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I am currently in the process of getting a job at a small company. I have known the owners of the company for a while, and they have expressed interest in hiring me.

My problem is that they are often unreliable when it comes to scheduling phone calls, answering questions, and delivering paperwork. I often have to message them several times before they get back to me, and when they do get back to me, they often don't give me a concrete date and time for future events. When they do, they sometimes miss them. I'm constantly unsure of when important things will happen.

I need to get some documents signed by the end of the week. They understand this, but have not been replying to my messages. I was supposed to get them several days ago, and I haven't heard from them since.

If I don't sign this document by the end of the week, I will need to sign a similar document with a different company, which could cause issues with me working with them.

What should I do here? What is a respectful, effective way to:

  • Ask them to hurry up
  • Ensure that things actually get scheduled
  • Ensure they honor their own commitments
  • Ask them about the status of certain things that are taking a long time
  • Make it clear that it's frustrating for me when things like this happen
  • Message them again, after they have not responded to my previous message in a timely manner
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    why would you want to work for these people?
    – Kilisi
    Commented Oct 15, 2018 at 1:59
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    @Kilisi This is one of the few companies that is hiring in the field that I specialize in. There are also many resources that would be available to me if I were to work for them. I like almost everything else about the company and the owners.
    – user93390
    Commented Oct 15, 2018 at 2:09
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    There are also many resources that would be available to me if I were to work for them. Are you certain this will be the case given what you now know about how they operate? Will you actually have access to these resources or will you only have access to them after they make phone calls and sign off on paperwork for you to get them?
    – BSMP
    Commented Oct 15, 2018 at 6:03
  • I notice you say "message" - are we talking about instant or text messaging? These haven't really caught on as a priority method of business communication, and as it's something formal like a job application you might be better with email/letter or a telephone call. Or, better still, both. If they don't respond to those, that tells you something about the company that other comments have already covered.
    – ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere
    Commented Oct 15, 2018 at 7:14

3 Answers 3

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IMHO, simple answer DON`T!!!

Flakiness at this stage gives you the glimpse on the things to come.

How do you think they going to handle things that are important to them?

What about you salary negotiations in the future?

By moving to different prospect you save yourself. :)

But, it is, ultimately, your decision

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If they can't even get their act together enough to get your contract signed, then that's a very very big red sign. You could have said "I need to have this contract signed by the end of the week, or I will sign elsewhere", if you wanted this job. And since this seem to be not about the decision to hire you or not, but just about someone putting his pen on the paper, you could have said "I need this signed tomorrow, or I will sign elsewhere".

If you have another job lined up, and it isn't significantly worse, take it.

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The best advice is to always follow your guts. If you got "vibes" about the place, simply do not work there. No matter what anyone tells you otherwise.

With that said, my opinion is that the company sounds small. Very small. Phonecon is usually horrible at these sort of shops. Matter of fact, I known local businesses I deal with who are impossible to get ahold of. One time I dropped off this item to be repaired and I had to constantly drive to the shop during lunch hours because they wouldn't answer the phone. I'm glad by that because it means they are concentrating on repairing my item which they did to the highest standard. With that said, this shop could be committed to their product rather than answering phone calls all day. Personally I wouldn't hold it against them nor press them about it.

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