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The new company I’m at now sent me an email from an email address that was HR@companyName.careers saying I was accepted for the position. They gave me paperwork to fill out and sign to accept the position
I fill out the paperwork and send it back to them and it goes through… then a few days later I go back to the email to say something else and I get this…?
Then today I got a check from the company In the mail to setup my home office, and it’s signed by someone I’ve never met before or heard of…?
What…..
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Hi Guys, I am 5.5 years Java Developer and I have offer from JPMorgan Chase and Walmart .
Jpmc: 50% on current fixed + jpmc benefits Walmrat: 50% on current fixed + yearly bonus + stocks.
Please help me choose which will be better, mainly looking for brand value, work life balance and yearly hikes.
Wish i made moreeeeeee money...
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That sounds like code for, “We realized we need to hire someone who has personal work experience and relationships with the very specific client we just landed.”
Exactly. I wouldn’t stress over it. It sucks but it happens and isn’t a reflection of you.
As a POC immigrant, and English being my second language, I’d say there’s definitely racism in the industry. White people just feel more comfortable hiring other white people, maybe they don’t do it consciously but it happens.
Having said that, the “looking for someone with more experience “ has become a very standard excuse for rejection, I don’t think that’s ever the reason tbh
They found someone cheaper.
100% this is NOT about salary.
They reevaluated the scope of the role and explored more serious candidates, but then decided that the scope of the role required someone with less experience. This is happening more and more in this industry. I've been approached 3 times recently for department head level roles or global client lead roles, and every time I've subsequently been told that they'd decided to downgrade the position to something more junior. It all boils down to cost. They don't care how good the work is, they just want it done for less. That's the industry we work in now.
Obviously I can’t comment to your experience or the size of the agency you applied to.
But from the what you have said, it sounds like they want someone with more seniority - ie skillset outside of strategy/planning experience. That could be areas such delegation, team direction, group lead, department vision x collaboration, client interaction, account growth, new business acquisition/initiatives, agency vision / development and so forth.
If you really want to glean specific insight, you could ask them what areas they feel you could develop in to meet these new specs. That way you can explore how. You can then grow in those areas for future SD roles and if you enjoy this agencies approach/work then potentially head back to them if another role opens or your experience develops.
It’s a tough ‘ol market anywhere atm and the hiring managers are spoilt for choice, while agencies are also cautiously navigating their next moves.
Good luck. Chin up and on to the next one.
You don’t need a deep dive on rejection. Sometimes a person was referred. Knows someone at the company. So many nuances. Internal hire/cheaper. Etc
They’re looking for someone less experienced and cheaper than someone of your experience… to saddle with a role which requires your level of experience… while billing them to the client as someone with your experience… and pocketing the difference as profit.
It’s a throwaway line, don’t read too much into it or overthink it.
Also note, it’s not always a fully linear correlation between years of experience and seniority level. We’ve all probably seen some superstars who risen up the ranks extremely quickly. It could also have meant more experience in a specific industry. Or maybe their first choice more senior candidate turned down the offer and who you saw publicly posted was the second choice.
At the end of the day, don’t stress over it. On to the next!
Same as others mentioned, don’t look too deep into it; companies rarely provide real feedback for legal and other reasons.
On a different note, as an immigrant, I don’t think the accents matter that much, but local experience will always be preferred (at least in the States).
Sometimes the person is more of a salary fit or culture fit. Keep pushing!
The found someone more Canadian. I have over 10 years of experience and 2 in Canada and have felt this, seen this and gone through this.
As a PoC head of strategy, it could very well be what you said (the accent) or it could be they wanted someone with 5 years experience in a Director role.
I have five directors on my team. The one who was hired in from an Associate Director role needs the most coaching. The ones who were already directors got up and running a lot faster.
That’s not a critique against the more junior person, but Director level roles can have a really wide range in terms of years of experience. They might not be lying about what they told you.
Do they have additional years of experience in other roles?
Also is the quoted line in your OP verbatim/copy pasted? Because if so, it could also be read as they were doing 2 things:
1. Reevaluating the scope of the role (in either a more junior or more senior direction)
2. Also interviewing candidates more senior than you
And ultimately landed with 1.a., a more junior candidate than you
If you have that much experience, consider starting your own thing. That’s the pathway to independence and freedom. Or at least it was for me and every other person I know who did so.
We’re surprised to read this comment as we haven’t been recruiting for a Senior Strategist role. To the person in question, please do check that you have left a review for the correct compan.