We linked to a WSJ article this morning about corporate recruiters complaining about people who renege on their offers. It's somewhat surprising that recruiters don't chalk these up to a cost of doing business but I suppose it's always irritating when someone has verbally accepted or signed an offer then just up and bails on you.
The article focuses on students who, one recruiter complained, "aren’t necessarily trained in how to handle getting multiple offers and how to communicate." A career counselor from the University of Illinois is quoted that she, "always [has] to be the one to call the recruiter and apologize."
The article even cites one anecdote from our corner of the world:
“You get more marriage proposals once you’re engaged than before,” said Eugene Gentile, director of the office of career management at Rutgers Business School. This spring, one Rutgers student accepted an offer from a top accounting firm only to receive an offer from a direct competitor, which likely knew the student had already committed, he said. The student ended up backing out of the first offer and choosing the second firm.
A little professional courtesy does go a long way, people. But it's not uncommon for students or experienced hires who are actively searching for a job to find themselves in a position where they have to deliver bad news to an employer because a more attractive offer lands in their lap.
Cruise the threads in Open Items long enough and you're bound to stumble across someone who's wondering if they should dump Employer A for Employer B after accepting an offer.
So how about it? Who out there has done the bait and switch? How did you handle it? Did you pull a ghost exit or manage to pick up the phone and speak to someone? No judgment here, we just want to hear some stories. Jilted recruiters, we want to hear from you too! Let's make this interesting.
