Am I too late to change mind on resignation and new job despite signing contract

If you have only just given notice, give it a few days and see if they counter offer. Last time I handed in my notice my boss offered me a 15% pay rise to reconsider, which I did.

I work in a big corporate company and if your boss is keen for you to stay then absolutely she would be able to sort a pay increase or a retention payment for you. It is in fact the one time I can get out of cycle money for my team.
Don't leave if you don't want to but also be wary of imposter syndrome. I left a job where I'd been in the company for 14 years. I had sleepless nights for my whole 3 month notice period panicking that I'd not be able to do the new job. It was great and was a huge boost to my career. I still get the jitters now about leaving a company and moving and I don't do it lightly.

Follow your instinct but remember the effort you put into finding a new job. Its not easy and people dont do it without a reason so what was yours?

Have you changed jobs before? Did you have this reaction then? How did that turn out? What impact is that having on your current thought process?

Before you spoke with your manager, how were you feeling? How much has she influenced your decision? Was what she said fair?

Has handing in your resignation made it "real" and a bit scary? That's normal. What was your immediate reaction on being offered the job?

Close your eyes and imagine going to work in 2 years time. Literally visualise your alarm going off, pressing snooze, feeding the cat, the smell of your deordorant... every single step. Dont over think it, just go with the flow all the way through to arriving at work. What workplace do you see first?

One thing I do that is actually really helps focus my mind on a difficult decision is flip a coin to decide.
Heads - I take the new job
Tails - I keep my current job
Your immediate reaction to whether its heads or tails eg relief or disappointment will tell you a lot about what you want without all the other noise.

In the meantime I would speak with your manager and tell her you are having a wobble and can you have a few days to really think it over. Dont tell your new employer until you know either way.

One place Ive worked at, once you've handed your resignation in, that's it but in most places there is some time to revoke it. Lots of people turn down new jobs but out of courtesy you need to tell them soon if you decide that.

Good luck whatever you decide.

You need to weigh up the pros and cons, there is bound to be some nerves at change so don’t let that distract you.

Is the threat of redundancies over? If you start a new job you restart the 2 year clock on employment rights so that is a consideration.

Commute, flexibility, salary, pension - lots of things to think about.

If you get made redundant in a few months how will you feel?

I understand that - legal recruitment isn’t cheap - but candidate A was brilliant on paper with a PhD in my boss’s area of law. However, she was too academic and found it difficult not to turn every issue into an academic treatise

Candidate B was equally good, minus the PhD, but in reality was a much better day to day lawyer in our fast moving environment. She didn’t appear to feel slighted that she wasn’t the first choice, her attitude seemed to be “she got there in the end”

Stagnant role and redundancy scares sound like reason enough to move on.

I'd go ahead with the new role. A redundancy scare prompted you into seeking new employment in the first place. Any future redundancy round you may be seen as someone who wanted to jump ship.

That may happen occasionally but in the main it's a start from scratch scenario. It depends on the level but for more senior roles, I often find employers decide that if the 'runner up' wasn't good enough the first time, they won't be good enough the second time.

Paying to advertise, paying agents, paying psychometrics, paying staff to design processes, to interview, to reference check, to write contracts. It all adds up.

Literal time wasted yes, but there will be one or two other candidates who’d jump at the chance of the job

My old boss (an equity partner at a Magic Circle law firm) took on a brilliant lawyer (on paper). She had a serious drink problem and only lasted the three months of her probationary period. He contacted the first runner up who accepted the job and stayed with him for several years

OP, just be honest with the new company and if you’re going to do, do it asap

Just to say you have resigned - you don’t have to sign anything to achieve that. You’ve broken the contract, so you need to be very clear with them that they will accept your change of heart before giving up the offered new role.

Sounds like nerves OP which is very normal.
I think you went looking for a reason.
Give the new job a go.
Don't doubt yourself.

No, nothing bad happened :-)
I simply withdrew from the new job and carried on in my old job

im not saying you should do this- but something is causing you to panic

You mention a redundancy scare, is this issue likely to come up again if you stay in your existing job or are things looking stable there now? Do you think the new job would be more likely to be more stable?

No. You can’t be sued.

I'm sure they've got better things to do than sue you. If you've signed the paperwork, they will have to start the process again as they will have rejected everyone else. They'll be too busy getting angry about the thousands of pounds and hours you have cost them and the fact that they're now going to have an unfilled vacancy for months until they can get someone else on board. And they'll be busy placating the others in the team you were supposed to join as they'll have to pick up the work that you were supposed to do in addition to their own roles.

It’s so strange reading this as the exact same thing happened to me
accepted a new job, resigned and then went into full blown panic mode
it was strange and so so unlike me!
the only thing I could was ask for my resignation to be taken back and I pulled out the new job
i must say I have no regrets - and am a
big believer in following your gut

And what is the new job offering you, which you want?
I have to say I was in a v similar position. Felt a bit stagnant, been there nearly 12 years. Wanted a change. Or so I thought, I've really regretted leaving. I should have stuck with what I knew, great team around me, I'd built up my reputation and the trust people had in me.

A change is always difficult! What's worrying you?

You are under no real obligation to the new company. Even though you’ve signed the contact. It’s not like they can force you to work for them. It’s the same principle as if you were to resign on day 1.

However think long and hard about whether you want to stay in your current role after telling them you are leaving. You might find the relationship changes. (Technically you would need to rescind your resignation, but that shouldn’t be a problem if they are sorry to see you go.)

Could it be just an immediate 'ah what have I done' feeling now that you've given your notice verbally? I felt sick throughout my notice period and frequently worried about what I was doing?
Make yourself a sort of pros and cons list if that helps. Of each job, note down why you want this new job, why you want to leave your current job. And just try to think very practically about it rather than emotionally.

Speak to your employer. But there must have been a reason you wanted to change? Are you sure you aren’t just nervous of change? It doesn’t sound like your current employer has attempted to keep you