Tuesday, 7th April 2015 (North Side, Anguilla) — It’s been troubling to my mind as to how some employers appear not to exhibit honesty and truthfulness in their employment practises. What bothers me most is when an applicant is offered employment, accepts the position, and then suddenly the job offer is withdrawn. This has happened to me on three occasions during my professional career. Unfortunately, all of them have occurred with organisations on Anguilla. That leads me to believe that we need to have some training on how to interview and hire employees and make improvements in both the private and public sectors.
What can go haywire during the recruitment process?
I will utilise my own experiences to exemplify what can go haywire during the recruitment process, as I believe that we can all learn lessons on what not to do. They will teach us how to do better next time around.
Verbally offering a job
In December 2010, after I had a job interview, the Chief of Staff verbally offered me the position for which I had applied, and I graciously accepted it. The next day when I hand delivered a personal thank you note, the overseeing manager advised me that they had decided to readvertise the job because they did not get as many applicants as expected. It seemed rather odd because why would an employer schedule interviews, choose a successful applicant, offer the position to the candidate, and then subsequently withdraw the offer stating more applicants were needed. My internal radar told me there was something amidst. Even though I politely queried the employer to find out the reason for this change of heart, I never received an answer.
Offering a job in writing
Then, in April 2012, I applied once more to the same organisation for another post. I was eager to be hired by this office because I had worked for its counterpart in the USA. So I didn’t let one failed attempt dissuade me from applying again. I was called the following month for an interview and ultimately offered the position, in May 2012, which I gladly accepted. This time around the Head of the Department had recused himself from the interviewing process because his spouse had applied for the job. However, I was asked to have a brief chat with him after accepting the employment offered.
Strangely enough, a short while after chatting with the Head, the job offer was withdrawn. The only explanation that I received was that the recruitment process had prompted a review of the various roles and responsibilities within the office, and that the Head had decided to restructure the staffing arrangements across the office. More specifically, I was informed that the restructuring meant that the particular blend of roles and responsibilities within the position I’d applied for had changed, and the need to fill such a position had fallen away.
Even though I had accepted the offer in writing and was attempting to negotiate a higher salary within the advertised figures, I was told by the employer’s representative that we had not finalised agreement on the terms of my possible employment with them following my counter offer, so they would therefore not be proceeding with the offer of employment made to me.
Withdrawing a job offer without notification
Now it is rather peculiar to be made a job offer then have it rescinded right in the middle of negotiations for a better compensation package. But that is exactly what happened to me the next time I applied for a position with another organisation in December 2014. I was interviewed for a newly created post in February 2015, was offered the job and accepted it. Since the employer had stated in the interview that the salary was negotiable, and specifically acknowledged my maturity and level of expertise, I asked to increase the minimum amount offered based on my qualifications. The Chairman of the Interviewing Committee informed me that they would meet to discuss the matter, and that was the last time that I heard from her.
After waiting for over two weeks, I made the assumption that the employer had withdrawn the job offer merely by the fact that I hadn’t received a letter stating what decision the Committee had made to my request for an increased salary. Knowing that sometimes we experience IT issues with electronic communications going elsewhere in cyberspace, I waited an additional period before contacting the Chairman. I courteously asked her to re-send any email that she may have sent after our last communication on 17th February 2015. Well, I never heard a peep from her, so I wrote the Chairman of the Board and explained what had occurred. I requested an official notification from the organisation stating the reason why the employment offer had not proceeded. To date, he too has not replied. However, I managed to verbally confirm through another reliable source that a young woman had been hired for the role.
Breaching employment contracts
I have yet to investigate what are Anguilla’s Labour Laws and the legal ramifications for offering applicants employment and then withdrawing the offers. I’m sure they’re antiquated and need to be revised to modern day standards. However, in North America where I’ve worked for much of my professional career, to do as stated above is considered a breach of contract and could involve a lawsuit. Nonetheless, people in corporations can be quite deceitful, so justice does not always prevail in the courts.
Ethically speaking, it just isn’t morally right or honest to deceive a person into believing that he or she has a job and then to take it away with or without proper notification. I really don’t know how some employers can live with their conscience when they do such things. For me, personally, my belief is that when one door closes another one opens. So these “missed” opportunities were in essence really not meant to be for my soul’s journey.
Improving hiring processes
A strong recommendation to all employers is that if we don’t receive a sufficient number of applicants for the position, we need to readvertise the job before calling applicants for interviews. It is very disheartening and emotionally quite stressful to the unemployed, or those seeking better opportunities, to be offered a position and then to have it taken away.
There may be limits to salaries based on an organisation’s budget. Nevertheless, a prospective employer lacks integrity when the minimum salary is offered to a candidate whose qualifications exceed the requirements. It’s also false advertising for an employer to provide a salary range and then not be willing to negotiate the amount based on the applicant’s experience.
Many employers operate only focussing their attention on the bottom line and making a profit. But in this conscious-raising age that we are living in, we need to be cognisant of maintaining ethics, integrity, honesty and truthfulness in how we conduct all of our business affairs.
To job applicants, I say if the offer doesn’t feel like it’s the right opportunity, then don’t accept it. We must ask for what we know we’re worth based on the constraints of the employer’s finances. Look for ways to earn an income without having to accept employment in someone else’s company. As for me, I’ve decided short-term projects that provide a stipend or honorarium work best at this stage in my career development. That way I have the freedom to be involved in a variety of activities and not be confined to one place of employment.
And to all of us, we must remember that we reap whatever we sow. So do the right thing and don’t mistreat or abuse the human rights of others. Each one of us can implement ways to improve our recruitment processes. We can be the instruments of change that we envision ourselves to be, doing whatever we can to move our organisations and nation forward. May The Most High’s divine grace continue to bless all of our lives and encourage us to be more truthful in our hiring practises!
Kay M. Ferguson is a free-spirited writer who composes word sounds to inspire and uplift humanity. She is passionate about sharing her contemplations on various subjects to raise conscious awareness in the Anguilla community and globally. To link with Kay, send an email to anguillawriter@gmail.com or “i-nect” via social media at www.facebook.com/kaymferguson.
