Why A Job Offer Can Be Rescinded

Julie Shenkman
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It can happen. Sometimes it has nothing to do with you and it’s just an external circumstance, other times it may be a misunderstanding, and other times, maybe you contributed without even realizing. Here are a few reasons why a job offer may be withdrawn.

You missed the deadline to respond. You took more time to respond to the offer. If you’re thoughtfully pondering the offer and don’t respond to the employer by the deadline, you can risk losing the offer. 

Economic uncertainty. When there’s quick changes to the market, projects get cancelled, or a client is lost, it can also lead to an offer being pulled due to budgets and plans changing. 

The background check. If an employer has specific requirements and you don’t meet them, for instance you don’t have the required licenses or maybe have a criminal record, you might not move forward, even if you have already received an offer. 

The decision makers can’t decide. Typically, there are multiple people within the organization who weigh in on who is hired. If everyone isn’t on the same page and a member of the hiring team jumped the gun and extended an offer, it can be withdrawn. 

As you can see some of these reasons are out of your control, it’s best to simply work hard at the things that are in your hands and those that are not, try to let them go. The things you can control are your background check—be aware of what will turn up and get ahead of it and take control of how you behave before and after receiving the offer. Be polite and mindful of people’s time and feelings. Don’t behave in a way that may be a deal breaker for the employer.

Additionally, if an offer is rescinded, ask the hiring team why so that you understand what happened and so you can learn from the experience for the future.

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  • Suzanne G.
    Suzanne G.

    Excellent Advice

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