Job offer withdrawn........

Raksha

A friend of mine went for an interview, was offered the job on condition of receipt of satisfactory references.

All seemed fine - slight hiccup as she'd been using her ex bosses business address as a mailing address as she'd just come back from abroad where she'd been running her own business for a year - it made sense to use his address as it was some stability - the company wanted to know why her referee was at the same address as her mailing address, but they seemed to accept the reason happily.

She has now had the offer withdrawn due to the company not being able to trace her employment history for 3 years - the last 12 months being abroad, the previous 12 months with the boss with the mailing address, and 12 months before that as a 'housewife'. There was no mention on the job offer that it also depended on the employment history.

She's absolutely gutted as she's done nothing wrong, she had a really tough year when she was abroad, for a variety of reasons, and was just seeing a light at the end of the tunnel - and now this!

Does she have any redress - she'd put down a deposit on a rented flat and everything

wynnvegas

Afraid not. Almost all job offers are conditional on receipt of satisfactory references and it's becoming more and more common (particularly public sector) to have to cover off the totality of the last 3-5 years.

All she can really do is ring up the company and explain the situation fully (although they should surely know what they were / were not going to get from her CV and application form?). If they weren't clear about the conditions of employment and liked her enough to offer the role in the first instance, hopefully they'll take an understanding view. With an initial probationary period, the risk to the company is minimal.

fablad75

Weren't those last 3 years already noted in her CV? How did they assess her suitability for the role without reading what she'd done in the past?

Raksha

Yes Fablad, she gave full details of the past 3 years in her CV, and they still called her for an interview and offered her the job based on that information. There was no mention in the job offer that there was any doubt over her job history.

vicshippers

Sounds like they don't really believe that her ex boss is a valid reference (ie if she is good enough friends with him for him to look after her post for a year then he's probably a good enough friend to lie so she can get a job).

I'm not saying this is the case AT ALL - but it could look like that. Is there anyone else at the company that could provide a reference?

She's effectively trust her word for her abilities, rather than having any sound proof or reference. In this market - they can afford to be picky.

Raksha

Sadly, no vicshippers, the company is a one man band - the boss and his PA (her and now me). I didn't know her before I joined the company. He's not the sort of chap to lie (they are both devote church goers) and besides, there wouldn't be any need - she was good at her job!

vicshippers

Raksha wrote: »

Sadly, no vicshippers, the company is a one man band - the boss and his PA (her and now me). I didn't know her before I joined the company. He's not the sort of chap to lie (they are both devote church goers) and besides, there wouldn't be any need - she was good at her job!

While I understand completely - can you see how if you didn't know all that, it might look a little suspicious?

onlyforboards_2

Most companies should be able to understand the concept of a small private company but many don't.
Does the company have any regular clients that can be used as a back up reference? Does it have a website or marketing materials? Could the reference contact the company and offer to provide additional information.

Bamber19

It's too late to be worrying about this, about other references or how to convince them, the job will already have been offered to someone else.

onlyforboards_2

Bamber19 wrote: »

It's too late to be worrying about this, about other references or how to convince them, the job will already have been offered to someone else.

It would be useful for future applications though, but yes this job has probably gone to someone else.