Tech founder shares how a candidate's last-minute negotiation tactic cost him 2 job offers: 'Can't build career with...'
A job seeker tried using two companies’ offers to negotiate higher pay, but both firms withdrew after repeated bargaining.
A hiring experience shared by a tech leader has gone viral, sparking conversations about professionalism and last-minute salary negotiations. Taking to X, Gaurav Kheterpal, the founder and CEO of Vanshiv Technologies, shared that a candidate, who was slated to join his company on Monday, emailed just days before onboarding, asking the firm to match a competing offer that was nearly ₹2 lakh higher.
Kheterpal said that his firm responded immediately, telling him he was welcome to join at the originally agreed package, and if he’s not interested, the company will withdraw the offer. According to Kheterpal, the candidate replied, saying he would “join the other company”, prompting them to withdraw the offer entirely.
However, the situation escalated when the founder of the other company, whom Kheterpal personally knew, reached out. The candidate had allegedly shown them the first company’s offer letter and requested a salary hike there as well.
“He played the same trick at the other company showing our offer letter & asking them to bump it up. Coincidentally, I know the founder of that company & since he showed our offer letter to them, they reached out to us. We told them - we're not hiring him. If they want they can,” Kheterpal wrote.
However, the tech founder said that the second firm also withdrew its offer, citing frustration with the candidate’s repeated renegotiations. The candidate then returned to Kheterpal’s company, now willing to join at the original package, but the offer was no longer available, he said.
{{/usCountry}}However, the tech founder said that the second firm also withdrew its offer, citing frustration with the candidate’s repeated renegotiations. The candidate then returned to Kheterpal’s company, now willing to join at the original package, but the offer was no longer available, he said.
{{/usCountry}}“Only if such candidates realised that they can always get a 'job' which pays them more, but they can't build a 'career' with such bargaining skills,” Kheterpal concluded his post.
Social media reactions
Since being shared, the incident has gone viral, sparking a discussion about last-minute salary negotiations.
Reacting to the post, one user wrote, “Honestly, he played it badly. Negotiation is fine but flipping offers like poker cards kills trust he didn’t lose a job he lost credibility and that’s much harder to earn back.”
“this kind of negotiations has become a matter of pride amongst engineers now, just like any marketplace. And it works for them, no doubt, but it eradicates the sanctity of workplace. Leaving a place for better opportunity is not wrong, but this is different,” commented another.
“Unfortunately such "skills" have long been branded as being smart. I see people giving interviews of companies they're sure of not joining for the sake of "experience". A little of ethics and empathy and both sides could be at peace,” said a third user.
“I would really like to have some database where such candidates are marked with some red flag for this kind of behaviour… and every employer can refer this database in future before releasing offers,” commented one user.
