Stay Away! For the love of God, stay away from Shareworks. I had the most nightmarish experience I have ever had with this company.

My offer was rescinded (since this is a strange case, I have put "offer declined") without any communication from management, for a simple thing such as the TN visa. For those not aware, the TN visa is the work authorization for Canadians to work in the U.S. It is not "sponsorship," nor does it require any funding from an employer. It simply needs an offer letter that describes the job or bullet points, which a border agent can use to stamp your passport, and you are good to work unrestricted!

After nearly three months of the recruiting process and being given an offer letter, I never expected this.

• I was first contacted by a third-party recruiting firm in September for a Solutions Architect role at Morgan Stanley.
• The day I was contacted, I was fully forthcoming about my status as a Canadian and the TN visa, and I have this in writing in my email. The recruiter quoted me a salary of $120k via email and also asked me to send her a write-up of my visa status and what that entails. I sent her a full explanation of the TN visa and how it doesn't require sponsorship.
• I even mentioned it in interviews with the hiring manager and the team, and the recruiter I worked with confirmed she had spoken with them as well. From the beginning of this entire recruiting process, I had been 100% transparent.
• This led to a nearly four-month process. After the first interview, I was ghosted for nearly a month by the hiring manager. I asked the recruiter why, and she was clueless as well. She finally connected back and said the reason was that they were speaking with internal candidates first, which was why I had been ghosted.
• I was contacted by the recruiter a few weeks later, and she told me Shareworks wanted to move ahead with more interviews. I was happy to oblige and even confirmed with the recruiter that HR/management was aware of my status.
• I was contacted by the recruiter again, who relayed that they were interested but because of my "experience," they were targeting a salary of $90k. She recommended I draft a negotiation email for $100k, which I did. As this role was in SF and the hiring manager expressed a desire for me to be in the office as soon as possible, I asked if there was any relocation assistance. The recruiter told me that no bonus or relocation was going to be provided.
• I then received contact from the recruiter, and I received a verbal offer on October 20, confirming the $100k.
• I received an offer letter on November 9. Keep this in mind, but remember that for a TN visa, I simply need an expanded offer letter that describes the job responsibilities, which I take to the border to get stamped, and I am good to work unrestricted.
• The offer letter I received didn't have any bullet points but was rather just an offer letter extending employment. I contacted the hiring manager and HR and described what I needed from the offer letter and how simple the process is.
• As a Canadian, the TN visa requires zero sponsorship from an employer and there is no further intervention required aside from an expanded offer letter on the letterhead. I explained all this to the hiring manager and HR, over the phone and via email.
• So, after being told on November 11 by the hiring manager that she would be working with the immigration team to get me the TN visa, I received this email below yesterday from the hiring manager after asking for an update. Nobody from Shareworks had reached out to alert me I was no longer in consideration after receiving an offer letter; it took me asking for an update to receive a canned rejection email.

The recruiters were shocked why HR wasn’t budging. They said the TN visa is an easy, no-cost process, and they process thousands at their agency. My question is: if they weren’t interested in the TN visa, why not tell me from the beginning? Why take up three months of my time?

I had been really excited to start working, and the hiring manager had expressed a start date of early-mid December in San Francisco. I had a flight booked and had begun the process of moving out across the country.

Here’s my recommendation to you: If you want to keep your sanity, avoid any sort of employment with Shareworks. It’s evident in their HR practices they don’t know what they’re doing, and frankly, don’t care about you either.

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