Hello all and thank you in advance for your responses.
I’m in a pickle and really need some advice. So basically, I received an offer a couple of weeks ago and signed off on all the paperwork. I am pretty sure the background check and the like has already been completed. As of this past week, I received another unexpected offer at a different company that is more desirable for a number of reasons.
So my question is simply, what can/should I do in this situation? From what I have read online, it seems like it is totally ok for me to decline the offer even though I accepted it by signing the papers. My other big concern is this: Let’s say I accept the new offer, do you think the first company would be so furious that they would seek to contact my new employer and sabotage my employment there?
To complicate matters, the first offer was through a recruiter, so I’m sure there is going to be a lot of pushback from them as well.
you can definitely reneg on the 1st signed offer. There’s nothing legally forcing you to take the first job. and yes of course the recruiter will be pissed. your only risk is to be blackballed by the 1st company. If you’re ok with that, then do it
Thanks for the response. But what do you think the chances are of the recruiter and the first company calling up the new company that I want to sign with and informing them of what happened, basically sabotaging my offer there…???
Well one thing’s for sure, don’t tell them who the new company is. I would reneg and go with the offer you want. Life’s too short.
I did this recently in a different context and it napalmed the bridge with the first group. Not just burned, it completely obliterated the bridge. Think, like, Apocolypse Now. Oh well. You will burn a bridge with the recuiter as well but recruiters are scum. You need to be firm and not listen to anything they say, the decision is made and you won’t be talked out of it. Don’t update your LinkedIn either. Once you drop the bomb, there is no going back. You will never be viewed as a trustworthy employee again so you can never work at the first firm.
You have to do what is right for you, that’s what everyone else is going to do.
Appreciate the input. I would not be so concerned about this situation if I could be certain that neither the first company nor the recruiter could find out what company I went to. However, it occured to me that anyone who has any one of the Series 6, 7…etc licenses is completely searchable on FINRA’s website where current employer is listed.
That’s probably too much work for someone. They might look it up but even if they did, why would the current employer care? You chose them over the first option after all. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.
There’s a 99% chance that the employment contract you signed has a section on At Will employment. In other words, the company can fire you without reason or notice at any time. That is a 2-way street and its completely hypocritical of a company to expect otherwise.
I’ve signed papers to take a job and the week before I was supposed to start, I told them I wasn’t coming. Cost them money and pissed them off. A few years later, everything is absolutely fine.
I am not so concerned about legal repercussions as I am about either the first company or the recruiter calling up the new company and trying to screw me over.
Am I just being overly paranoid or could this likely happen?
Dude, for real, nobody is going to call up anybody else. Agree with Bromion – you chose the new company, which means that the new company “won.” This is a competitive marketplace. If I agree to sell you, a stranger, something for $100 and another stranger comes along and offers me $150, well, I’d be pretty stupid to go with the first offer.
These recruiter parasites have memories like sieves and it won’t make one bit of difference next week, never mind next year. You have to look out for number one. Stop worrying about this and do what’s best for you.
Won’t happen, no one will call. They’d be opening themselves up to a lawsuit. Why bother? Thats said, you’ll have burned that bridge completely and permanently. Its a small world. Be very careful who you piss off and don’t make a habit of it. Personally I wouldn’t reneg on it. But thats me. Nothing g illegal or immoral in what you’re doing.
I’ve been among internal recruiters and hiring managers for a long while now, I’ve yet to meet someone willing to go out of their way to try to screw someone up and try calling around to damage a candidate’s rep. There is NO company loyalty these days. Company fire you in a flash, and you have the right to quit in a flash
its the same as lets say you proposed to your gf but next week you find out that the girl of your dreams is single and wants you really bad. you dump your gf and go with the girl of your dreams. look out for #1
^ I’d hope so, but in many states engagement rings are considered conditional gifts and if she wanted to make a big deal about it and filed a court case, might be able to keep it if I broke off the engagement. Another reason to give a less expensive ring. Conversely if she broke it off, it would be expected that she give it back.
reneg, and dont’ worry about it. I would be straight forward. Call other company explain situation, say you are really sorry, and you wish that you didnt’ have to do it, but explain that your interests lie elsewhere. Make sure you thank them greatly for opportunity. I wouldn’t be pissed if that happned… Even for people who report to me, i always tell them, if you feel you are better elsewhere, you should go.