A startup founder recently shared how a candidate who rejected his company's job offer last year returned seeking another opportunity, prompting the founder to reconsider him for the same organisation.
In a LinkedIn post, Abhishek Vijayvergiya, co-founder of AI hiring platform Fabric, said the candidate had been someone the company "really wanted" when it initially made the offer. However, the candidate chose to join another company despite Vijayvergiya trying to convince him to reconsider. "We left things on good terms," Vijayvergiya wrote.
"At the time, I wrote about how strange it is that employers take candidate drop-offs so personally. Companies reject candidates all the time because they found someone they liked more. But when a candidate makes the same decision, suddenly they are disloyal or they 'wasted everyone's time,'" he added.
The founder shared that a year later, the candidate contacted him again while looking for a job after his previous company shut down. "I remembered him immediately because we had really wanted him at Fabric," Vijayvergiya wrote.
{{/usCountry}}The founder shared that a year later, the candidate contacted him again while looking for a job after his previous company shut down. "I remembered him immediately because we had really wanted him at Fabric," Vijayvergiya wrote.
{{/usCountry}}He said that Fabric was hiring for a similar role at the time, and the candidate has now reached the final rounds of the company's hiring process. Vijayvergiya said that the experience reinforced his belief that employers should not take rejected offers personally and should maintain relationships with strong candidates even when they choose another opportunity.
"If you meet someone genuinely good, you should want to find a way to work with them eventually. Which is why your relationship with them can matter for years, if not decades. One rejected offer shouldn't erase it because your ego got bruised," he wrote.
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Social media reactions
Several LinkedIn users praised the founder's approach.
One user wrote, "I have left and rejoined the companies, employees left and rejoined me. Everyone tries to make best decision for themselves at that point in time and its possible that it did not align with yours. Letting go is the biggest skill one learn with time. You are setting a very good culture in your company."
"Careers are long and situations change. A 'no' today should never permanently close a door. What matters to me is how that 'no' is communicated. Transparency and respect should work both ways," commented another.
"Maintaining good terms is crucial, and it's quite rare these days. Not every company or founder is negative," wrote a third user.