To not bother going to my new job tomorrow?

[Helmhun]

So I recently lost my job, i’ve been applying and interviewing like a crazy woman.
I have been offered a job, which includes working weekends which is less than ideal because i’m a single parent to 2 kids, I would be relying on family to make it work ( not the most reliable)

I accepted the job knowing I wouldn’t be staying long but I needed the money. However i’ve been offered another job with perfect hours, more money and no working weekends which is what I wanted. The start date to this perfect job however is 3 weeks away so i could technically work the first job to earn some money. However it feels quite pointless, I’m on universal credit so i’m sure that would mess up somewhere.

What do i do? I hate letting people down, i have signed a contract that states I need to give a weeks notice.

If you go in it gives them three weeks to find someone new. I would tell them only after I received a formal job offer elsewhere otherwise you might end up with nothing. As a recruiter, it is very annoying when people don’t turn up and I have to calm down angry clients. As a minimum, talk to them.

Recruiter here
i think it’s better to call and explain now rather than go in then quit. They may well spend a lot of time trying to train you up, unlikely you’d be very productive in that time, better for them to start afresh with someone else. Hopefully they someone else they can just call up and ask to start.

btw I don’t think badly of you for doing this, I once quit a job after one shift in similar circumstances

This. I’d always cover my back in situations like this.

Phone job 1 and explain and apologise profusely. Then pray hard that Job 2 doesn’t phone in the next couple of weeks to tell you the company has folded.

I’ve just had an email from head office in regards to the second job with my formal offer. I will email the first job explaining what had happened and plan on apologising profusely

From a person who has onboarded and trained several people over the years I would prefer someone to not turn up on day 1 rather than intentionally only come for 2 weeks work. It takes so much time out of my week training someone and I can do someone’s job whilst simultaneously doing my own duties a lot quicker than training someone to do it. A polite call will be sufficient

I think emailing them apologising and explaining why you aren't turning up is right, particularly if there may be a good deal of training in the first week or so. People sometimes just don't turn up without saying anything.

Unless you're absolutely sure the other job won't fall through, I'd go in.

At the end of the day if circumstances changed for the employer they would not hesitate to let the employee go therefore why shouldn’t the employee look out for themselves? A contract didn’t help me when I was made redundant 3 times. The last time I wasn’t even entitled to
redundancy pay because I’d been with the company less than a year. So no when it comes to it employees should be prioritising they needs and not that of a potential employer

I would ring them first and send an email to follow up - they will appreciate it and you never know when you might need to work for them again. Phone calls are much more appreciated and professional than email.

This.
Job 2 may not materialise.
Then if you've turned down Job 1 you may be penalised by UC (crap system...)
Cover your backside.
Once Job 2 is signed up (quite quick by the sounds of it?) you can explain to Job 1.

If you've now received formal offer and start date for job 2, I'd go into work today for job 1 and explain, offer to work your notice or to call it quits before starting.

If I were your employer for job 1 I would absolutely call it quits and tell you to go home, and save my time and money training you and your time being trained for a job you already know you're not going to do. And then I'd use the time I'd earmarked to train you calling the runner-up and offering them the job instead. Much better than starting, not saying anything and then have you give notice 3 days in and dealing with paying you for 3 days, paperwork, etc.

Is your formal offer subject to satisfactory references? References can take a while to be processed, so you could find that a start date is not as soon as you hope it would be.

Please don’t waste their time considering so much will have already been wasted on-boarding you. They’ll take that on the chin, if you explain now why you won’t be joining them. Going in for a week of induction, only to quit will leave such a bitter taste.

Go in tomorrow and give your weeks notice, it'd be pointless them training you but thats what the contract states...

Email HR and explain what you have explained to us, I don’t see why they would want to train someone for 3 weeks only for them to leave. I honestly wouldn’t feel bad about it either.

Email - Jesus. You should have CALLED them.

You should show up and offer to work your notice. They may tell you not to bother but you shouldn't just not show-up. Congratulations on finding something that works for your family better though!

This

You might love it and you never know…..

(however UC paperwork is a complain so I get why you’re hesitant!)

You have not got the 2nd job yet!! Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.

Why would any employer do that? The first couple of weeks is training. Why would they train the OP knowing she's leaving.

Sometimes you just have to look after number 1 and do whats best for you. Which is dont go to the first job and just go to the more suitable one. You could send them an e-mail explaining, i had to do,that once years ago wrote and explained and got a really snotty reply but,sometimes you just have to do these things.

This. It depends on the job but if someone needs to train and induct you and it takes a few days for you to learn the ropes then it may be easier for them if you don’t start rather than start and then leave.

Contact them and tell the truth. You owe them nothing. The fact you lost your jobs shows you how companies value people. Put yourself first.