Company headhunts job candidate only to retract an offer after they've already signed their contract: ‘Enjoy paying me my 4-week notice period salary’

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Jan 5, 2026 10:00 AM EST

The job market is unrelenting, humiliating, and entitled. You spend days, weeks, or even months competing for a job, only to realize that the company is hiring internally. Recruiters bait-and-switch like no tomorrow, and you somehow seem both over- and underqualified. Don't ask me how that makes sense; it just does. If you've unfortunately been a witness to the job market in recent months or years, then you know what I'm talking about.

You spend hours perfecting the perfect resume, utilizing free and paid tools to ensure that a company's ATS picks yours out of the thousands of resumes they receive weekly. SEO isn't limited to editorial; you also need to be privy to popular word choice, even though you're applying for a software engineering job. Wake up and smell the resumes, everybody. This is the new normal.

Let's say that you finally land the interview. All goes well! You even somehow chum it up with the hiring manager and the person who works above them. Your handshake is perfectly firm, so as not to emanate a "beta" vibe. Yuck, but true. Now, the final hurdle is securing the written contract. Nowadays, verbal offers hold no merit, and you must wait for the contract to be sent to you. HR finished the background check; you have a concrete and binding contract. These are the rules.

You get the contract. You feel the weight of the world fall off your shoulders. Is this what heaven feels like? Should you go and buy a bottle of Moët & Chandon expeditiously? You've earned it! As soon as the champagne touches your lips, you feel a sense of impending doom. Is this too good to be true?

Your new employer seems to think so. Your offer, which was only just given to you, is retracted. How could this be? You were overqualified?! Scroll to read about this scenario below.

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  • a female job candidate sitting at a desk in front of another older woman employee
    via Andrej Lišakov For Unsplash+

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • "So the company that headhunted me is now telling me I'm not qualified after I already signed the contract."

    I had to leave a job I loved right before New Year's because the entire leadership team completely imploded
    via pew-saltine7x
  • About two months ago, a recruiter contacted me after finding my CV on a major job board.
    via pew-saltine7x
  • They wanted to interview me for a Lead Project Coordinator position. I know this job like the back of my hand.
    via pew-saltine7x
  • For over ten years, I've worked as a senior technician on countless projects, always reporting directly to the project coordinators.
    via pew-saltine7x
  • I don't have a four- year university degree, but I have a ton of practical experience certifications and licenses in the field that are 100% relevant to the job.
    via pew-saltine7x
  • The interview itself was honestly a joke. HR asked me about 3 generic questions and that was it.
    via pew-saltine7x
  • No one from the technical or project teams was even on the call. They offered me the job less than an hour after the interview.
    via pew-saltine7x
  • a female job candidate shaking hands with a recruiter during an interview
    via Andrej Lišakov For Unsplash+

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • So I went through all the procedures, passed the medical exam, signed the contract, everything. I was getting ready to head to the site, and suddenly HR calls me asking for a copy of my engineering degree.
    via pew-saltine7x
  • I explained to them that I don't have that degree, and never claimed I did.
    via pew-saltine7x
  • My CV, the one they found and contacted me about, clearly states all my trade qualifications.
    via pew-saltine7x
  • And now they're accusing me of 'misleading' them and wasting the company's time. Well, good luck to them.
    via pew-saltine7x
  • Let them enjoy paying me my 4- week notice period salary for a job I'm way overqualified for and will now never start.
    via pew-saltine7x
  • Sant100008 Did you fill out an application? All the organizations that I have applied for, the application is completed at time of applying or when the offer is made so they can legally verify all your information that you listed on the application, such as schooling. A lot of companies will allow experience in lieu of a degree.
    via Sant100008
  • YoDeYo777 Lawyer time. Rarely needed but this would be the type of situation
    via YoDeYo777
  • AbracadabraMagicPoWa I believe OP and can absolutely see the company having a rule about degrees but HR and the recruiter missing it. People make mistakes, even ones like this and some companies really do insist on certain degrees to qualify (reasonable or not). The fact they offered OP a job with such a limited interview process and poor vetting is a huge red flag. To make it worse, they are handling their mistake terribly. OP, this s ks but honestly this new company looks like a shit show. I k
    via AbracadabraMagicPoWa
  • theoldman-1313 Unfortunately, this story is very believable. HR departments are made up of people and sometimes those people see what they want to see. And I can easily believe that they saw a perfect candidate who surely must have a degree because they were otherwise perfect. And I know for a fact that when a company decides that a degree is required no amount of competence will dissuade them. I sympathize with OP's frustration, but it works like he has a clear understanding of the realities of
    via theoldman-1313
  • leondanielstar9999 Wow that's harsh. The way they handled it though proves that they probably aren't very serious or good to work with anyway. They should've double check with you on degree if it was so important, much earlier in the process. Sorry and good luck with whatever comes next for you!
    via leondanielstar9999

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recruiter jobs toxic-workplace employee stories headhunter entitled people
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