Question
Have you ever seen a situation where a person takes an offer for a new job at another company and someone at his old company tries to block the hire? I mean, they call the new employer and spread negative or untrue things about the candidate to make the new employer cancel the new job offer. Does this really happen? Isn’t it illegal?
Nick’s Reply
Yes, it really happens. I’m not a lawyer but trying to sabotage a job offer may constitute tortious interference with your job search. It could even be a case of defamation. Depending on the circumstances, you may want to consult an attorney that specializes in employment law.
Honest but negative feedback (“she was often late”) is usually legal, even if it hurts the candidate’s chances. But sometimes a call made to a person’s new employer is malign retaliation (anger over the employee leaving), or it’s about fear of losing talent, or even industry competitiveness. While not every negative comment is illegal, false or malicious statements can cross into defamation or unlawful interference with “prospective economic advantage.”
A great new job
I once placed a Vice President of Engineering from Florida in a great job in San Jose. The offer was considerably more money but the VP’s teen-aged kids were still in school and Mom was hesitant. So the new company flew the couple in so they could look at homes — and added a very generous relocation that included buying their Florida home, paying points and closing costs on a new San Jose home, and payment of mortgage interest for the first five years. The company really wanted the candidate. The entire family agreed to move over 3,000 miles and to change their lives. The once skeptical wife became my biggest fan and the candidate was elated.
He was so elated that he ignored my stern warning not to disclose to anyone where he was going. His ego got the best of him and he bragged to his industry friends before he left Florida. “Someone” called the CEO of the new company days before the candidate moved his entire family, and left a message saying, “The guy has certain connections you should be very worried about.”
The risks and costs of bragging
The concerned CEO called me asking what it was all about. “I expect you to get to the bottom of this, or I’m going to have to withdraw the offer!”
I spent two days playing detective. The candidate worked for a company in what was then referred to as “the spook industry.” That is, these were companies that manufactured very sophisticated surveillance and intelligence gathering equipment for government agencies. (The new employer was not involved in such cloak-and-dagger electronics.) I learned there was a small, tightly knit enclave of these companies in Florida that didn’t want him to leave. The “someone” that made the call regarded my candidate as disloyal to their insular little industry.
The candidate had a very awkward talk with the CEO and the deal went through. Everything worked out, otherwise he (and I) would have been screwed.
Play it safe: don’t disclose your new job
I always warn candidates: Tell no one where you’re going until you are firmly and safely settled in your new job.
How to Say It
“My headhunter will not let me disclose where I’m going, but I value our friendship, so I’ll be in touch soon after I’m settled.”
Having the rug pulled out from under you like this is rare. Very rare. But you are nonetheless wise to worry about it. Here’s why. My rule to never, ever, ever tell anyone where you’re going to work next is based on a bigger, more general rule:
When the likelihood of a very bad event is tiny, but the potential consequences are colossal — don’t take the risk.
You posed your question as an hypothetical. I hope you didn’t lose a good new job because you casually told your old employer where you were going. Even if the chances are very small that someone is going to try to harm you, it’s not worth it. Even if nuking your new job is illegal, the costs of trying to recover the losses can be colossal, too. Be careful, folks!
For more surprising tips about how to stay out of trouble when leaving a job, see The 6 Gotchas of Goodbye.
Have you ever lost a hard-won new job because someone you bragged to scuttled it? Is my rule worth following? What else can happen that might result in the unfortunate loss of a new job opportunity?
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Everything stated here is true. I witnessed this first-hand. Situation was the leadership insisted to know where the person (Consultant) was going as they have a Restraint of Trade. The Executive then picks up the phone and calls the new employer – exactly how you shared it in the article – badmouthing the Consultant with a caution – “problematic employee” “making a mistake by hiring” AND tried to extract a recruitment fee for the person… etc. Such a cruel and heartless thing to do. That made me super uncomfortable with this leadership and I left in my due course, to also be pursued relentlessly with their ROT. What a terrible experience, but have earned my stripes and it hasn’t changed me as a human being, they could not steal my light and soul. That employee and I have kept our friendship much longer than that work relationship anyway.
Early in my career I interviewed for a job and was asked where else I was interviewing. I mentioned the only other company I had actively interviewed with (and was told by them that I was their number one candidate). I was subsequently ghosted by the second company. I ended up accepting a position with the company in question and found out soon that my new boss’s wife was a recruiter. I am sure that she sabotaged my prospects with the second company.
@Richard: That’s unforgivable.
There’s a related unethical practice the worst recruiters will engage in. They ask for your references early in the process (which is normally a good thing) then they will recruit them for the same job they’ve pitched to you.
“When the likelihood of a very bad event is tiny, but the potential consequences are colossal — don’t take the risk.”
True in many, many industries as well as life in general.
@Chris S: That’s why I called it a bigger, more general rule. Behavioral economics tells us that we humans are terrible judges of odds and outcomes.
E.g., what are the odds of getting killed when running a red light? Probably pretty small. But would you do it?
My experience in this area says to be cagy especially HR. I have used the tactic of informing a prospective employer that I had options without nentioning names and was not going to wait out their liesurly decision process.
@Felix: If you can get away with that, good for you for doing it! The lopsided power in job interviews needs some adjustment.
Nick,
Totally agree with you. Many, many people are very, very jealous and often do what they can to spoil your success. This is a case where being paranoid is a good thing.
My personal experience dates back into the 80’s when women in business (finance and banking) was still a novelty and entitled men were proudly overt jerks. Now they seem to think they’re extremely clever and no one will get it.
@Marilyn,
Many years ago I attended a half-day presentation by Tom Peters, who was then perhaps the #1 biz guru in America. Tom was notorious for using decks of 400+ slides when presenting. One factoid that has stayed with me: women are the #1 decision makers when it comes to spending consumer money. Tom harped on that and told us that if we don’t get that one critical fact, the economy will pass us by.
That factoid led me to pay more attention to the roles women play. I’ve come to the opinion that women are better at almost everything than men — except getting paid for it. But that’s changing.
Once again, Nick, I totally agree though I may die before that happens. ;(
I wait at least three months before going public with a new job.
By that time, I will have established myself the the would-be saboteur would appear silly.
Nothing to be gained from disclosing sooner.
An aside: This is also why I decline Exit Interviews. And if I am compelled (like in order to collect my last paycheck), I give top marks, and not it was required. Among the many things that do not benefit me, a vindictive manager or executive is one of them (even if the likelihood is small).