Ask HN: Offer of Employment retracted • Hacker News Board

From my point of view as a business owner, if they haven't replaced you already, your old employer would likely welcome you back with open arms. Good people are hard to find - and ones that know all your systems and eccentricities are even harder to find. The biggest headache in hiring someone is getting them up to speed and integrated into your company culture. This is way more time and energy consuming than you might think. So if I was you old employer I would bring you back - the only headache would be if I had replaced you already or promoted one of your old co-workers. At a Fortune 500 company they should be able to find some parallel position at least for you.

Re: Ask HN: Offer of Employment retracted

#134

Post by khangtoh » Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 5:42 AM UTC

We're hiring a Rails backend developer too, working on dome really fun and social games on the iPhone. I'm guessing you 're not from the bay area and we're located in Pittsburgh PA.

Re: Ask HN: Offer of Employment retracted

#135

Post by yourmomcalled » Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 5:53 AM UTC

rbanffy wrote: post #92

jacquesm wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no shame in this, there is just the reality that you were dealt with in an unprofessional way and I think that they will see it just like that. If you're any good at all your boss will be happy to see you back but I wouldn't count on a raise or promotion until you've more than proven to be there to stay. And it wouldn't hurt to have a solid backup plan just in case they do decide to lay you off at some point…

> You may even have to re-negotiate your salary. That would be nasty. The gentleman thing to do would be to pretend this never happened. Everything was conducted in the most civilized way. There would be no reason to change. Well... I wouldn't change that. What I would ask in return, at most, would be that, next time you give me a month of advanced notice. It takes time to replace a good member of the team. You are e…

last line made my day

Re: Ask HN: Offer of Employment retracted

#136

Post by joboffer » Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 5:55 AM UTC

Thanks everyone for your supportive and helpful comments. I had interest from another company when I accepted from this company that rescinded the offer. I am following up with them to see if they're still interested.

I am also getting in touch with some of you who are hiring. The problem is I have very little time to go back and make amends at my existing job - just tomorrow.

This will be a long night...

Re: Ask HN: Offer of Employment retracted

#137

Post by tworats » Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 6:17 AM UTC

bconway wrote: post #109

tworats wrote: post #63

You should absolutely let it be known who this company is. If you're uncomfortable do it anonymously. Rescinding an offer after a candidate has quit an existing job is shameful and anyone doing it should be outed for all potential candidates to know of. Don't be embarrassed about asking for your old job back. And ask the 50 person company to reimburse you - they should pay you for the trouble they've caused. If they'…

You should absolutely let it be known who this company is. If you're uncomfortable do it anonymously. Rescinding an offer after a candidate has quit an existing job is shameful and anyone doing it should be outed for all potential candidates to know of. What if a major funding event had fallen through, and the company rescinding all outstanding offers and cutting expenses allows half of those 50 employees to retain t…

Companies should not be making offers for positions they cannot afford, regardless of what's going on at the company. If the money is not in the bank they shouldn't be making the offer. This is serious stuff; they're playing with people's lives here.

The people at this company are incompetent, stupid, unethical, or some combination thereof. They should be exposed. It's not about holding a grudge; it's about letting other potential candidates know of the risks, and of making sure there's a penalty for this kind of behavior.

And yes, I've been in similar positions as a hiring manager in both small and large companies. Offers that cannot be guaranteed should not be made; once made, they should not be rescinded.

Re: Ask HN: Offer of Employment retracted

#138

Post by pyre » Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 6:45 AM UTC

geuis wrote: post #34

joboffer wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want to make a decision for my current company. They may even let me have it back. I'm on very good terms with my team too and they were in fact, disappointed to see me go. I'd just hate myself to go back with my head hung in shame telling them that 'oh my job didn't work out'...take me back. I had a farewell lunch yesterday. Everyone in my extended team knows I'm leaving. My exit interview is planned for ear…

Realize that in any good company, there will always be an expectation that people eventually move along to other opportunities. Don't feel any shame about going back.

In any good company that has been around awhile, there is doubtlessly a number of people that have left the company and come back again under much better circumstances (as in worked another job for a while and then came back). At the company I work for, there are a handful of people that have left the company and come back again over 2 or 3 times over the years.

Re: Ask HN: Offer of Employment retracted

#139

Post by pyre » Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 6:59 AM UTC

abalashov wrote: post #108

joboffer wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want to make a decision for my current company. They may even let me have it back. I'm on very good terms with my team too and they were in fact, disappointed to see me go. I'd just hate myself to go back with my head hung in shame telling them that 'oh my job didn't work out'...take me back. I had a farewell lunch yesterday. Everyone in my extended team knows I'm leaving. My exit interview is planned for ear…

It's not just a pride issue; your bargaining position in relation to your previous employer changes in this situation, whether you like it or not, whether or not your manager acknowledges it or not, whether you get the sa, me terms as before back or not, and whether they are nice people or not. The fact is, you left, it didn't work out, and now you're back because you need something. Next time something good comes up…

If you're a valuable worker, then you are hard to replace. It would be in their best interests to make use of you while they have a chance to, rather than cast you aside over petty 'loyalty' BS.

The downsides of hiring someone new:

* It could take an indeterminate amount of time to find someone of a similar caliber (1 month? 3 months? 1 year?).

* It takes a certain amount of time to get comfortable with the internal codebase of a company, let alone the time that it takes to become proficient with it. This amount of time increases the larger the internal codebase and the older the company is.

* It takes time to 'bond' with the team and for the new social dynamic to become settled and understood by everyone.

* There is no guarantee that the new person that you hire will stick around either. You could spend a whole year looking for someone as skilled, just to have the person leave after 3 months before any of the growing pains associated with bringing on a new person are worked out. Then where are you? Back to square-one possibly spending another year looking for a similarly/equally skilled person.

You could side-step all of these issues by bringing this man/woman back on. If he/she leaves after another 3 months, who cares? He/she will be more productive during those 3 months than a new hire would be.

Re: Ask HN: Offer of Employment retracted

#140

Post by startupcto » Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 7:05 AM UTC

joboffer wrote: post #136

Thanks everyone for your supportive and helpful comments. I had interest from another company when I accepted from this company that rescinded the offer. I am following up with them to see if they're still interested. I am also getting in touch with some of you who are hiring. The problem is I have very little time to go back and make amends at my existing job - just tomorrow. This will be a long night...

Depending on what sort of VISA you are on, I think it's most likely H1B, You are fine. Don't worry so much. You have a 30 days window to find employment in the US. If you found something else in the next few days, you can effectively start working for the company with on the day you send in your new H1B transfer documents.

I'm not a lawyer but I know this from past experience.