“This is 100% on you”: Man delays new job start date. Then the company rescinds the offer

A TikTok about a rescinded job offer has kicked off a wider generational debate about workplace expectations. Creator @reesesaun explained that a cybersecurity company pulled his offer just three days after extending it, citing a missed drug test deadline, despite agreeing to his request for a six-week delayed start date.

What led to the rescinded offer

Reese’s first video on this subject was uploaded to TikTok on Sept. 4, 2025, where it was watched over 347,000 times. In it, he explained to viewers what happened when he received, and subsequently lost, an offer on a cybersecurity job.

“I got an offer from this company and I verbally accepted the offer. And when I accepted it, I said, ‘hey can I push my start date out like 6 weeks cos I got some upcoming travel’, they’re like ‘cool yeah you can start in 6 weeks’,” he begins.

He then revealed that he was sent a drug test to complete within 72 hours, which he didn’t see. He let the recruiter know and asked for more time to complete it, but she informed him that the company had since retracted his offer.

“So this company rescinded my f***g offer, cos I didn’t take a drug test in 2 or 3 days, when I don’t even start with them for 6 weeks bro,” he says. Reese, who is Black, then hints at deeper reasons for the company’s attitudes.

“I was like, you know damn well why they rescinded that offer. I’m like, that was the weirdest sh*t ever, why would you… you can’t make this sh*t up.”

@reesesaun #cyber #cybersecurity #fyp #techtok ♬ original sound – Reesesaun

Commenters quickly rushed in to tell @reesesaun that he’d got the wrong idea, and that he was the one who was wrong.

“Respectfully you didn’t seem serious someone else was ready and took your spot,” commented Linagee330.

“No sense of urgency – that is what they saw,” Basilet123 wrote, while another user added, “You must have only needed a job a little bit, not a lotta bit.”

Speculation abounded over which wrong action cost OP the job, with some claiming the 6 week start date pushback was to blame, while others admitted his failure to complete the drug test in time showed he was lazy at best, suspicious at worst.

“Gang I ain’t gone lie, 6 weeks is nuts,” one person said as another commented, “They could have someone else onboarded, trained and working in that time frame.”

“They do 72 hours so you don’t spend 3 days getting clean for it,” one user clarified re the drug test. “That’s the point.”

Is this a Gen Z problem, or something else?

As always, the discourse made its way across multiple platforms, later showing up on X where it went viral, amassing over 400,000 views. Although the original post has since been deleted, hundreds of quote tweets and comments remain, as people argued over what happened and why.

“Requesting a 6 week start delay for leisure and missing the drug test requirement as stand alone actions should not have been an issue. But when viewed together, it begs the question how dedicated is this person to this employment opportunity,” someone wrote.

Others suggested that a racial bias may indeed have been present, but in conjunction with other factors, including Kourt (@JustCallMeKourt), who wrote:

“1. You asked to start later and they were able to work with you

2. You just proved that you don’t read or check emails

3. Yes it does look suspicious

4. You are black which makes 1-3 hit even worse”

Although many comments, similar to those on TikTok, took issue with OP’s casual attitude, others broadened the discourse to include all of Gen Z, and as is often the case with job-related discourse, mused on whether young people simply aren’t taking jobs seriously anymore.

“Yea Gen Z ain’t ready for this job market,” Uche Perkins (@JustAFamilyMan_) wrote. “Y’all may not like what I got to say, but if an employer tells you to jump, you better ask how high, because the pendulum has swung in their direction.”

This, in turn, provoked further debate, with some people pointing out that OP wasn’t even Gen Z, but a millennial.

“One person does something and y’all put it on the entire generation as if everyone who is up to 15 years apart are exactly the same,” wrote Gailina. “It’s crazy.”

Reese admits his mistakes, but defends his choices

Meanwhile, Reese had already responded to comments on TikTok in a series of update videos, commencing on Sept. 4. In them, he provided more information about the job and why he initially got the wrong impression.

“It’s my fault, I missed the drug test,” he admitted in his first response, while also revealing that all of this actually played out last year.

“I thought it was weird because the recruiter told me this has never happened before,” he continued. “They’ve never rescinded an offer before, and they’re typically usually more lenient.”

The Daily Dot reached out to Reese, who clarified that the incident happened over a year ago, and while he stands by his decision to ask for the 6 weeks, he also admitted to learning from his mistakes.

“The missed deadline, likely signaled lack of commitment. While that wasn’t my intention, I completely understand how it could be perceived that way. I take full accountability for the missteps, and it was a valuable learning moment for me,” he said.

“We all have moments where we misjudge or make a mistake—what matters is how we move forward. And if sharing my experiences helps someone else avoid a similar mistake, then that’s a win in my book.”