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What would you do if a company recently rejected you contacted you for an offer?

12 points by kennethwty ↗ HN
So a company I recently interviewed with rejected me because they chose another candidate (No automatic rejection email. Both the recruiter and the manager emailed me saying how difficult it was to decide who to hire and all that in a polite way) but a few weeks later the manager emailed me back saying another candidate rejected the acceptance and asked whether I'm still looking for a job (also politely).

However, I am currently in the middle of the interviewing process with another bigger company and would like to finish the process (currently second technical phone screen).

How should I handle this situation?

Should I tell them I want to work for them but still would like to finish the interview first and then ask for a written offer via email and tell them to wait for a few weeks?

Thank you!

13 comments

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ctrlaltdev
Hey, yes, you should totally tell them you're waiting to hear from another company and will gladly get back to them as soon as possible.

That might even push them to step up their offer.

kennethwty
Thank you!

The manager's email just asks me whether I'm still looking for a job and whether I would want to work for them, but without actually attaching an official offer in the email yet.

If I follow what you said, should I also ask for an official offer right now and tell them I will get back to them asap? Something like this: "Yes, I would love to work at XYZ but I'm currently waiting to hear from company JFK and will gladly get back to you as soon as possible, at the meantime, could you please provide an official offer via email?"

What do you think?

Thank you once again.

rossdavidh
That sounds ok (although you're not necessarily obligated to mention who JFK is). Also, it is possible that you might want to tell JFK you've just gotten an offer, and want to know how long it would be before you hear a decision. Respectfully and politely, of course.

Frankly, the fact that XYZ actually was honest with you about how things went puts them above average. They could have left you on the line without any news at all until they saw if the other candidate worked out.

kennethwty
Thank you! That's what I thought too. They could have kept me waiting while the other candidate was deciding. I do feel a bit offended at first because this is basically telling me I am the second or even the third choice...Anyway, I feel like continuing the interview with the other company seems like a better move than straight up accepting this job.
rossdavidh
I get why you would feel this way, but perhaps the other person was something amazing. I'm sure you would admit that you are not the absolute #1 programmer in the world, and without knowing who the other candidate is, you don't know what it says about their regard for you. Maybe they just had two amazing candidates. But, I understand why one would feel that way.
SmushyTaco
Well there are a number of ways you could handle the situation:

1. Ask if you could think on it for a bit to buy yourself some time to finish your other job interview and then make a pros and cons list of working for each company to decide.

2. Accept the job from the smaller company but keep doing the interview (Who said you can't have two jobs?) and then just work at both companies.

3. Accept the job from the smaller company and end the interview.

4. Decline the offer from the smaller company and prepare for the interview in the meantime.

5. Accept the job from the smaller company and keep going with the interview process and if you get accepted you could use that as leverage for a higher position in the smaller company.

I don't know your exact situation but hopefully this helps.

redsable
I would just say yes, that you are still job hunting and that you would love to resume talking to them about the job. Perhaps, thank them for being honest with you and polite in how they handled turning you down. Tell them that there are no hard feelings. Ask them what the next steps are now and finally explain that you are currently still interviewing with other companies (no need to name names or the stages you are in. You are just stating the obvious).

No need to pressure them in any other way until they tell you what they see as the next step. Do not assume you have any leverage with them. They are probably also still looking. This is a chance to show them that you are a class act.

Don't look at this in any other way except as an opportunity. Yes, you can bring up the fact that another company is interested, but not at this time. Set the hook with class and an obvious interest in their company.

kennethwty
Thank you so much for your advice! It really strikes a balance. No doubt I had a mix of positive and negative feelings about this at first but hey an opportunity is an opportunity. Thanks once again!
malux85
Forget the negative feelings because you don’t know enough to justify them.

Maybe they didn’t have the budget to hire you, and the other guy was cheaper. Now the other guy has flaked and the CEO has taken a 10% pay cut to hire you. I have been the CEO taking the cut to stretch for a candidate before.

You don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, so be classy and polite, they may be stretching for you

sosilkj
I agree with the above post. The rejection and subsequent reaching out should be viewed by you as though the conversation/process continued unabated.

I'll make an additional comment. From your description, it does not appear that either company has made you an offer yet. At this stage in the game, you don't really have much leverage. Job offers in hand are leverage. Your strategy should be to continue forward in parellel with as many companies as you can. Snagging a job offer from one is the best way to improve you chances with all the others. Having two offers (or more) gives you much, much better chance of optimizing your situation -- when companies are aware that their offer is not the only one on the table, they have more incentive to work to sweeten the package for you. All this to say: the idea of 'buying time' is totally the wrong way to be thinking about this; it pushes things in the wrong direction timeline-wise, since you want to moving things forward on all fronts to secure those job offers. There's no time to buy until you have at least one job offer.

ccvannorman
I would just think of it as an implementation snag in the hiring process, and don't take it personally at all -- the company is just trying to do their best to get the best candidate, and maybe the one they tried to hire over you simply looks better on paper or some other minor reason. The fact that they came back to you means you were a close second and they know they'd be happy with either of you.

Use it as leverage / bargaining / option just like you would any other offer that is in hand or coming, and as far as your decision / communication you can proceed as if the rejection never happened.

Detail: I am currently interviewing and considering offers, and was rejected by one company in a similar manner -- if they did what your company did, I would follow the advice I gave :-]

codingdave
Tell them what you just told us - you continued your search, and while interested, need to finish your ongoing interview processes before making a decision. Any organisations that cannot accept that isn't one you want to work for anyway. Likewise, if there is a problem communicating transparently with your future boss, they aren't someone you want to work for.

The only thing from your post that I wouldn't say is "wait a few weeks". If they are holding up a hiring process to hear back from you, it is fair to make it happen quickly. And when I have been in similar situations, everyone who was interested in me was willing to speed up the process to make decisions possible.

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