Ask HN: Ever be verbally told you got the job, then no firm offer?
How'd you handle it being told you got the job, but took awhile (or forever) to get the actual firm offer?
There is the argument to be made that an interested applicant should follow up, etc, but I look at all the interactions in the interview process as part of the negotiation. So I want to be careful of the message I send either via reaching out, or via my silence.
Monday I got an equitable offer from a company I'm more interested in working for and I've been riding high all week.
YMMV.
Of course, if you do finally get the offer in writing, good for you. The question is should you wait or move on. That will depend on where you stand. If you need a job asap, then keep looking. If not, you may wait for the confirmation in writing.
in the meantime, do not let up on the job search.
this is the way things usually go (curious to know how much this jives with other people's experience):
- first step is they decide they'd like to hire you. ie, the "we'd like to go ahead and bring you on board / make you an offer." this is verbal, or sometimes via email. it is typical for them give a specific number at this time (edit: actually, i'd say this is pretty much what a 'job offer' is). you might or might not have discussed salary prior to this, but when they want to hire you, they will almost always start out with an explicit figure (it will be lower than you want 99% of the time).
- then, the salary negotation begins. eventually, after some back-and-forth (which can happen either in a single phone call, or can stretch out over weeks), both parties finally agree on a specific number for the salary, along with other aspects of the comp package including signing bonus, RSU payout/schedule, and other things like time off, etc etc. this all happens verbally normally.
- only when a salary/comp is agreed upon, would they send you a written offer letter -- this is usually done as a PDF emailed to you. until this happens, keep up the job hunt.
decide where you are in the above flow (if at all). if they have not uttered a specific, singular figure (and i suggest you let them do that first, no matter the circumstance -- but that's a different discussion), then the interview process is still going imo, and it might be worth a follow-up at some point, use your best judgment.
Def. happens... mainly with unprofessional start ups
I assumed it was a hard sell tactic (and red flag) and declined.