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Ask HN: Can I decline a job offer already accepted?

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Re: Ask HN: Can I decline a job offer already accepted?

#21

Post by notahacker »

chc wrote: post #20
MarkMc wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to disagree: It may be legal and in your self interest, but I don't think you should reneg on your offer. You should treat others the way you want to be treated, which means honouring the email agreement. And if you do withdraw your offer to company x, don't complain if company y withdraws its offer to you. If you stick with company x then show them the job offer from company y at your next salary review. It i…

It is not usually the employee who sets the deadline on the offer, so I don't believe this moral equivalence is real. If a company does not want this situation to come up, it is at liberty to give a deadline that's long enough for the employee to consider other offers and make an informed decision. A company that attempts to rush an employee to accept an offer before others come in is attempting to exploit the employ…

In the absence of any insinuation by the OP that the first company put any pressure on them to accept the offer within any time frame at all it's pretty wild speculation on your part to accuse them of "exploiting" them.

(it's just as easy to assume the latter... that the first offer was accepted because it was perfectly reasonable and the second company was slow to make an offer and poor at communicating. If the second company did take a surprisingly long time to make an offer that's actually another variable to take into account; possibly representing organisational problems or a preference for other candidates at their end)

Re: Ask HN: Can I decline a job offer already accepted?

#23

Post by hiring_sucks »

I've done it.

Under the terms that were given to me by company Y, I simply could not accept it. So I accepted the offer from Company X over the phone and they were to send me the paper work.

When I called Company Y to let the know, they changed the offer to be more favorable towards me after initially accepting the rejection. The terms were significantly better than Company X.

I told Company X about the new situation, and gave them a day to decide what they would want to do. They decided not to match the offer from Company Y.

I think company's understand that the talent pool in tech. is highly sought after and sometimes they win and sometimes they lose.

After all, this is business, right?

Re: Ask HN: Can I decline a job offer already accepted?

#24

Post by MeHighLow »

It is certainly not an illegal move and you shouldn't really be burning any bridges. Surely they will also have backup candidates they can call in case an offer to you falls through.

However, if you had signed the contract with company X, then got a better offer from company Y and you decide to leave, then you might have burnt some bridges.

Best policy is to be be honest and tell them what's up. They should understand you're trying to maximize your opportunities

Re: Ask HN: Can I decline a job offer already accepted?

#25

Post by ssharp »

If you haven't signed any binding contract, you aren't under any legal obligation.

Early on in my career, around a decade ago, I gave a wishy-washy acceptance that I backed out of a couple of days later. I felt bad doing it, but the more I looked at the company, the less I wanted to work there. I still regret the way I handled the situation but don't regret the ultimate decision.

Re: Ask HN: Can I decline a job offer already accepted?

#26

Post by chatmasta »

It's legal. Ignore the people here saying it's "bad karma." What does that even mean? Presumably you'll be working for this company for a few years. You should pick the one you like the most. It's your next couple years, not the company's. They can always extend an offer to the next person in line.

That said, be careful, because there are extenuating circumstances. People do talk, especially in the same industry and city. Still, I highly doubt hiring manager at Y would reneg your offer if he heard from X that you chose Y over X. If anything he'd be happy!

Also note that if you got this job through your school's career network (alumni or otherwise), they may have policies in place that prohibit reneging on offers, and blacklist you if you do. Even then, though, you didn't sign anything.

I'm of the opinion that you should do what's best for yourself. This is your life, and the job will affect its foreseeable future. Make whatever decision you will regret the least in two years.

"If you can project yourself out to age 80 and sort of think, “What will I think at that time?” it gets you away from some of the daily pieces of confusion."

- Jeff Bezos on deciding to leave Wall St to start Amazon [1]

http://bijansabet.com/post/147533511/jeff-bezos-regret-minim...

Re: Ask HN: Can I decline a job offer already accepted?

#27

Post by chatmasta »

davismwfl wrote: post #3

I am not a lawyer, but from what I know it is not illegal to accept an offer and then decline it later before you have signed an agreement. For that matter, from my knowledge nothing generally would stop you from "quitting" the job on day 1, except you may create an upset employer. You could simply go back and say something like: "Hi Company X, as I am sure you realize I applied to multiple openings when looking to t…

This is the best advice in the thread. Straight-forward honesty is often the best move in situations where you (think you) might be hurting (inconveniencing) someone. If you're worried about saying this, consider the fact that it means way less to your hiring manager that you spend the next two years at his/her company, than it does to you.
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