A Job Candidate Simply Asked “Who Will I Report To?”—So the Company Panicked and Instantly Rescinded Her Offer
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Well, this is a weird one…
I feel like there are definitely things you should and shouldn’t ask during a job interview, but what this woman said to a hiring manager seems totally reasonable…
In my professional opinion…
Check out what happened and why things went sideways after she wanted some additional info during an interview.
Rescinded a job offer after I asked who my manager would be (after 3 months of interviewing).
“I just had a job offer pulled for the sheer audacity of asking about the reporting structure.
This already sounds bad…
After putting me through a 3 month interview process, they nickel and dimed the compensation three separate times – slashing the base and cutting the bonus twice, which gutted the overall package by $30,000.
The only reason I was even considering accepting such a massive pay cut after 3 months of jumping through hoops, is because I was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer, right on the heels of taking a year off to battle breast cancer.
I honestly think they knew my situation and assumed they could take advantage of a vulnerable candidate with an employment gap.
Yikes…
On top of the pay cuts, the Chief of Staff was already throwing up red flags during interviews, including casually bad-mouthing a current assistant she wanted to fire and several people dropping the person that was formerly in this position did not get along with her.
This is a normal thing to ask!
When the offer letter finally arrived, I sent a brief, polite email to HR asking for clarification on the reporting structure, specifically whether day to day management, PTO approvals, and performance reviews fell under the Chief of Staff or the Executive.
HR responded to withdraw the offer entirely, claiming my question about reporting structure “gave them concern.”
Translation: They spent 3 months dragging me along, thought they had someone they could exploit and micro-manage, and the second I asked a basic professional question, they panicked.
Which by the way, I had to turn down two other offers waiting on this one and they offered me much less than what I initially agreed to interview at.
Crisis averted!
Huge bullet dodged.
Know your worth and never let a company weaponize your gap or health history against you.”
Now let’s see what folks had to say about this on Reddit.
This person was shocked.
Another Reddit user spoke up.
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If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a customer who wants to argue about an item they chose not being on sale.
This individual weighed in.
And another reader didn’t hold back.
This place sounds like a train wreck!
What a strange reaction to a perfectly normal question…
Yikes!
There’s no way she would’ve wanted to work for these people anyway…
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