Not offered, asked why, then offered a position?

Question

I recently applied for a position that I thought would be a great fit. I went through a few individual interviews and then proceeded on to a panel interview. The entire process I thought went very well and it was the first time I really got excited about a new job in a long time. Nothing caught me off guard or caused me any concern form both a personality or technical perspective. I was really pumped and waiting to hear back from recruiter. A few days later I received the classic rejection letter about moving forward with anthor candidate that was a fit. I was totally blown out of the water. Personally that probably sounds familiar to a lot of people and I have been passed over for roles before but in this case I really wanted this job. And for the first time I was going to respond to the email and asked the recruiter for any insight on why I wasn't choosen, professed how much I wanted the role and why I would be a good fit. That email was sent about 20 minutes after I received the rejection.Within 15 minutes I receive a call from the recruiter telling me that they would like to offer me the position. I was like "What"... Again I'm in total shock.... He jumped right away into the offer details that I would be recieving and never once mentioned what had just transpired. So once he was done I had to ask why did you send me that rejection letter? Was it a mistake? He said no. "It was a test to see how much you wanted the role".I've never heard of this tactic before and my emotions were all over the board during the call so I left at that. I haven't switch jobs in a few years so this is all new to me. Is this now a common practice? In hindsight I'm so glad I went back and asked the why question. Had I not and just blew it off it would have been a huge opportunity loss.

yesenadam · Accepted Answer

That reminded me of a much more extreme story from Derek Sivers' Your Music and People, although the situation is very different. In comparison, your recruiter's tactic seems very reasonable and makes perfect sense. Also, they might/should want employees who think outside the box, don't accept apparent limits etc. The story:
Repeatedly follow-up to show you care
I knew a music publicist in New York City when she was at the peak of her success. A few of her clients had hits, so everyone wanted to work with her. She was flooded with new music.
Here’s how she dealt with the flood:
Whenever someone sent their music, it would go into an inbox. That inbox was completely ignored.
Whenever someone contacted her to follow-up the first time, to ask if she’d received it, she would take their music out of that first inbox, and put it in a second inbox. That second inbox was also ignored.
Then if they followed-up with her a second time, asking again if she’d had the chance to listen, she would take their music out of the second inbox, and put it in a third inbox. That third inbox would get a listen if she had some spare time.
Finally, if they followed-up a third time, she would take their music out of the third inbox, and make it a priority to give it a real listen.
She saw the shocked look on my face, as she described her system. So she explained:
“I can’t listen to everyone, so I can’t know who’s got the best music. But the ones who follow-up show they’ve got the tenacity and drive to succeed. As long as their music is also good, then those are the ones I want to work with.”
It wasn’t ego. It was just a practical way to deal with a flood, and a pretty good filter for choosing new clients. Maybe nobody else has an official system like this. But unofficially, they do. Overwhelmed people don’t have time for all the random first-contacts. Patience and persistence separate you from the rest, and show how much you care.

PaulHoule · Answer

Many strange things happen in hiring processes like this: they interviewed persons A and B, made an offer to B, then B refused the offer, now they are desperate and A could get a second chance.If they "ghost" A they are in an easier position to make A an offer.

NtochkaNzvanova · Answer

That's skeezy as hell. This is definitely not common practice and I would consider it a huge red flag. I'd probably walk away myself, but if you're really into the job, I'd say don't accept the offer unless you can talk to someone higher up the chain and find out how endemic this type of dumbfuckery is in the company.

LaurenceW1 · Answer

I've never heard of this... seems toxic.

tartoran · Answer

Not sure if it was a mistake, it&rsquo;s possible you were the second choice and the first choice rejected the offer. Still, the reason they gave you seems absolutely bonkers. Do they want to receive an avalanche of emails asking why candidates weren&rsquo;t picked?

Not offered, asked why, then offered a position?

Many strange things happen in hiring processes like this: they interviewed persons A and B, made an offer to B, then B refused the offer, now they are desperate and A could get a second chance.
If they "ghost" A they are in an easier position to make A an offer.

I've never heard of this... seems toxic.

Not sure if it was a mistake, it’s possible you were the second choice and the first choice rejected the offer. Still, the reason they gave you seems absolutely bonkers. Do they want to receive an avalanche of emails asking why candidates weren’t picked?