1. You really did disappoint at the end of your internship. I've seen this happen. People get complacent. Take a good, hard look at what you've done and see if there's any truth to it or that someone could get that impression;
2. The company's situation changed. Funding may have fallen through. There may be a power shift in management. Who knows? or
3. They were lying to you the whole time.
I suspect (2) but, then again, we only have your side of it. I don't mean to sound harsh here. I know nothing about you.
It's time to look on the bright side: you got a three month internship out of this. If you can find someone from the company to get a reference from then that's valuable.
The US operates basically on "at will" employment. With very limited exceptions (eg the Americans With Disabilities Act) they can withdraw that offer and that employment at pretty much any time. If you can demonstrate damages and they can't justify it, you can sue but you'll need to show damages and honestly it's not worth going down that route even if there is a breach of contract, which is a somewhat separate issue.
If you had offers from other companies, go back and contact them. Tell them you'd originally planned to keep working for the company you were interning for as you were really excited about what you were working on and who you were working with but that offer fell through. This is a perfectly acceptable situation and one that won't tarnish you as a potential employee.
If the company was dishonest with you, either from the beginning or at the end, then what happened is a good thing. Better to discover this now than 1-2 years from now when they shaft you out of your options or the like. Integrity and honesty matters. Do not go work for a startup if you don't trust who you're working for. Reputation is everything.
Lastly, I'm glad (for your sake) that you didn't drag whoever this was into the public by naming and shaming them. As tempting as that might be, don't do it. You seriously undermine your ability to get any reference from someone working there and, honestly, this tends to make whoever is slinging mud look bad as well. Just move on.
If you had offers from other companies, go back and contact them.
Absolutely. If you (the OP) are from Europe you may be used to well-defined hiring windows where a job ad closes on date X and after that it doesn't matter if you are a triple-Nobel-prizewinner, you will not be considered.
The US has a much more fluid model in the commercial sector (in fact it is possibly to apply and be hired where no job has been advertised at all). There is nothing dodgy about directly contacting people you had good leads with and mentioning your circumstances have changed, recap anything positive they have said to you previously, and re-attach your resume.
Standard job-seeking advice applies, for example don't go into any details about the previous employer or the fact that you are desperate for a job in the US. Keep it to the minimum facts.
are from Europe you may be used to well-defined hiring windows where a job ad closes on date X and after that it doesn't matter if you are a triple-Nobel-prizewinner, you will not be considered.
That's not been my experience at all. I'm in Ireland, an EU member state, and I've worked at several small technology companies, and I've replied to job postings on mailing lists that are 12 months old and they are still hiring.
IMO it's only really big companies / public sector etc. that have these crazy rigid rules. (cf. Yes Minister)
> 1. You really did disappoint at the end of your internship. I've seen this happen. People get complacent. Take a good, hard look at what you've done and see if there's any truth to it or that someone could get that impression
But why, then, make arrangements for his return instead of just telling him they couldn't promise anything just yet. The response he got just screams "something went awry on our end / the visa is getting too expensive / we found an equally good candidate here that costs us less, but we don't want to tell you so let's just blame it on you instead."
Because they did not handle the situation gracefully. But a screwup on their part doesn't obligate them to hire someone they've decided is a poor fit.
Put any moderately large company's activities under a microscope and you will find things to get "message- board- upset" about almost every day. People screw up.
But this isn't a moderately large company, and while it is not possible to get the full story from just one account, if one is to accept the OP's account as fact, then it is fairly poor form being shown from those running the startup.
By not being honest (or blunt) enough they've basically left this poor guy in total limbo. If you are going to mess with someone's life the minimum required in return is 100% honesty and unambiguous communication. If not now, as soon as possible (in the event that funding has fallen through and they don't want anyone to know right now).
I agree that your explanations are quite possible and hinted by the reported facts. But also, there can be communication problems inside the startup as well. Maybe the people sending the strongest "can't wait for your return as full-timer" signals hadn't yet heard others' concerns. Maybe even the founder and lead engineer are being squeezed from other stakeholders. And even though a legal complaint is unlikely (and unlikely to succeed), liability concerns can lead to strange omissions and spin in the 'official reasons', to provide maximum legal cover 'just in case'.
1. You really did disappoint at the end of your internship. I've seen this happen. People get complacent. Take a good, hard look at what you've done and see if there's any truth to it or that someone could get that impression;
2. The company's situation changed. Funding may have fallen through. There may be a power shift in management. Who knows? or
3. They were lying to you the whole time.
I suspect (2) but, then again, we only have your side of it. I don't mean to sound harsh here. I know nothing about you.
It's time to look on the bright side: you got a three month internship out of this. If you can find someone from the company to get a reference from then that's valuable.
The US operates basically on "at will" employment. With very limited exceptions (eg the Americans With Disabilities Act) they can withdraw that offer and that employment at pretty much any time. If you can demonstrate damages and they can't justify it, you can sue but you'll need to show damages and honestly it's not worth going down that route even if there is a breach of contract, which is a somewhat separate issue.
If you had offers from other companies, go back and contact them. Tell them you'd originally planned to keep working for the company you were interning for as you were really excited about what you were working on and who you were working with but that offer fell through. This is a perfectly acceptable situation and one that won't tarnish you as a potential employee.
If the company was dishonest with you, either from the beginning or at the end, then what happened is a good thing. Better to discover this now than 1-2 years from now when they shaft you out of your options or the like. Integrity and honesty matters. Do not go work for a startup if you don't trust who you're working for. Reputation is everything.
Lastly, I'm glad (for your sake) that you didn't drag whoever this was into the public by naming and shaming them. As tempting as that might be, don't do it. You seriously undermine your ability to get any reference from someone working there and, honestly, this tends to make whoever is slinging mud look bad as well. Just move on.