartt said:Did the candidate receive a corrected letter with delayed start date or was this just through the recruiter?
Did the candidate try to contact the company direct? Seems like to me if he had recieved an offer letter that he accepted he then is in a position to contact their HR department direct or the hiring manager if the recruiter is able to contact the company. I agree that it is a very shoddy practice to do a disappearing act without a written notification of rescind. If it were my candidate i would find somebody in that company that would take a call if i had to start with the janitor and work up to the chairman of the board. :)
The Big 4 have rescinded job offers this year in some cases and have also delayed start dates and changed starting salary offers but the "new hires" received letters letting them know that due to whatever circumstance their start date had been delayed, the salary would not be what they had originally been offered but that prior to the start date they would be notified of the new approved salary.
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Permalink Reply by Phil McCutchen on
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Thomas, you are absolutely right. And the recruiter in this particular scenerio appears to be acting in good faith. My point is that open communication, dotting the i's and crossing the t's and creating win-win-win relationships between client/candidate/recruiter are the recruiting middle-man's stock in trade -- a significant part of the added-value they bring to the play.
Thomas Patrick Chuna said:Not sure how one can require a client company to act in good faith..written and verbal agreements can be cast aside, especially with candidates and recruiters.. after all we're like buses right? - miss one, another will come along.
Things like this happen, and it happened to me once.. I just do my damndest to make sure my candidate has more than one client of mine to interview with..the first client to move quickly and follow through wins.
Maybe the best thing to do is to find out who the final authority is on the whole deal before the "final interview", and not consider anything to be official until that person signs the offer sheet.
the above scenario reminds me of the old story about dealing with the dancing monkey, and not the organ grinder. We should always know who's calling the tune. Maybe this resulted from the recruiter doing an end run around HR, and HR is punishing everyone.. just thinking out loud.
As far as taking "unintended consequences" if my client acts in bad faith, I don't set the stage for those by positioning myself as "working exclusively for the client company"..I make no bones about being a middleman trying to help make an opportunity happen, if it's meant to happen..both sides know how hard i work for them, and as such, they've never held me responsible when one side drops the ball.
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Permalink Reply by Mat von Kroeker on
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Obviously, no one here has worked with City, County, State, or Federal Gov't contracts (or maybe you have, I don't know). The Rescind goes with the territory, unfortunately.
When I first started in IT recruiting many moons ago, I worked with mainly county and state reqs-- I had the same mindset as many of you that an offer was an offer-- preparing the candidate to start, etc. Ultimately, I found that it isn't up to just one or two hiring managers to make these decisions-- the position(s) need a multitude of signatures, from multitudes of departments, to approve the go-ahead for the particular project, subsequently, the position. Usually, it turned out to be an overly zealous HM who's giving the green light, thinking he/she is above the "bureaucratic red tape" and can push it through quickly. Sorry fella or missy-- WRONG!! I've seen people start, then let go after a week, just because an i wasn't dotted, t crossed, or an egomaniacal supervisor wasn't informed in the correct protocol, etc. Gov't employees are immersed in layer after layer of an "approval process", that the stars would have to allign correctly to requisition a box of pencils for the office, let alone a Project Manager position. And vacations??? Forget it-- you're not hearing back from the client for 2-6 months.
In those traumatic few experiences, I've developed a technique that works EXTREMELY well when initially communicating the realities of any position to a candidate--- THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES!!! Even with a start date-- THERE ARE NO GUARENTEES!! This is a Gov't job, you understand that, correct? If you're offered another position in the interim, Take it by all means!!-- because this is the GOVERNMENT!! And please understand also, that I can't be fielding 10 calls a day asking "Have you heard from the client?". I will call you when I hear something-- But there are NO guarantees!!! Most of them laugh and completely understand, and aren't calling 24 hrs a day.
As a matter of fact-- I have a Network Project Manager candidates folder on my desk right now, as we speak, position is with the School District, run by the County, all paperwork completed, candidate given a start date, everything ready to go, ya' think????????
Rescinded.
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Permalink Reply by Phil McCutchen on
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Six weeks later...
I've followed up with the candidate who was the subject of this discussion. They were contacted last week by the recruiter who asked, "Are you still interested in this position? The client has called back, with apologies, to say that they really WOULD like to hire you for the position."
From what I gather, the recruiter persevered with the client (kudos here!) to resolve the issues and determine that the personnel need was there and that this candidate who had been given first shot was still the best choice.
Of course, the candidate had moved on during the interim, but to a short-term contract position. They've indicated that they are willing to consider the no-longer-rescinded position -- with caveats and some more solid assurances.
Now, with another firm offer letter and start-date again in hand, the candidate is approaching the job offer with some trepedation, but is willing to give it a try as the job seems to be a good fit.
Time will tell if there really is a happy end to this story.
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