Accepting a job and then backing out of it before starting? 6

[EngineerDave]

What do you think of the following situation?

1) I accepted a job a few weeks ago at a very prestigious place but it will involve a move and the money isn't as great especially and the cost of living is high.

2) Another job may become available to me. This group asked me if I would be willing to consider them instead of the offer I previously received. I know what this group is like and there are some negatives in the environment that led to the job being available, but it is also conveniently in my hometown where I live currently.

My initial thought is that I've given my word and accepted an offer at the other place. I am not inclined to back out because I believe someones word is important

HOWEVER
1) Financially I would be better off if I backed out of it
2) But if I did back out, it could give me a bad name in the community of this specialty which is pretty small.

WHAT I AM INCLINED TO DO
1) Take the job offer I accepted. Work there for a little while to get the name and experience
2) Sometime 1 or two years down the road, return to the other company for an offer. I have a feeling they will have openings again!

 

[BobPE]

That is a tough spot you are in sr12. You found out about this information in a round about way, and you continue to do so. I am assuming that your companies are two competing interests. What you found out from your husband is best kept amongst the two of you. With that in mind, what do you know without your husbands information? I would say that this is truely the ethical way to proceed and a way you can feel comfortable being confronted by your bosses if they find out you knew. What is a private conversation between spouses can be justified to remain private.

The way I see it from what you provided you have two issues. Do you stand for the company to protect its best interests.....I would say if you are a partner in the firm, you would wo what you need to protect the firm.

If you are just an employee that is not impacted, well, then it comes down to your personal character and how this could affect how people view you....You could stand to lose a lot of trust amongst peers letting the cat out of the bag.

BobPE

 

[jsummerfield]

After putting a resume' on the street it is common to continue to receive responses. Also, a supplier that would not make an offer to a customer employee may jump at the chance after the employee leaves.

Many would let the inquiring company know that they have alreade started another job. Perhaps iff a new employee is not happy with the change it is good to move on earlier instead of later.

In any event, it is none of your business. Go back to work.

Companies are often full of rumor mills. When jobs are winding down the rumors are often about new projects or big layoffs. In these cases, if you are close to the manager, it is always fun to shoot an email to the boss advising of a recent rumor. This permits the department to advise the facts. Often a rumored "new project" is actually just a proposal. It seems acceptable to keep your manager aware of the company rumor mill issues.

Another person's career options are not your business. Most of us are regarded as "at-will" employees. When you get an offer letter the rate is stated monthly. This basically commits the company to hire for a month. After a month, all bets are off. Employees are always able to shop around. It is better done from home or cell phone than the phone in a cubicle where others may want to involve themselves.

John

 

[EngineerDave]

This topic has become interesting for a a few reasons

1) I am being questioned about my interest in backing out of the first job which is in town A to take another job here locally. The finances would likely be highly favorable for me staying in my hometown, which I'll call town B. By the way town A has a cost of living that is at least 30% higher than my town, town B.

The job in town A is at a much more prestigious place. The department there also appears to be a better place to work (better morale, better resources, higher tech, etc)

2) I have a serious romantic interest in a woman who lives in town C. In town C, they have the company that is the very best in this field. In my search for jobs I sent them my resume and even had an informational interview. At this point town C and company C aren't hiring. However after a few years I may want to live in town C and work at company C. The cost of living is the cheapest there. Not sure what the salary would be. The woman in town C would move with me anywhere but would like to live in town C which has the #1 company, great houses to buy and her job at said company.

So the question is
Knowing that I eventually would want to go to town C. Should I stay for 1-2 years at town A/job A to boost my chances of going to town C one day, or just stay in town B/job B and bide my time until I can get into job C?

I will post another thread about resume building. My question for that thread will be, how important is the company that you worked for previously in the hiring process when you look for a new job?

 

[HgTX]

It's really, really risky to stake everything on being able to work at ONE particular company. Or are there other lesser potential jobs in town C?

Hg

 

[BobPE]

EngineerDave:

I would take the A job and wait for the C job to materialize. I will tell you from being a recent hire several times in the past 4 years that multiple jobs at a senior level on your resume is not frowned upon in the market right now. You need justification for every move, but the justification of self improvement is widely accepted.

There is no reason in todays engineering market that an engineer need tolerate an underperforming job.

Let us kow how you make out....

BobPE

 

[That1Guy]

BobPE, when did you address the reasons for the change in employment? Was this in your Cover Letter attached with your resume' or was this in an interview? I just got my P.E. license (Oct. '04 exam) and am curious as to how savvy hiring managers are currently. I had three short term jobs when first starting that lasted 1-2 years each. All were in consulting, and the last short term gig lasted less than 9 months. That was due to the price of Oil going down the tubes in late '98/early '99. I've wondered if the cover letter is the place to explain the why's and wherefor's of my employment duration, but I want all my paperwork to be as professional as possible.

Any suggestions as to how to handle this is welcome.

 

[BobPE]

ByronT:

I used the interview to explain my employment history. At the interview you can discuss the strategy of your decisions with another businessperson that would most likely understand what you did and why.

I wouldn't tackle an explanation in the cover letter. The cover letter is to explain in more detail your objective for applying, goals you are looking to satisfy, and how you will not only succeed yourself, but make others succeed, etc.

