To ask if you ever accepted a job offer then was offered a better one elsewhere?

calmama · 2023-02-09T04:05:47+00:00

And what you did? I’ve had a number of interviews and got a number more applications out there. I’m not assuming I will get any of them, but just want to be prepared if I find myself in the above predicament. What do you do if you are offered a job only to be offered a better one the next week/month?!

Dontsparethehorses · 09/02/2023 04:23

Verbally accepted or you’ve written and accepted? Assuming you haven’t signed contract in a week? I think if verbal you can explain circumstances have changed if written probably more problematic but I’m not sure on the legality.
When you say better job do you mean better paid? You could go back to first offer and see if they would match? Or better job you would prefer?

WhereIsMumHiding3 · 09/02/2023 04:25

People withdraw from accepting the first one later if they have a better offer,
It's annoying but it does happen.

Summer2424 · 09/02/2023 04:38

Hi @calmama i applied for a job that i really wanted but didn't get it. I applied for another job and got it. But then the job i really wanted got back to me and said they'd like to offer me the position which i was so happy about. I withdrew from the other job i had applied for and accepted the one i really wanted.
Hope you get the job you want 🌝

Original poster

calmama · 09/02/2023 05:53

Either better paid or that I would prefer.

OP posts:

Original poster

calmama · 09/02/2023 05:54

Sorry, that was for @Dontsparethehorses. Also, I mean if I sign the paperwork etc.

OP posts:

Original poster

calmama · 09/02/2023 05:55

Oh thanks @Summer2424! me too! Glad to hear you got what you wanted 😀

OP posts:

HappyKoala56 · 09/02/2023 05:59

Last year I applied for two jobs pretty much the same day. One came back, offered an interview and subsequently offered the job. I accepted and started a month later. Six weeks after I'd started I was offered an interview for the other one! I did deliberate a lot but decided to put myself first and went to the interview. Got it and started a month later. I gave the first job more than the weeks notice required in the probation period and left on good terms - I might have felt differently if they had spent time or money training me but I'd basically been put in a corner from day one to get on with things. It was the best thing I ever did for myself, I love my job now.

OrderOfTheKookaburra · 09/02/2023 06:03

I actually worked two weeks in a job and then went with the other one. I had been tossing up between the two, had accepted the higher paying one without turning the other one down (multiple entry level positions with a long training period, they batch hire - starting much later).

That week showed me the first job was not for me though. Small company and they lied their arses off. They also had a few student visa employees working full time which was a big no no (40 hours per fortnight only permitted) and I didn't want to have anything more to do with them.

Whyarepeoplesojudgemental · 09/02/2023 06:04

Plenty do it. And even if you’ve signed something not much company can or will do. They won’t want to train you just to work notice. We had someone turn up and hand notice in on day one for this reason and she was just sent home.
Only issue for you is if it’s a small field because they will never look at you again.

MintJulia · 09/02/2023 06:09

Yes, the evening after I started with the DWP on a one year contract, after being made redundant during covid, I was offered a great job, permanent contract on 70% more money.

I went in to dwp the next morning ad resigned. My boss understood completely.

amershamfc · 09/02/2023 06:20

Yes. It was incredibly awkward but I'm glad I did it. I was very happy in the other job- far happier than I would have been in the first job. They were cross though.

follyfoot37 · 09/02/2023 07:08

Does anyone here have morals, or is eveyone happy mucking people around just because 'I am more important and my needs are soooo much more pressing than those of this company whose time I have jst wasted?

Crumpetdisappointment · 09/02/2023 07:09

yes, my first job
wonder how it would have gone if i had stuck with the first!
i had to write an rescind my application

Patbutchersearrings1 · 09/02/2023 07:11

follyfoot37 · 09/02/2023 07:08

Does anyone here have morals, or is eveyone happy mucking people around just because 'I am more important and my needs are soooo much more pressing than those of this company whose time I have jst wasted?

If you died, they would replace you within 2 weeks and your job would be advertised ASAP. No loyalties whatsoever for somewhere you've barely started working yet!

