Job seekers: Stop using "family issues" as an excuse!

Firstly, I would like to apologise in advance for this column being a bit of rant.

This is a message for all job seekers in Singapore, who go through multiple interviews for a job, verbally agree to said job when it is offered, and even sign a contract - only to pull out no more than one working day before you are supposed to start because of "family issues".

You are unprofessional people who clearly enjoy wasting people's valuable time.

That might sound harsh, but let me go back to the beginning to explain my frustration. I'm sure there are hundreds of you out there with the same gripe.

This week, we've had it a bit rough. Without going into too much detail, we've been preparing for a few new hires to join our team, and we've been thrilled about finding the (seemingly) right people to fill our vacant roles.

As you in HR will no doubt appreciate, recruitment in Singapore is not exactly a walk in the park, and this process has taken a lot of time and resources. We were expecting a few new people to join us from next week.

So, you can imagine our surprise when we got a number of separate emails from our soon-to-be newest employees, which said something along the lines of:

"It is to my regret that I will need to terminate the employment contract with you, as there are some family issues that have cropped up. Thus, I seek your understanding that I WILL NOT be able to commence work."

(Side note: Don't use capital letters in an email. Just don't.)

I can understand why candidates would use the "family" excuse if they've perhaps changed their mind about starting a job - which I would imagine is what has happened here - to save face.

The excuse sounds legit. It also sounds like it could be an honourable thing to turn down a position to look after a sick family member. I get that the onus to look after sick relatives is often on the youngest family member, and so if this reason is true (I certainly hope some people wouldn't be immoral enough to make up a sick family member) then I can't fault you for doing what you need to do.

But when this exact same excuse happens not once, but THREE TIMES in one week, you can see why we'd start to get a bit pissed off, right?

Like "the dog ate my homework" or "I can't come in today, I have a headache" excuse, the trend of using family as a reason to pull out of a job (or for anything, really) is starting to look really, really suspicious.

But of course, the employer looks like the bad guy if they question someone's loyalty to their family.

For any candidates who have used, or are thinking of using this excuse as a reason why you can't start a job after you have signed your name to it, you are forgetting one important piece of logic: How on earth does a family member falling sick mean you can't start a job?

If someone is sick, surely you only need a couple of days to make sure they're okay and take them to the doctor? Even if it's something more serious, why can't you be upfront with your employer and ask whether it would work to shift your start date by one or two weeks?

This is why it's just not believable.

Candidates, just remember this: If someone has made the decision to hire you, they have seen potential in you and believe you are capable of many good things. Pulling something like this simply makes you look unprofessional, inexperienced and dishonest.

The silver lining is perhaps it's a bullet dodged for the employer, but it's also an incredible waste of time - especially because any runner-up candidates have likely already found new roles.

We're back to square one now with a number of positions, but maybe this time we'll find people who are professional enough to join our company.

Rant over.