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Ask HN: Prospective employer wants me to start ASAP. Is this a bad sign?

2 points by princekolt ↗ HN
To keep it short: I've accepted a job offer from this company in a different country, which requires me to apply for a visa. I had told them back when I was interviewing that I had a prior notice of three months to fulfil. They said that they were going to set a tentative start date in three months plus a week. Fine.

Now that two months have passed, I've informed them that I will not realistically be able to start at the stipulated date, and that I'd need a couple more months. That was taken very badly by them. I was told that they'd give me another month at most.

This has gotten me very concerned, since I'm joining a considerably large team (5-10 people) in a large-ish company. On top of that they sent me all the paperwork via email plus a welcome message before I gave them a final clear verbal accept. That plus the fact that now they "need" me as soon as humanly possible left a bad taste in my mouth.

I haven't yet signed any physical documents. Should I bail out?

7 comments

[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 17.3 ms ] thread
joe_hills
As an outsider, it strikes me that they were fine with the initial three-month notice period, and are only balking at asking for two more.

Asking someone you've already allowed three months to please honor the agreed-upon arrangement seems totally reasonable to me.

Are there non-employment-related extenuating circumstances that lead to the request for the extra two months, like a dying loved one?

princekolt
I completely agree that is reasonable they ask me to honour it, but at the same time when we agreed on the date, they told me that "they just needed some date" in order to aim for it, or something to that effect.
jaxn
The company presumably filled the position b/c they needed additional help in order to meet their goals. Being willing to wait 3 months in the first place seems like a great indication that they value you as a potential team member.

Delaying further makes it hard for them to plan and likely means they will have to delay some of their objectives.

phil21
You were already given a lot of consideration with a 3 month out start date, in my opinion. I haven't seen that very often outside of executive-level positions myself, but my experience may be limited.

Asking for 5 months, with potentially another delay (you asked once, why not again?), would put me firmly (as a hiring manager) into "find another person" mode as you've proven unreliable before you even started. I didn't hire someone to not have them working, and 5 months is a very long time in most tech endeavors.

princekolt
For what is worth, it's a position in Europe, and it's usual here for work agreements to set lengthy notice periods.

And while I agree with your argument, I was initially informed this wasn't a final date, but rather just something to aim for.

rajacombinator
You sound extremely out of touch and not serious. Why did you even interview for this job that you weren’t ready to take for 6+ months?
Latteland
Companies, especially if they are not giant multinationals really need you to honor the hiring plan that you agreed to. They actually need you for a purpose, or they wouldn't have hired you. Everyone someones has things happen in the real world that affects working, but it's natural for them to want you to come.