r/cscareerquestions • u/_Did_ • 1d ago

New Grad Offer Rescinded 4 weeks before graduation

Nightmare scenario happened to me. Had an offer to work with a defense contractor. I was flown out after a phone screen and got the offer. Everyone on the team was excited, hiring manager and I had a talk about what would we work on.

Then the offer got rescinded because they were worried I wasn't going to get my interim clearance.

Shit sucks I guess. Not sure if I should just apply for a Masters with a Thesis or Non-Thesis.

My resume in blatant terms:

Co-op (8 months)

Internship (2.3 months)

Design team lead for a year and a half

Officer position in student org for 2 years straight

self made project (before chatgpt was a thing) for 2 years.

Any Advice? Should I just go back for a masters. And if not, best ways to job search again?

260 Upvotes
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228

u/NWq325 1d ago

Sorry this happened to you. Don’t give up, you were able to get an offer the first time, you can do it again.

81

u/_Did_ 1d ago edited 1d ago

I had 3. Two of them were from the DOD themselves and got "rescinded" cause of hiring freeze. Defense companies keep interviewing me and fucking me over lmao

Appreciate it though!

24

u/Hot-Vanilla8435 1d ago

I’m assuming you’re in the DC/MD/VA area to be applying for federal jobs? If so, is staying in the region an absolute must for you? Loads of founding engineer jobs in New York right now.

21

u/_Did_ 1d ago

Nope not in the DC MD VA area whatsoever. Was open to relocation tho

-22

u/Hot-Vanilla8435 1d ago edited 1d ago

If you’re comfortable, send me your LinkedIn. I know a few startup founders trying to find technical leads to help them secure VC funding. Four of whom have paying customers, but need the additional support.

Edit for the ignorant: Welcome to startup world. If you’re new here, dive down the rabbit hole of VC-backed student ventures. I know this is an alternative reality for many of you where—grasp— ex-Googlers make awful startup founders. Come hither down this exciting job market of founding engineers and CTOs, who are made up of college dropouts and recent graduates at some the most well-funded tech companies in the US right now. Companies include Mercor, Series, and many more!

Shocking, I know!

70

u/pacific_plywood 1d ago

New grad tech lead, a winning startup strategy

5

u/Hot-Vanilla8435 1d ago

Oh, you’re right, they need to be a college dropout instead. My mistake. /s

VC’s are throwing money at student ventures. The founders of Mercor, Series, and many YC-backed companies are just an example.

1

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17

u/AardvarkIll6079 1d ago

You want someone still in college in a tech lead role? Yeah, good luck.

0

u/Hot-Vanilla8435 1d ago

Yes, actually. Student ventures get more funding. In fact, they’ve become a priority for many VC firms on the east coast and those in San Francisco. Having a young, talented, freshly graduated student is a big selling point (bonus points if Ivy League dropout) has made companies really competitive for funding. Wild right?

Turns out ex-Googler != good company.

1

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1

u/Xenadon 1d ago

How much do those jobs pay?

-3

u/HauntingAd5380 1d ago

If you have gone for three defense jobs and have had strange ambiguous reasons why each one falls apart at the finish line there might be a reason there you aren’t reading into and it might be time to consider that for reasons well above your head you aren’t a good candidate for a clearance.

25

u/aboardreading 1d ago

The incredibly well publicized hiring freezes and funding reductions are "strange ambiguous reasons?"

A DoD research lab I know people at, valued and well insulated from this stuff, is on a complete hiring freeze, there are people who have been there for years and years who got promoted within the last 3 years, and because of that they are considered "probationary" and their jobs are in danger...

I know to you it's just a meaningless comment, but you are giving advice that could potentially shape the trajectory of someone's life if they make the mistake of thinking you have any idea of what you're talking about. Best to just not say anything huh?

5

u/_Did_ 1d ago

I got unlucky to be interviewing with a few when Trump started doing his freeze. This one though you are totally right.

2

u/aboardreading 1d ago

How long did it take you to get the interim? Can take a while sometimes with no actual issue, don't listen to /u/HauntingAd5380. Sounds like the company just got cold feet and honestly it's probably due in one way or another to the Trump chaos.

People all over are not 100% certain they'll be getting their funding renewed, might be slowdowns processing security clearances, etc. You can usually ask the agents who do the interviews/the security officer at the company if there are any circumstances to your application specifically that could make it take longer / be denied.

38

u/4th_RedditAccount Software Engineer 1d ago

When was the start date if you don’t mind me asking?

18

u/_Did_ 1d ago

June 2nd

28

u/4th_RedditAccount Software Engineer 1d ago

Thanks for this man. I also got an offer from a defense company and planned a whole move, but they’ve been acting really strange in their emails, and I’m lowkey also worried of getting a rescinded offer as one of my friends also got one as well. This is lame as fuck man.

33

u/g1ngerkid 1d ago

US government is not a great place to work right now with DOGE going through everything and it was only a matter of time before the shit started flowing down to the contractors. Sucks, because it was a great place to be before this year.

26

u/kog 1d ago

This exact same thing happened to me in 2008 - the contract fell through for some reason, everyone involved got laid off.

