Hello, I’m a software engineer who got a verbal job offer from Cisco a month ago. The recruiter told me to wait a few months to get an official offer since the company is currently assessing their budget for the new year.
Can I expect an offer in the coming two months? Or is this common practice at Cisco with no follow up?
Don't believe it. I was in a similar situation and went through round after round of interviews. Liked in every single one and could easily fill the position. The manager called me on a weekend that she was hiring me. 2 weeks go by, 3, then I call her. She said she is finalizing with HR. Then a layoff comes. She contacts me 2 weeks after that and says it has to be a contractor position. Because of that, I was simply going to work for a paycheck. The night before I was to start, I received an incredible offer from another company. I called the contracting agency, left a message I would not being coming. I had 20 messages from Cisco managers stating I wasted their time and I would be blacklisted from working there. I contacted the HR team on the Monday morning I was to start, told them of the unprofessional messages, gave them the time and phone numbers from the messages. I told them the reason for me deciding not to show up and that I was verbally offered a full time position, that it was pulled, and I could only be a contractor. Needless to say, a whole sh-t storm started because of it and those managers were reprimanded because what was left on my voicemail was grounds for suit.
Yeah, New Year is a lie. HOWEVER, there is a lot of horse trading going on at the moment with headcount recs. Basically, they are all being slow walked or stalled.
Thank you all for the feedback. Will reach out to the recruiter in this coming week!
I've known people accept an offer from Cisco, resign their position from their previous employer and then be LR'd before Day 1 at Cisco whilst on gardening leave from their previous employer.
OP, run a mile. Sprint.
if you have a better offer, take that.
if you don't, i've seen lots of people use cisco as a backup and still win on their way to the better job. so take it anyway and keep looking. sure as he-l beats staying here for a long-term career, they won't give you one.
This is becoming common practice in Tech. MSFT does this. They build the bench and give an offer as soon as a spot opens.
I doubt this is what CSCO is doing. They literally don’t know if they’ll have budget. Cuts are monthly.
NOTHING IS STOPPING YOU FROM PURSUING BETTER JOBS.
You obviously read this board, keep looking because if you are hired, you have zero job security if you are in the US or EMEA.
I haven't heard of this. How long has it been since a verbal offer ? The written offer should ideally be in your inbox within days. That's when you start the negotiations. Months is too long and not a great look. Call the recruiter
Has anyone here ever been told they'll get an offer 3+ months after interviewing?
That’s a stunt that HR does to freeze you from pursuing other opportunities while they still looking at other candidates
Unfortunately our interviewing/recruiting process is absolutely horrible. All too often we leave candidates in the dark.
As someone else said - never resign from anywhere until you have a written letter and even then do it gracefully just in case. It is not unheard of to see letters recinded.
Headcount is a quarter to quarter thing not an annual thing. We are currently in Q2 (end in January). I suspect that they may not know if the headcount is funded for Q3 until sometime in January.
I recommend you speak w/the recruiter and ask for those details. Our Fiscal Year and Quarters are secret. It should be a simple fact based conversation.
This is a great place to work!
...since the company is currently assessing their budget for the new year.
The company's fiscal year starts in August, not January, so this is definitely a red flag. Cisco has been doing layoffs as often as quarterly since 2001 so even if budget appears for a February hire the same team may be asked to cough up a list of bodies for the next layoff only months later.
If they're offering great new development work, you better have extremely good reasons to believe that's not a bait and switch. For many of us it was a perpetual "you'll get that great work soon! We just have to help this team get over the hump first!" Cisco isn't the only company that does this, but I've never see it to this degree elsewhere.
Super suspicious.... Will depend on WHO from Cisco gave you a verbal job offer, and their rank and file? Recruiter can say anything. Did they send any email of this intention.
Cisco cannot have fund allocated for a position more than a quarter... so extremely low probability.
Dont join!!
No matter where you are joining, never serve your notice/resignation until you have the new offer letter, in writing, signed by you, counter-signed by the company, and all conditions on the offer are formally lifted (i.e. criminal background check, university degree validation, etc.) and the new company has emailed you confirming they've lifted the conditions and the offer is now unconditional. Anything less than this, and you're inviting a world of hurt (i.e. laid off on first day of work, offer rescinded right after you quit your current company, etc.).
1 month with no follow-up? Sounds super sketch for any reputable Fortune 500 company or equivalent. Reach out to your recruiter.
Yeah that sounds super sketchy, I would not stop interviewing. Lots of things can change on the hiring side.
sounds fishy. I wonder if the req is approved or if something changed. I would ask them directly. Try to get them on the phone tok