Lkydfju · 09/02/2023 07:13

I took the one I wanted and told the previous one that I was sorry but I needed to withdraw my acceptance. It’s not great obviously and it may burn bridges if you ever wanted to work there in future but for me it was an opportunity I couldn’t not take

OrderOfTheKookaburra · 09/02/2023 07:20

follyfoot37 · 09/02/2023 07:08

Does anyone here have morals, or is eveyone happy mucking people around just because 'I am more important and my needs are soooo much more pressing than those of this company whose time I have jst wasted?

And if your new company suddenly needed to cut costs how loyal would they be to you?

BreadwinneBaker · 09/02/2023 07:29

Does anyone here have morals, or is eveyone happy mucking people around just because 'I am more important and my needs are soooo much more pressing than those of this company whose time I have jst wasted?

As a manager (who has all the impact of people resigning, having to interview and sort a replacement and cover extra work during a gap) hell yes. Put yourself first.

Long gone are the days employers offer enough loyalty that they deserve it in return.

Zero hours contracts, dwindling sick pay, no investment or support for new or overloaded staff. It's the norm in UK jobs now.

Employment is a business contract. You're not helping out a friend or charity volunteer.

BoxOfCats · 09/02/2023 07:31

I was offered a role last year and verbally accepted. I then was offered a role at another company a week later - significantly better pay and better opportunities in the long term.

I had to put myself first and I'm glad I did, my partner left me last month and without the extra pay I wouldn't have been able to afford the mortgage on my own.

OhhhhhhhhBiscuits · 09/02/2023 07:36

follyfoot37 · 09/02/2023 07:08

Does anyone here have morals, or is eveyone happy mucking people around just because 'I am more important and my needs are soooo much more pressing than those of this company whose time I have jst wasted?

I used to feel like this until I got made redundant and saw how they treated the 15 of us who were chosen. It was blatantly favourites and arse lickers who were kept. So now I look after number 1 and will totally do what I have to do. To them you are just a number.

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 09/02/2023 07:53

Yes. I was out of work at the start of covid and about a year in an ex colleague phoned me and offered me a contract position working for her. Had an interview, was offered the role and accepted it. Wouldn't be able to start for a couple of months due to needing vetting checks. Two days later a previous boss of mine phoned and offered me a position on £200 a day more, no Interview required with an immediate start. 😫.
I'd accepted the first job so took it with good grace.
I'm still there 20 months on, (and have just converted to perm).
I think it would have been unprofessional (and bloody rude) to have turned the first job down.

TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl · 09/02/2023 08:59

You take the one you want and be honest to all parties. Life is too short to miss out on golden job opportunities

TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl · 09/02/2023 09:00

OhhhhhhhhBiscuits · 09/02/2023 07:36

I used to feel like this until I got made redundant and saw how they treated the 15 of us who were chosen. It was blatantly favourites and arse lickers who were kept. So now I look after number 1 and will totally do what I have to do. To them you are just a number.

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That’s EXACTLY it.

Showing loyalty to somewhere that hasn’t yet employed you is rather daft when, when it comes to the crunch, they’ll soon get rid of you if they needed to, without hesitation.

Badbudgeter · 09/02/2023 09:08

OrderOfTheKookaburra · 09/02/2023 07:20

And if your new company suddenly needed to cut costs how loyal would they be to you?

Show quote history

I’ve known people who have been offered a job, accepted, signed a contract, given notice then had the offer pulled. Its brutal out there. I do find employers who bang in about loyalty and it’s like a family tend to expect lots of unpaid overtime so I steer clear.

AreBearsCatholic · 09/02/2023 09:11

Try and delay the acceptance when you are still in the process for a job you want more, though. And tell the second job that you have an offer in case they can modify their timeline at all.

Twiglets1 · 09/02/2023 09:16

It happened to me a few years ago and I just messaged employer 1 to say that unfortunately I would not be able to take up the post after all. There’s nothing they can realistically do about it.