Reasons you may need to retract the offer

There are many reasons you might need to withdraw a job offer. The most common reasons include the following.

You double-filled the position

This often happens due to lack of internal communication between recruiters, human resources and the hiring manager. If you’ve accidentally offered the position to two people, you need to inform one of them that you’re no longer able to offer them the job.

You’ve exceeded your budget

Your company may perform an internal budget review and determine that now’s not the right time to expand your workforce. This could happen during the middle of your recruitment process, and you’re suddenly no longer able to bring a new hire onto the team.

You sent the offer to the wrong candidate

Sending an offer to the wrong candidate can be embarrassing, and it’s usually due to a clerical error or miscommunication between members of the hiring team. If you’ve sent an offer to the wrong candidate, you need to retract the offer politely.

The position will be eliminated

Your company’s needs are constantly evolving, and you may have been instructed to recruit someone for a position that your managers have decided isn’t necessary any longer. Job seekers don’t like feeling as though they’ve been baited into a job that’s different than what you’ve advertised, so rather than trying to see if they fit somewhere else in the company, you should rescind the offer and invite them to apply for other openings if they wish.

You discovered inaccurate information or claims by the candidate

Sometimes candidates lie on their job applications, and you might have learned they don’t have the same experience and qualifications they said they did. You may also find that the candidate lied about their education, prior record,  or previous work experience. These are all reasons to retract an offer.

The candidate failed a screening test

If you made the job offer contingent upon the candidate passing a background and drug test, you can retract the offer if they don’t pass the screening. Drug use and failure to disclose past convictions on a job application show bad faith on the part of the applicant, so you’re within your rights to inform them that you’re not going to be working together.

The candidate’s social media posts conflict with your corporate ethics

You may feel that the candidate is a great fit for your company only to learn they’ve made controversial, racist or defamatory posts on their social media accounts. Many businesses withdraw job offers due to social media posts because of the potential liability of being associated with an employee who conducts themselves contrary to the company’s ethics and culture.

How to rescind an offer letter

If things didn’t work out with a potential new hire, it’s important to conduct yourself in a professional manner and maintain the person’s privacy when retracting the job offer. How you should retract the offer depends on whether the reason is internal or external. For example, if it was your company’s errors during the hiring process that resulted in the position being double-filled or the position will be eliminated, you should apologize for your mistakes and see if you can hire them in a different role.

If the reason is that the employee wasn’t forthcoming on their application or during the interview process, you should still be polite but also communicate that they won’t be able to apply for another position. It’s important that you retract the offer over the phone and through the mail to avoid miscommunications and legal action.

When you’re retracting the offer, include the following information:

• The candidate’s information and reasons for the retraction will be kept confidential
• The candidate’s right to challenge any derogatory information you found
• What information led to your decision, and where that information was obtained
• Whether the candidate is invited to apply for a different position at your company
• The name and contact information for the person the candidate can contact for more information

What information your recruiters need to know

If the reason you needed to rescind a job offer was due to an internal error, it’s a good idea to find out what went wrong and how you can improve your recruitment process. You should also make sure that everyone involved in the interview process is on the same page and knows how to handle any further communication with the candidate. The last thing that you want is for someone to receive contradictory statements from two different people inside your company.

The bottom line

Rescinding a job offer isn’t a pleasant experience for anyone involved. Handling it in the right manner could lead to a great candidate taking a different position within your company, so remain professional and courteous when you explain why the offer was retracted. If you find that you need to retract job offers due to miscommunication between members of your recruiting team, take the time to bring everyone back to the same page, and streamline your recruiting process so you avoid the same mistakes in the future.