If you just had your tentative job offer rescinded, you may be very confused.
Before going into the reasons an offer can be rescinded, I will explain exactly what a tentative job offer is.
A tentative job offer is the initial offer of employment but is subject to the completion of all pre-employment requirements. The pre-employment requirements vary based on position. Some examples of the requirements that might be required of you are, additional paperwork, background investigation, physical, drug screen, and credentialing. For a more detailed explanation of the pre-employment requirements check out this video.
Since the tentative job offer is dependent upon completion of all pre-employment requirements, failing even just one will likely lead to your offer being rescinded. The background investigation is probably the requirement that makes people the most nervous and is the cause of a few offers that I have personally rescinded.
The background investigation is a combination of fingerprints and the eQIP online questionnaire. The fingerprinting portion collects your criminal and sometimes financial history. The fingerprints are electronic and used in conjunction with your social security number and date of birth to find everything that is available in your past.
The eQIP is an online questionnaire where you will enter all of your previous employment and residential history. There are also questions about criminal history but are yes and no responses. When you complete your eQIP it is compared to your resume and the OF-306. If your employment history in eQIP does not match your resume it will require an explanation and correction. Same thing with the OF-306. The OF-306 is where you identify any past criminal history. If the answers in eQIP don’t match your OF-306 it will require an explanation and correction.
Where the issue with the background investigation lies, is when something is discovered during the fingerprinting process that is not disclosed on the OF-306 or eQIP. This can signal a lack of integrity and provides justification to rescind a tentative offer. Many people are afraid that if they have any criminal history at all that they will be automatically disqualified. This is not even close to being true.
You would be surprised at the issues some government employees have in their past. Just having some criminal history is not automatically disqualifying. If you do have a history it will be reviewed to determine if you are able to be employed. The things the adjudicator is looking for is how recent your last offense was, how serious that offense was, and if you have a pattern of offenses.
The investigator will look at the last 3 years to see what your recent criminal history looks like. Anything in that window will be reviewed. If it is something like drinking and driving it may not be an issue, unless it is not your first offense. This is where the pattern comes in. If you have multiple arrests for the same offense it will show a pattern. If you were arrested 10 years ago for drinking and driving and received a second offense 5 years later, it shows a pattern. What the adjudicator will say is you were likely drinking and driving the entire 5-year period but only got caught twice.
Any single offense is only potentially disqualifying depending on the severity, and if the offense is related to the job. Sticking with drinking and driving. Drinking and driving may not be disqualifying for everyone, but if the job you were selected for requires you to drive or operate machinery, then it could be disqualifying. There is one type of crime that could be disqualifying for almost anyone, and that is any violent crime.
Violent crimes receive the most scrutiny. If someone is considered violent that behavior could rise in any situation. For that reason, any violent crime could cause someone to have their tentative offer rescinded.
The next primary source of offers being rescinded is due to a failed physical. If someone is unable to pass the physical requirements of the position, then they cannot safely perform the duties of the job. There are some items that could be accommodated to allow someone to have their duties modified, or to have some restrictions. If this is possible then a person can continue through the process. If accommodations or restrictions are not possible, the job offer will be rescinded.
Also, part of the physical, the drug screen could cause the tentative offer to be rescinded. Any failed drug screen is grounds for removal. The removal applies to the pre-employment process and also current employees.
The last requirement that could cause an offer to be rescinded is credentialing. Credentialing only apples to applicants that have specific education or license requirements. If education or licensure is unable to be verified or if education was not accredited, then the offer can be rescinded. Even negative references from past employers gathered as part of the credentialing process can result in the removal of a tentative offer.
Other than failing a pre-employment requirement there are a couple other ways to have an offer rescinded. One is by you delaying the process and the other is a lack of funding at the facility.
At any time, the facility could pull funding from a particular position and reallocate it somewhere else. There have been many times when a hiring freeze has been implemented due to budget issues. When this happens, it is possible the facility director will order tentative offers to be rescinded because the facility would not be able to afford bringing the applicants onboard.
One final reason for an offer being rescinded is if you delay the process for too long. If an applicant does not return their paperwork timely or misses several appointments to complete pre-employment requirements, then the offer can be rescinded. When an offer is rescinded for this reason it is never out of the blue. HR will notify the applicant of pending requirements and provide deadlines for completion. If you do not meet the deadline, then your offer could be rescinded.
No matter the reason for having an offer rescinded human resources will be required to send out a notice. The notice may not contain a lot of detail but will at minimum address the reason. It could something as simple as, “Your offer was rescinded for failing the physical.” It will not say what part of the physical you failed, just that you failed. Many times, the person in HR is not given the exact details for privacy reasons. They are just notified that the applicant did not pass.
To get the details of why your offer was rescinded you can file a Freedom of Information Act request, or FOIA. This can be filed with the privacy officer of the facility you were originally selected for. The privacy officer will then gather the information and provide it to you.
There are two points that I will close with. One, if you know you have some criminal history or may have issues with the pre-employment requirements do NOT let it stop you from applying. It doesn’t cost you anything but time to apply and see what happens.
Two, just because your offer was rescinded for this position does not mean that you are automatically disqualified from applying in the future. Depending on the reason, you could still be considered for other positions.
Using the physical as a example. Failing the physical for one position just means you can’t do that particular job. There are many other positions that don’t have physical requirements that you could also be qualified for.
Don’t let having your offer rescinded get you down. If you truly want to work for the federal government keep applying until told otherwise.
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