Recruiter rejects candidate for 'offer shopping,' sparks heated debate

A viral post has started a debate on the ethics of hiring and job hunting

A recruiter has sparked a heated debate on social media after revealing that he rejected a candidate who was looking for a better offer while getting ready to join an organisation in two weeks.

Siddharth Sharma, an entrepreneur and former CTO of Shaadi.com, said he was on a call with a candidate regarding an open position when said candidate revealed he already had an offer in hand. The job seeker, it transpired, was looking for a better offer. If he managed to get one, he would refuse to join the company where he already had a position secured.

Sharma said he declined to continue with the call when made aware of the candidate’s intentions. In his post on X, the tech recruiter criticised job-seekers for “offer shopping,” saying the practice reeks of desperation.

“It reeks of desperation and tells the world that your word is worth nothing to you,” wrote Sharma. He continued saying he had never “shopped an offer” in his life, and neither had any other “elite player” he knew of.

Sharma ended his post with a word of advice for job seekers in tech: “Learn to program and to love programming. Go find others who love programming.”

Just met a candidate who said that they're due to join some place in 15 days and were looking for a better offer. I politely declined to continue the call.

Related stories

• 
  RBI hires 604 in 2024, lowest in four years
• 
  Recruiter's advice to professionals who've been job searching for a while: 'Be really, really open t...
• 
  Zomato’s Blinkit picks former Flipkart executive Vipin Kapooria as its CFO

Candidates, I understand the compulsions but offer shopping is not elite behaviour. It reeks of desperation and tells the…

— svs (@_svs_) April 8, 2024

Several people opined that the candidate was doing nothing different from what organisations regularly do - select the best candidate from several applications. Moreover, they pointed out, many organisations set arbitrary rules for candidates — like asking them to accept an offer within a small time frame or run the risk of said offer being rescinded.

Often, companies initially offer a job to candidates, only to later rescind their offer. As such, these candidates are left jobless. In a world where this practice is acceptable, there should be nothing objectionable about job-seekers looking for the best offer while job hunting.

I know a couple of folks, who after getting one offer stopped job hunting.
Their joining kept getting extended and eventually offer was revoked!

This is not offer "shopping", you need to primarily secure yourself as companies are not liable for any damage.

And I am saying this…

— Saurabh Kumar (@drummatick) April 8, 2024

“I know a couple of folks, who after getting one offer stopped job hunting. Their joining kept getting extended and eventually offer was revoked! This is not offer ‘shopping’, you need to primarily secure yourself as companies are not liable for any damage,” wrote one X user. “And I am saying this despite hiring people myself. Candidates should have the right to choose a secure place for themselves.”

you just made everyone reading this tweet including the candidate to not be open and honest about their situation.

it’s a market. companies come up with their own deadlines. “if you don’t accept this offer in 2 days, we will withdraw”. candidate has to accept if that’s his only…

— shree (@sreeenidhi) April 8, 2024

Lol. Companies can fire anyone when they undergo losses but candidates cannot have multiple offers at hand? https://t.co/rUV44eA4Wm

— Aritra Mustafi (@SkotMektominaj) April 8, 2024

Several people also pointed out that companies have the right to carry out mass layoffs when they want, therefore there should be nothing wrong with candidates looking out for their best interests.