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Indian CEO waited 3 months for candidate, who then chose another job offer: ‘It stung’
An Indian CEO expressed disappointment over last-minute candidate dropout, while acknowledging the individual's honesty.
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Gaurav Kheterpal, founder and CEO of Vanshiv Technologies, continues to face recruitment roadblocks. Weeks after a new employee allegedly vanished with the company laptop, Kheterpal is now dealing with another setback — a candidate who backed out at the last minute.
In a post shared on X, the Jaipur-based entrepreneur said that his company waited three months for the candidate to wrap up his notice period, only for him to back out at the last minute.
The candidate explained the reason behind his inability to join Vanshiv in an email, a screenshot of which Kheterpal shared on X.
“He was honest about it”
“We had another candidate back out from an offer - 3 months of waiting for his notice period,” Gaurav Kheterpal said.
“At least, he was courteous enough - acknowledged the effort, apologized sincerely, and chose the opportunity that he picked,” the founder of Vanshiv Technologies added, appreciating the candidate’s honesty.
In the email, the candidate apologised and explained that he had received a better job offer, which he could not reject. “I know you went above and beyond for me, waiting three months and coordinating everything to make this offer happen. I don't take that for granted, and I'm truly sorry for the position this puts you in,” he wrote.
Kheterpal, while disappointed about the last-minute recruitment obstacle, appreciated the candidate’s honesty.
“It stung. A lot. He didn’t invent an excuse. He was honest about it,” he wrote.
Need for better laws?
This is not the first time that Kheterpal has faced trouble while hiring candidates. In August, he wrote about a newly-hired employee who demanded a ₹50,000 raise and then disappeared with the company laptop.
(Also read: CEO says candidate demanded ₹50,000 raise, vanished with company laptop)
This time, he acknowledged that job-seekers may feel they are right in declining an offer after accepting it, specially given the state of the job market. However, he floated the idea of better labour laws.
“The problem isn't just on one side - we need better labour laws for companies & we also need regulations in place to make offer letters binding on both sides,” Kheterpal said.
“I know it's easier said than done - drop-outs on one side & layoffs on the other. I've a glimmer of hope that some day, Indian tech industry will solve this problem, before it's too late,” he concluded.
The post sparked a debate on the ethical workplace practices.
“You last paragraph conclude the whole thing.. Companies are heartless when laying off their loyal, long term employees in a 6 AM email, at the same time they are also openly poaching employees hired in another company,” wrote one X user in the comments section.
“Three months' notice is draconian and the root cause of all issues. Make it a month across and people cannot do offer shopping,” another said.
