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I had the same thing happen to me once, but this was with a huge school district of all things. They verbally offered me a job and I asked for a formal offer letter in writing. They told me that only teachers get written offers and no one had ever asked for one before (BS). I told them I couldn't accept the job without something in writing. Both HR and the hiring manager told me that I was being unreasonable and that offer letters are not the norm in the administrative offices of school districts. I politely declined the position and moved on.
The bottom-line is you shouldn't feel bad about this in the least. Unless I were unemployed, there is no way I would consider taking a job without an offer in writing. You could quit your job, start at the new one and the terms of employment (including pay) could be entirely different from what you were told.
The rebuttal to the hiring manager's comment about you not finding him trustworthy is that if he was trustworthy, there would be no reason not to put the offer in writing. Refusing to do so sends up all sorts of red flags.
If you had asked a larger company it would have been no problem. When you deal with small business owners you are often dealing with the "person" not a "business". It's hard for many small business owners to separate their personal feelings from the business.
As for getting it writing, I'll go against the majority here and say it doesn't matter. What does getting it in writing do for you? It's not like you have, at least in the vast majority of situations, especially in "right to work" states, any recourse if your written offer gets rescinded. Happens all the time. An employer can generally fire you at any time for any reason, including the first day you show up for work. So the only practical difference having that piece of paper makes is give you one more thing to whine about to your drinking buddies as you drown your worries away.
If you had asked a larger company it would have been no problem. When you deal with small business owners you are often dealing with the "person" not a "business". It's hard for many small business owners to separate their personal feelings from the business.
As for getting it writing, I'll go against the majority here and say it doesn't matter. What does getting it in writing do for you? It's not like you have, at least in the vast majority of situations, especially in "right to work" states, any recourse if your written offer gets rescinded. Happens all the time. An employer can generally fire you at any time for any reason, including the first day you show up for work. So the only practical difference having that piece of paper makes is give you one more thing to whine about to your drinking buddies as you drown your worries away.
What do the anti-Union right to work laws have to do with this?
Always get a job offer in writing before giving notice to a current employer. I got burned on this once myself.
Although most of the US is "right to work", the fact is that if you got a job offer, in writing and gave notice to your current employer, who then filled the position and would not let you continue, that offer letter would allow you to apply for unemployment and have a great case.
It's a laboratory. There's one owner and his 4 employees- so it's a very small company. No, I haven't told my present employer that I was quitting yet, so I still have that job. I'm sure he wanted to hire me. I interviewed with him and he called me the next morning with the job offer and start date. I think I just really annoyed him by asking him to get information in writing when I had already accepted the offer-like i was suspicious of him.
Getting a job offer in writing is standard practice. I've never had a job that didn't provide an official written offer letter.
I'm willing to bet he did not offer benefits. My husband was offered a job, and when he specifically asked about benefits, he was told "we'll discuss that more during the new hire process." Turned out they did not offer benefits at all, and he learned the hard way that specifics about benefits are absolutely necessary (at least for us) at the time that a job offer is made.
Am I surprised? No way, 1 owner 4 employees, "HR" doesn't there so not surprised either
The owner is the HR in such a small business.
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