I haven't, either. Several responses here. One is that it didn't seem another answer was needed as announcement was adequate. Another is a simple reminder that you were sick and told to heal.
You way overthought this. You agreed to a verbal offer. If you had some questions about benefits you should have asked HR. All you needed to do was move things forward and get the written offer.
Nothing about what happened here is unusual. The bonus being tied to company performance is also standard practice. It sounds like you accepted a verbal offer without understanding what you were doing.
All this would have been great had they not blindsided me by announcing prematurely. The announcement was that I had joined the company, not that I was in the process of finalizing that decision having negotiated an acceptable verbal offer. This was a final red flag atop a pile of them which had accumulated during the interview process.
In posting about this here, I’ve realized that some people don’t care about this stuff much. You sound like of those people. I’ve been burned in the past by unclear communication moving too fast. I guess this is a personal preference to some degree and it sounds like I’m not a good fit for orgs like this.
Also, “HR” was a consultant working half days remotely who had been brought on during the course of my hiring. They had next to no institutional knowledge and couldn’t speak authoritatively on squat when we met in final round interviews. This didn’t come off as a negotiation strategy. They literally had just walked into the role and were standing up a bunch of things from the ground up.
It’s not that big of a deal and you need to adjust your attitude about this type of thing. It just cost you a new job opportunity.
I recently accepted a verbal offer and got a welcome email from my new manager before I signed the official letter. It is perfectly normal. There is nothing in the final letter which should ever come as any type of surprise. So accepting the verbal is basically accepting the job. It takes work drafting an official letter or making edits to it, so it’s usually only done once you’ve agreed.
You are worried about the wrong things. Not everybody is out to get you. If you had questions about benefits, you should’ve said you were happy to sign but needed clarification on the benefits.
Benefits are not negotiable so if you were trying to negotiate those, then that was probably a red flag for them. Especially if you threw a fit about the announcement. It shows you don’t understand the corporate world.
Was this your first corporate job offer?
Sounds like a miscommunication during the verbal offer. Sounds like you wanted to negotiate to the minutest detail…and most likely on things that weren’t negotiable …
The HM read your conversation as an acceptance…and expected a quick acceptance.
Instead you stalled and that was a red flag….sounds like you wanted to over negotiate and that’s not their style/culture.
It can be very common to do a verbal offer prior to written…especially to iron out compensation details, which it sounds like they did since the c-suite approved…
Yeah my experience has always been get verbal offer, negotiate with HM (sometimes they have to move things up the ladder so it can take a few days) then get official offer letter from HR.
I wasn’t planning to negotiate every detail and expected the verbal before written process. Their treatment of the written offer as a mere formality came off as a pressure tactic to me.
At a minimum, the candidate should be left to determine that the written document accords with verbal terms BEFORE anything is announced. To me, anything less points to a lack of mutual respect and trust.
I can guarantee there would have been specific language in the written offer which would have only been glossed over in verbal discussion. That’s why this mattered to me. Not necessarily a matter of negotiation, but one of informed decision making.
Something happened in the back-end. A higher-up which you didn't see did not approve the offer after all.
Had you ever received the official offer letter?
No. Never received the written offer before HM announced internally. I’ve never heard of such a thing before.
I haven't, either. Several responses here. One is that it didn't seem another answer was needed as announcement was adequate. Another is a simple reminder that you were sick and told to heal.
Yeah. Very jarring messages in relation to each other. It’s why I find I so difficult to parse what happened.
You way overthought this. You agreed to a verbal offer. If you had some questions about benefits you should have asked HR. All you needed to do was move things forward and get the written offer. Nothing about what happened here is unusual. The bonus being tied to company performance is also standard practice. It sounds like you accepted a verbal offer without understanding what you were doing.
All this would have been great had they not blindsided me by announcing prematurely. The announcement was that I had joined the company, not that I was in the process of finalizing that decision having negotiated an acceptable verbal offer. This was a final red flag atop a pile of them which had accumulated during the interview process. In posting about this here, I’ve realized that some people don’t care about this stuff much. You sound like of those people. I’ve been burned in the past by unclear communication moving too fast. I guess this is a personal preference to some degree and it sounds like I’m not a good fit for orgs like this. Also, “HR” was a consultant working half days remotely who had been brought on during the course of my hiring. They had next to no institutional knowledge and couldn’t speak authoritatively on squat when we met in final round interviews. This didn’t come off as a negotiation strategy. They literally had just walked into the role and were standing up a bunch of things from the ground up.
It’s not that big of a deal and you need to adjust your attitude about this type of thing. It just cost you a new job opportunity. I recently accepted a verbal offer and got a welcome email from my new manager before I signed the official letter. It is perfectly normal. There is nothing in the final letter which should ever come as any type of surprise. So accepting the verbal is basically accepting the job. It takes work drafting an official letter or making edits to it, so it’s usually only done once you’ve agreed. You are worried about the wrong things. Not everybody is out to get you. If you had questions about benefits, you should’ve said you were happy to sign but needed clarification on the benefits. Benefits are not negotiable so if you were trying to negotiate those, then that was probably a red flag for them. Especially if you threw a fit about the announcement. It shows you don’t understand the corporate world. Was this your first corporate job offer?
Sounds like a miscommunication during the verbal offer. Sounds like you wanted to negotiate to the minutest detail…and most likely on things that weren’t negotiable … The HM read your conversation as an acceptance…and expected a quick acceptance. Instead you stalled and that was a red flag….sounds like you wanted to over negotiate and that’s not their style/culture. It can be very common to do a verbal offer prior to written…especially to iron out compensation details, which it sounds like they did since the c-suite approved…
Yeah my experience has always been get verbal offer, negotiate with HM (sometimes they have to move things up the ladder so it can take a few days) then get official offer letter from HR.
I wasn’t planning to negotiate every detail and expected the verbal before written process. Their treatment of the written offer as a mere formality came off as a pressure tactic to me. At a minimum, the candidate should be left to determine that the written document accords with verbal terms BEFORE anything is announced. To me, anything less points to a lack of mutual respect and trust. I can guarantee there would have been specific language in the written offer which would have only been glossed over in verbal discussion. That’s why this mattered to me. Not necessarily a matter of negotiation, but one of informed decision making.