Everyone appreciates an offer that seems too good to pass up, but what if you were told you literally couldn’t decline? An employee in Vermont https://thenerdstash.com/tag/Vermont/ applied for a position within their company, located in another state. When things didn’t initially go as planned, they continued their job search elsewhere. However, the company’s hiring manager, who was also a coworker, unexpectedly contacted them with an offer for the original position. After some discussion, the applicant decided to decline because the recruiter appeared excessively pushy. In response, the hiring manager emailed back, stating that the applicant “wouldn’t be allowed to refuse the offer” because they had “verbally agreed” to accept.
“I never did any such thing,” the Vermont applicant asserted on Reddit. They explained that the dubious hiring manager insisted that no details of the offer were negotiable until a signature was provided, which they refused. The recruiter’s aggressive behavior alone was enough reason to reject the job. “Can this guy force me to take an offer I never signed?” they asked, perplexed by the entire situation.
Hiring manager refusing to let me decline a job offer.
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“No legitimate hiring process would ever impose this,” a top commenter stated, referring to the hiring manager’s insistence that nothing was negotiable before signing. “Yeah, they’re trying to force OP to take a bad offer,” another agreed. Some speculate that the sudden, forceful job offer stemmed from the hiring manager facing pressure to fill the vacant position, suggesting a desperate attempt to meet a quota. “That’s an immediate trip to HR for me,” one user commented.
“Reminds me of the shady car salesman https://thenerdstash.com/north-carolina-dealership-sells-customer-wrong-car-but-still-forces-them-to-pay-for-it-call-it-what-it-is-a-bait-and-switch/ who wants a deposit before they give you the final cost,” another user compared. “[It’s] 100% grounds to stop talking and walk away.” It’s clear that such a situation warrants immediate withdrawal. After all, signing before negotiating terms is the antithesis of proper contract handling. “That would be slavery otherwise lol smh,” a user remarked.
Fortunately, the company’s hiring manager lacks the legal authority to take action against their coworker for declining the position. However, encountering an offer that feels impossible to refuse should raise a significant red flag. Even in cases where a specific job is highly desired, such pressure is sufficient cause to walk away.