Let us know how you make out...

BobPE

 

[EngineerDave]

Gentlemen I appreciate your input. I had a few more questions

1) Do you think it strange or in poor taste that I wish to take job in town A because it is prestigious and then plan on leaving at the most appropriate but shortest possible duration that I can obtain a resume boost from it? More or less I plan on working harder than ever and also learning as much in this new career but then when I'm confident and ready to go to another place I plan to leave. Not just for greener pastures but for personal reasons as well. So would staying only 1-2 or 3 years at the most be unethical? The impression I got from the hiring manager was that this does happen often. He doesn't seem to mind and sees the arrangement as mutually beneficial.

 

[plasgears]

2-3 yrs seems to be the norm in today's job market. As the expressions goes:

"We can afford to pay him a good salary for a time."

I've got inside info that the airlines are hiring co-pilots this way. They furlough the experienced higher salaried co-pilots with the alibi of the economy, 9-11, etc, and hire new co-pilots at reduced salaries. What a way to run an airline!

 

[IRstuff]

Is that surprising? That's been a means of lowering costs and average age in the defense industry as well.

TTFN

 

[TrevorP]

Engineer Dave,
You originally posted this in mid-December, and (presumably) a related post at the end of November. It's now mid-Jan, and, presumably, time to make a decision. Personally, I would try to forget about town 'C', for now at least. They have no jobs. In 2-3 years time, maybe, maybe not. Even if they do have a job then, you might not get it. So, which job is best for you right now, taking everything into account - career prospects, personal life etc.?
There are several ways I've made [personal] decisions in the past, including writing plus/minus lists etc. One thing I've done has been to flick a coin, and go with whatever it said. When I was disappointed with the outcome, I then knew what the right decision was. If they're so close you can't choose, then they're both the right decision, and the only wrong decision is not to make one.

 

[Heckler]

I had a job offer showed up for work and walked out two days later. I felt really bad because I do have extremely high work ethics and company loyalty. But during the interview I was extremely clear that I was looking for long term employement. I know nothing is in concrete these days with the business environment being fluid. What I found out that made me walk out is the company misled/lied to me during the interview process. They were a small startup semi-conductor test equipment manufacture in the hight of the late 90s. They were banking on getting this large contract and I was told during the interview that they had a signed contract. So when I showed up the first day it was hard for them to hide the fact they didn't have the contract. So I probed people during those two days and didn't want to take the gamble.

Best Regards,

Heckler

"Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups" John Kenneth Galbraith

 

[EngineerDave]

Gentlemen, I made my decision to go with the company at the prestigious place out of town two months ago.

Now they are closer to offering me at my hometown.

I am two months and one half months away from a start date at the prestigious place.

The cost of living in the other town is 50% higher and the offer they made may be as much as 20% lower than my hometown.

I will keep you updated.

I still think it will be incredibly hard to back out of my word on company A, which is an incredibly prestigious place.

 

[BigH]

Perhaps you should look at where you would be the happiest. It does no organization any good if you start there and are not happy. You won't be happy, they will feel it - or your co-workers will and in the end, they will not be getting out of you your best effort (likely). Prestigious is not always the happiest. Lots of young accountants join the Big 8 (or whatever it is now), last a year and then find that big and prestigious doesn't always lead to where you want to go.

 

[EngineerDave]

Thanks for all the advice.

I don't officially have an offer at my hometown, the process has taken a long time. I expect to have one by the end of next week.

I am supposed to start in the new town in 2 months. After I write out the most extensive list of pros and cons that I can, i will make a decision. This has become alot harder than I anticipated it ever would.

 

[EngineerDave]

I got a great offer here in town on Monday. I am very unsure of the best way to proceed and they want to know this Monday.

This has been a very difficult process for me. Backing out on a job is not my top way of doing things.

Well whatever I choose will be the right choice. Thats the only way I can look at it.

 

[PSE]

EngineerDave,

Backing out of the other offer may not be that great an issue for the other firm. They likely have alternate candidates and from my experience, unless you have actually worked for them in the past, they have short term memory of whom they have looked at. They may hold your resume on file for a few months and then it will be gone. Whatever your decision, don't loose sleep over the job not taken.

Regards

 

[plasgears]

I once turned down an interview midstream when HR held me in the outer office a long time after hours. HR pursued me to the parking lot.

I heard about this some time later during another interview. I asked how he knew about this, but I got no answer. Ther may have been a network of HR info in play at the time.

 

[jsummerfield]

The thread title is "Accepting a job and then backing out of it before starting?" Has the situation changed? In other words, I would assume that you changed jobs and are now considering a different job. So, did you change jobs since mid December or is the start of that offer still pending?

John

 

[madduru]

I had to accept an offer and start the job while the second offer was in pending. The one I accepted is a contract assignment while the second one was a permanent opportunity with more or less same pay. Now that I received the permanent offer, I am in a total fix whether to quit my new contract (after 2 weeks) and take up the other permanent job. Ethically I feel obligated to complete my contract. However if I have to pay a mortgae and feed the family, I like to go with the permannet job. I am totally split on this. The permanent one is from a reputed company and I really worked hard to get that one. What should I do?