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It’s a nightmare scenario for any job seeker. You’ve accepted an offer to work for your dream company. After signing and returning the offer letter, and cancelling interviews with other firms (or, worse, given notice to your current company), you get a mysterious message from the human resources team at your new employer asking you to give them a call as soon as you can…
And it’s horrible news. They tell you that due to no fault of your own, the company is rescinding the offer, and you’re left without any job at all.
There are myriad reasons a company will go through the painful process of cancelling a job offer after acceptance, but in most such cases, it boils down to one of three reasons:
1. A major economic downturn. When economies go bad, aggressively companies cut cost to compensate for the grim market outlook. And to many companies, it’s more palatable to eliminate the role of the person who hasn’t started yet, rather than an existing employee.
2. A sudden and dramatic change in fortune of the specific company involved. Internal scandals enveloped Enron and Theranos, driving them to extinction. But even in less dramatic cases, companies that need to rapidly eliminate overhead will turn first to labor.
3. A change in corporate strategy. The folks in the C-suite are constantly playing chess with the different departments and products, trying to optimize the P&L. It might mean that a project you were going to join gets cancelled unexpectedly, resulting in excess staff.
These situations all stink, and they put the job seeker in a horrible position. Whether you’re a recent graduate, or a professional who wants to make a jump to a bigger better job, or an unemployed professional who’s been aggressively pounding the pavement for a while, you’re still caught in Limbo. And under COVID-19, this has happened with more and more frequency.
Your options to mitigate the damage are limited, no doubt. But there are steps you can take to try to make the best of the situation (please note - this is not legal advice; for solid legal guidance, always consult an attorney):
Keep Your Cool: When you receive the news, don’t unleash your anger on the company representative that reaches out to you. It’s in your best interest to maintain a collaborative dialogue to try to squeeze the best possible outcome out of the situation. A combative tone risks an emotional backlash from HR or hiring authority. It’s in the company’s best interest to resolve the situation as smoothly as possible - use that to your advantage.
Ask For Details: If you’re able, by all means press HR for as many details as possible as to why your role was eliminated. The reasons given may help you understand the degree of support you may be able to obtain from the company in resolving the situation. A full company closure obviously has less potential for another opportunity than does a situation in which a small group is impacted.
Find The Hidden Opportunities: Your dialogue with HR might uncover the potential for the company to follow through with a job opportunity or other outcomes. Consider asking:
If business returns to “normal”, might the job be reinstated?
If so, how would I be considered and prioritized?
Am I eligible and qualified for any other open position with the company?
Is the company offering any sort of severance payment in consideration of what’s happened?
Understand Your Rights: If you have a signed/counter-signed employment agreement, review it carefully, and consider having a good labor attorney review it, to see if you may be entitled to some form of compensation or other consideration.
Find A New Job: Y However, you are now in a more unique situation that may benefit you during your new search. You had a job; you just never had the chance to perform it. In interviews, use this as a selling point, especially if the company that rescinded the offer was a well-known brand that carries prestige in the talent market.
Rebuild Bridges: If you were fortunate enough to have multiple job offers, do not hesitate to reach out to the companies you turned down. Likewise, if you’ve given notice to your current employer, they may be willing to keep you on.
Philip Roufail contributed to this article.
Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.
