Friday, May 16, 2008

Never, ever, ever. . .

. . .rescind a job acceptance. Seriously. If you think backing out of an offer you have accepted goes over lightly, I am here to tell you it does NOT. Perhaps I am immensely bitter because this particular position had taken forever to fill. I went through no less than 15 interviews and spent months finding the right candidate. Know that an agency works very hard to get to the point where they extend an offer. Even more so an agency that is part of a national or global conglomerate, where layers of approval run thick.

But really, that's not the point. So what I worked hard and my agency is big and it took a long time to find the right person and I was extremely relieved to fill the job. So what for all that. The point is, despite working in a very expansive industry, we are all connected in ways that are getting smaller and smaller. Technology and social networking sites make certain of that.

I will curse your name. I will tell people. I will work somewhere else at some point. So will the people I tell and they too will remember your name (well, maybe they won't but it adds to this dramatic moment). Just bad news all around. We are all part of the six degrees of separation within the advertising industry, and that means my friends (my
recruiter friends) know your friends and may even know you (and I made certain of that).

If you are trolling for a counter from your own agency, just putting your feelers out, or testing the job market to see what you are worth, whatever, then don't accept the job in the first place. It's very painful for the agency who full well expects that your acceptance means you are 2 weeks out from becoming an important part of their creative team.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree 100% with Cecilia on this. Courtesy and tact go a long way in this business. If you are trolling to understand your compensation or job duties relative to other shops, by all means set up an informational interview instead. Those of us in positions of recommending and hiring often rely on gut instinct, and less obvious clues to tell us what we need to know about the caliber of any given individual. All things being equal, I'll take the guy (or gal) that sends a Thank You card, and takes the time to prepare questions about the shop. Backing out may be a legitimate response to an unforeseen circumstance, but be sure to explain your rationale in such a way that it stands up to scrutiny or you will be remembered, but not for the reasons you think.