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After 4 successful interviews and 2 weeks of waiting I received "THE" call. The company's recruiter congratulated me and provided feedback from the interviews. All the interviewers were pleased with my technical and behavioural performance, and everyone agreed that I was a good fit for their company. That's why he was happy to offer me a software engineer position. He even went into details (salary, benefits, and VISA sponsorship).

He told me I had to wait 2 days to prepare the written offer. After those 2 days, I received nothing. So I became curious and sent an email to check if there were any updates regarding their offer. His response was :

(NOT ORIGINAL TEXT)

There has been some uncertainty about what current openings are, so I'm just waiting on sign-off for an offer. I should be able to resolve this tomorrow and get back to you with an update. I apologize for the delay.

At first, I was confused, but then I realized I didn't have anything to worry about. So I just waited while I kept scheduling other interviews.

Now, 5 days later, since the first contact with no other updates. What is best for me to do?

Should I pursue the recruiter for more information about the offer? Or would it seem like "too much" pressure?

FreeMan
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cyanidebaby
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3 Answers3

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Now, 5 days later, since the first contact with no other updates. What is best for me to do?

Go ahead and contact the recruiter. They gave you a window of a day and almost a week has passed so it is perfectly reasonable for you to contact them for a follow up.

Just keep moving forward with your other interviews until you have a firm answer with this specific company. Good luck!

sf02
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It's literally a "don't call us, we'll call you". Trust 100% that if the recruiter had any information to get closer to making their standard 10% commission, you'd be the first to know about it. As a matter of fact, they'd be contacting you by email, phone, text, LinkedIn and carrier pigeon to move closer to that money.

Don't spin your wheels any further on this opportunity. Put your efforts into continuing to interview elsewhere. It's a bummer after you've invested time in interviewing, yes! Things may change, but you still need food on your table. Job hunting is like the lottery. You have to play to win!

Most especially, do NOT rely on anything communicated verbally outside of a written offer.

Best of luck.

Xavier J
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    This is the more appropriate answer imo. Yes, it's appropriate to follow up with the recruiter, and you should do it, but at the same time you should consider this position a loss for the moment and keep looking. – Christian Legge Sep 15 '22 at 06:35
  • I would trust a recruiter to want to do what's in their best interest, but I wouldn't trust a recruiter has the nous to do so. – Gregory Currie Sep 15 '22 at 07:19
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    Not all recruiters work independently for a commission. Some companies directly employee recruiters and in that case things can get lost in bureaucracy, with no incentive on the part of the recruiter to actively pursue this further, in which case a nudge from OP would definitely be useful. – bracco23 Sep 15 '22 at 11:00
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    also stuff gets lost in the mail, forgotten in the hurry and such. just because a company is big, doesn't mean it's not living in total chaos – Christian Sep 15 '22 at 13:56
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    "Most especially, do NOT rely on anything communicated verbally outside of a written offer." I disagree with that statement. Wait until you have the signed contract in hand before you make any firm decision (and even then, there is still a risk). But otherwise, I agree that he should keep on applying and interviewing with others in the meantime. – Stephan Branczyk Sep 15 '22 at 14:56
  • @StephanBranczyk It seems you're a little lost. An offer letter is 1/2 of a contract. There's an offer, and an acceptance. That's a contract. https://www.upcounsel.com/meaning-of-offer-and-acceptance – Xavier J Sep 15 '22 at 15:37
  • 10% commission? what country is this in? In UK you won't find any recruiter willing to work for less than 17.5%, with 20% being pretty much the norm. – Aleks G Sep 15 '22 at 15:39
  • @XavierJ, Personally, I don't give a firm answer until I've seen the final contract. And if the contract refers to the employee handbook, I don't make a decision until I've seen that handbook as well. Now I realize that not all jobs in the US (or the world) have written contracts, but if the applicant needs a visa, there is certainly the need for one. And yes, verbal offers can be binding, but who are we kidding. Even suing a prospective employer for a reneged contract is a huge hassle. And that's assuming that the contract doesn't have a bunch of escape clauses that the employer could invoke. – Stephan Branczyk Sep 15 '22 at 16:29
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    Recruiters are people. Communications get lost. It's definitely worth it to contact the recruiter. At the very least, OP gains to learn a bit more about the recruiter, and if they should work with that person in the future. – hyde Sep 16 '22 at 06:28
  • @Christian, let me fix that for you: "just because a company is big, it mean it's living in total chaos" – akostadinov Sep 16 '22 at 13:24
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First of all, it's very much your right to contact them and if they ask you to wait further, request a firm deadline.

While the above is the answer to the specific questions you asked, I would like to add some of my thoughts here:

A company's hiring situation can always change because of a business situation or whatever reasons. However, I would say that if a company does not have this much clarity for the such a near future, then one may have to rethink about joining that company. This clearly portrays that the company does not have a long-term plan.

Secondly, I would also say that it is good that it's delayed rather than the company reversing the decision after you join.

Himanshu Jain
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