Hi Rudolf, There a couple of NaP people on this list. I don't know if they can comment though. That said, I agree with Kieren. The simplest answer is usually correct. I know it doesn't make a difference to you as you feel jerked around, but NaP likely spent a lot of time and money interviewing people, working out logistics, planning. This wouldn't have been free for them to do.
It feels pretty crappy to be in your position - believe me I've been there more than once. I quickly learned that if you're unemployed, the right thing to do is take the first offer you get (or, the first good one if you can get a few in around the same time). Deal with the consequences of that later - at least you'll be eating and sleeping soundly. That said, if you're looking for work in the US, and you know PHP (sorry perl guys :) ), we're hiring at Etsy. Drop me a mail off-list if you're interested. And we're definitely up front about things! On Thu, Dec 8, 2011 at 10:13 PM, Rudolf Lippan <rlip...@remotelinux.com>wrote: > Good morning, Perl Mongers, > > This is a followup to my post to the Perl jobs-discuss mailing list. > Terrence picked it up here: > http://livingcosmos.posterous.com/beware-of-net-a-porter-perl-jobs and > the original can be found here: > http://www.mail-archive.com/jobs-discuss@perl.org/msg01469.html > > > About six weeks ago, I was contacted by a recruiter and asked if I was > interested in a team lead position in New Jersey, and so begins my story. > > I was wanting to get back into the community after a limiting contract, > but this wasn't really the sort of splash I hoped to make. I've never been > moved to do something like this in the 10+ years I've been programming > professionally. I've experienced some less than honest recruiting > techniques and companies that had no issue jerking people around, but I was > made aware this morning that there were at least two other Perl programmers > affected, including junior candidates that probably had more hanging on > this than I did. > > I sent the following list of events to both NET-A-PORTER and the > recruiting agency 7 Dec. Earlier today (8 Dec.), the recruiter called me > and confirmed this, point by point. NET-A-PORTER has, as of yet, not > replied. > > 1) That NET-A-PORTER was fully aware of the contract rate during the > interview > process. > > 2) That NET-A-PORTER selected me to lead their US team and I was asked to > wait > for final sign off. > > 3) That NET-A-PORTER was aware that I let another opportunity go based on > my > understanding that my employment was pending a 'final signature'. > > 4) That as a condition of final sign off NET-A-PORTER asked that, at the > end > of the 6 month contract period, I would be willing to accept $30K less > than > the original budgeted salary with the proviso that the salary would be > open > to renegotiation based on the market conditions at that time. > Furthermore > that I agreed to this. > > 5) That NET-A-PORTER decided to withdraw the position at this point and no > longer build out a US-based Perl development team. The reason given is > that > it would cost 1/2 as much to build out a team in the UK. > > For a company that espouses their programming culture and community > support, I can't understand how they could think this was even remotely > acceptable. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me. > The recruiter gave permission to share contact information with any > interested parties regarding this situation. > > I know I'm not in the UK but, short of trying for slashdot, I thought this > was the most appropriate venue for informing those who should be most aware > of their actions. > > -r >