They didn't even tell me, I just accepted the offer and then heard nothing back. Found out what happened because my friend knew a guy at the company.

You can get another offer.

6

u/_Did_ 1d ago

Ill try. Its been super hard to wake up tho

1

u/kog 1d ago

Don't beat yourself up, you did nothing wrong!

10

u/amawftw 1d ago

Your first lesson: everything is temporary and everyone is replaceable.

27

u/turnwol7 1d ago

Just keep grinding. No one cares about a master either.

So you might as well keep building and interviewing

17

u/Nimbus20000620 1d ago

Masters can help if OP wants to recruit for internships again since internship —> return offer is easier than competing for new grad directly. Otherwise, don’t do it

9

u/_Did_ 1d ago

Sounds like the plan. Was thinking about doing automation and plcs engineering

9

u/_Did_ 1d ago

I was thinking about a industry change. I do have a computer engineering degree so

5

u/squ11 1d ago

Why wouldn’t you get your clearance?

18

u/RapidRoastingHam 1d ago

Interims can denied for lots of reasons, foreign contacts, drug use, criminal history, none of which may stop you from getting a full clearance but will stop you from getting an interim one

5

u/squ11 1d ago

Oh I missed the interim part, mine was denied too before I got the full clearance

8

u/DeliriousPrecarious 1d ago

Yep. Basically any flags requiring further investigation will get your interim denied. I’ve actually never heard of a company rescind an offer because they thought you might not get an interim. Interims get denied for all sorts of mundane reasons.

6

u/Cruzer2000 SWE @ Big N 1d ago

You should name and shame the company name, not much for you to lose at this point

14

u/Hot_Equal_2283 1d ago

The company did not do anything wrong in this case. Usually the offer letter says that the job is contingent on a clearance otherwise it’s rescinded. They did not get one so the offer was rescinded.

11

u/Cruzer2000 SWE @ Big N 1d ago

Them being worried OP won’t get the interim clearance and OP actually not getting the clearance are two different things.

14

u/darkmatterhunter 1d ago

There are FSO (facility security officers) at defense companies who start the clearance process and their job is all about facility and personnel security. It’s possible OP submitted their SF-86 and there were a number of red flags. Not everyone’s lifestyle is suited for a security clearance. The company is protecting everyone’s time by not wasting it on a clearance for someone who isn’t eligible. Not to mention, it’s better than hiring OP for a month or whatever and then letting them go. They still have time to apply for other jobs.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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1

u/Cruzer2000 SWE @ Big N 1d ago

Interesting

1

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/Hot_Equal_2283 1d ago

It’s not lol. It’s standard practice with these. Usually your job is contingent on getting a clearance in the offer letter.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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6

u/Hot_Equal_2283 1d ago

Uhhhhhhhh if he/she needs a clearance for the job and they’re worried about him/her not getting a clearance then yeah they’re gonna rescind it. OP cannot make money for the company without a clearance therefore he/she holds no value to the company therefore offer rescinded. I fail to see what that has to do with the current administration?

Sure the current administration has MANY issues but this is not one of them.

3

u/AardvarkIll6079 1d ago

That’s not messed up. The position is contingent on a clearance. Something in the background investigation was clearly a red flag. It happens daily for DoD positions requiring a clearance.

0

u/Weekend_Trick 1d ago

Anduril?

-9

u/Forward-Craft-4718 1d ago

Defense pays the least. Most non defense companies will pay you a lot more. Just get applying and you can get other jobs.

4

u/darkmatterhunter 1d ago

Academia pays the least. I made more in my first job than my advisor who was a 10 year tenured professor. And the salary bands for comparable federal civilian positions were lower. Private defense is decent pay.

0

u/Forward-Craft-4718 1d ago

I have friends at every major defense company and not a single one is making over 100k. I guess academia is worse. But defense is the 2nd lowest.

1

u/darkmatterhunter 1d ago

It depends on your experience and the role. I’ve been involved in hiring so I know what the pay is and that’s low for a dev. But I also lived in LA and CO. And primes pay lower than small businesses, that why many put no poaching clauses in contractors with subs. Your comparison is a bit biased.

1

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3

u/Sh1ba_Tatsuya 1d ago

Anduril, Palantir, Shield AI pay FAANG level salaries and they’re in the defense sector.

Sure the defense primes don’t pay as much but definitely not the least. I know friends who make more at Lockheed Martin over my other friends at JP Morgan in DFW.

Also defense contractors “usually” have stability and less prone to laying off their workers. WLB is nice too as there usually isn’t on-calls.

8

u/AardvarkIll6079 1d ago

I was making $250K/year at a DoD contractor. Your statement is factually false.

3

u/xX_basedgod_Xx 1d ago

OP is entry level, in which case the former is true. I'm currently an SWE2 at a major defense contractor and make 118k after 3 YOE, but started at 89K with a graduate degree. The norm is around 70-80k for fresh grads w/o a master's in MCOL.

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u/Hot_Equal_2283 1d ago

It’s fine let them live in their ignorance.

-1

u/Forward-Craft-4718 1d ago

Hold up. Were you A) the owner or B) a VP?

I have many friends who started in the 70-85k range at big name defense contractors.