Searching for a new job is usually a private matter until an employee is ready to share the news. But one Reddit user says an unexpected phone call at his workplace left him wondering whether a recruiter had crossed a line after he turned down a job offer.
The man shared his experience online, explaining how he rejected an offer because the salary did not match what had been discussed earlier. What happened the next day, however, caught him completely by surprise and sparked a debate among Reddit users.
He Turned Down The Offer Over Pay
According to the Reddit post, the candidate had spent nearly two months interviewing with a mid-sized SaaS company. The hiring process included four rounds of interviews as well as a take-home assignment.
When the company finally made an offer, he said the proposed salary was much lower than expected. The candidate claimed the package was around Rs 18,000 below the minimum amount discussed during the initial stages of the hiring process.
Despite his disappointment, he said he declined the offer politely and thanked the company for considering him. He also explained that the salary did not meet his expectations.
An Unexpected Call Raised Concerns
The following day, the man said his current manager called him in for a conversation and asked whether he had been looking for another job. According to the Redditor, someone had contacted the company’s main office line asking to speak with HR regarding employment verification.
Before the call reached HR, his manager reportedly intercepted it and questioned him about it. Caught off guard, the employee said he tried to explain the situation by suggesting it might have been linked to an old rental application or a previous background check.
Although he had no proof that the recruiter was behind the call, he found the timing difficult to ignore. “I don’t know for certain it was the recruiter. But the timing is insane,” he wrote.
He added that he had not recently applied for other jobs. While he had never directly shared his employer’s details during the interview process, the information was available on his LinkedIn profile and had also appeared on his original application.
Reddit Users Weigh In
The candidate admitted he was struggling to understand why anyone would make such a call if it had indeed come from the recruiter. “What would even be the motivation here? Spite?” he asked, while seeking advice from other users.
Many people shared their opinions in the comments section. A user wrote, “You should call the HR dept of the org you interviewed with, seeking to verify the employment of your interviewer.”
Another commented, “I’m a Recruiter and this was 100% spite.” A person suggested, “If you’re in this situation you can just say “weird, someone reached out to me with a job offer yesterday but I turned it down. Maybe it’s from that?””
“Just deny it. They cant prove anything,” another person wrote. A comment read, “This is professional suicide for a recruiter to do. It betrays confidence and can permanently damage their reputation and credibility. Unfortunately you ran into someone with mental problems because this is an absolutely crazy thing to do.”