Upstart Reneged Verbal Offer

Apr 29 26 Comments

TLDR Version: Upstart made me a verbal offer and pulled the offer under really odd circumstances.

I interviewed for a Senior SWE position back in April and I thought all rounds went fairly well. I received a verbal offer and provided a couple references so they could move forward with a formal offer. The team I interviewed for had filled by this time so I met with another PM for a different team. This meeting seemed to go well and the understanding afterwards was that I would join their team.

After about a week of Upstart dragging their feet I reached out to the recruiter to see the status of the offer. They replied that one of my references was so-so and that they were trying to determine how to proceed as apparently this hadn't happened before. I offered some additional references but they countered with me having an additional interview round with a director. At this point I was a little nervous as I provided references from my existing workplace but the recruiter re-assured me that this was likely a formality. I accepted and did the interview with the director, to me this was one of my strongest interviews of the entire process.

I got a reply two hours later with a standard rejection email. I reached out for feedback and I never heard anything back again.

When I reached out to my "so-so" reference to figure out what went wrong he was completely baffled. He seemed to think he gave nothing but extremely positive feedback to the PM who interviewed him (the same one that I spoke with earlier). It's possible he said something they didn't like but honestly I believe him much more than I believe Upstart.

I'm trying to understand for my own sanity what I could have done differently. Maybe the second PM didn't want me on their team but didn't want to say so? Maybe they had better candidates interview after they already made me a verbal offer? Anyone ever has something like this happen?

If I were to do it all over again I think I would avoid giving current company references, this put me in an extremely awkward position with my current job.

TC: 160

#Upstart

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 TOP 26 Comments
  • Upstart
    ๐Ÿ™ˆโค๏ธโ€๐Ÿฉน

    Go to company page Upstart

    ๐Ÿ™ˆโค๏ธโ€๐Ÿฉน
    This post is exaggerated. You don't have a "verbal offer" just because you passed a round. References always come before anyone decides to make an offer.
    May 3 8
    • Upstart
      kelp tower

      Go to company page Upstart

      kelp tower
      It sounds like the panel or HM probably felt you were slightly below the bar due to some concern and hoped to clear that up either through references or this extra interview. I think it's really hard to tell what a "good reference" is. When I check references as a HM, I usually ignore the references overall assessment and look for specifics. A good reference question is one where the reference doesn't know what the right answer is, so they have to answer honestly. I'd also not that it's not surprising they didn't share more specific feedback about the reference. A candidate can easily change answers in non-technical interviews if they have details on concerns. There's also no way we would schedule an extra round knowing you wouldn't pass. Everyone is busy and that's just a huge waste of everyone's time.

      All that said, I would have hoped you had gotten more feedback after the process was over.
      May 4
    • @kelp tower can you share some insight about engineering culture and wlb? Especially QAs team , I'm in the last round of interviews and such info would be helpful :)
      May 4
  • Upstart is a shit company and they did the same thing with me as well. I avoid it like plague.
    Apr 29 3
  • Wow now you scared me. I have onsite next week, Is the referrances a must?
    Apr 29 2
  • Upstart
    dodhufcjud

    Go to company page Upstart

    dodhufcjud
    I am very sorry that happened to you. Do share the team you interviewed with, the least they should do is to give you sensible feedback
    May 2 2
    • Your interview process is pathetic, they open and close the rounds with recruiters and they talk very nice and tell us no matter what we give feedback and why choose the feedback but feels like a just a sales people who answer only when they see some benefit. In fact I didnโ€™t even applied, they reached out to me. Your on-site is 5 rounds plus 30 min recruiter open/close without any break, after spending so much time atleast they should answer. More than 10 of my friends were looking for jobs at that time and told everyone to avoid upstart like plague and even though they want to apply based on my experience they skipped it. We are all landed at better companies than upstart(even though it might not our choice)
      May 2
    • Upstart
      Tacticians

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      Tacticians
      Wait 5 rounds without any break? You absolutely can have breaks and most people do have it spread out 2-3 days. What team was this
      May 3
  • Meta
    chickofley

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    chickofley
    I think you dodged a bullet. Imagine having to work with such idiots. I hate when companies take so much of oneโ€™s time and do not have the courtesy to at least chat about why one wasnโ€™t a good fit for the team.
    Apr 29 0