Accepted job offer A, but now B offered! How to handle?

[User5512]

I’ve interviewed for both positions at the same time. B is my dream role, I lost out to another candidate after the final interview. I went ahead and accepted role A at a different company. I negotiated a shorter notice period at my current employer to join A.

It has been 2 weeks since I accepted A. Now B has come back and made an offer! They know my notice period is 2 months.

How do I handle this with B? I don’t want to tell them I accepted A and now ditching A to accept B. I need to have an explanation to why I’m becoming available in 2 weeks suddenly. Appreciate ideas on how to deal with this.

Personally I would be straight and honest with everyone involved. You have acted totally reasonably:

1/ Accept the offer from Company B. Explain that in the meantime you have been able to negotiate down your notice period with your current employer so Good News! you can start with them sooner than you thought. I think it’s OK to tell
them that Company B is your dream job (they will like this) so while you had accepted another role after the initial rejection, you could like to take up theirs instead.

2/ Tell Company A that despite having been initially turned down, Company B who you were interviewing with at the same time has now offered you your dream role, so sadly you won’t be able to take the job after all. They may be upset and try to persuade you or give you a hard story about how they are now on a pickle. But you have done nothing wrong here

Your only issue might be if Company B don’t want you to start for 2 months. In that case you may be stuck with a gap between leaving your current role and starting with B

Just be honest . Why don't you want to tell company B you accepted another role, they chose someone else so what were they expecting you to do?

If you want to go with company B then talk to them honestly, if they want you they will just have to wait now and if they don't want to make allowances then I'd be wondering if they were the right company for you after all.

Did you sign a contract with company A? If so then it may not be as easy as switching to company B. Check your contract to see the notice period or probation situation. If you can leave company A or haven't signed a contract then I would personally keep it simple and tell Company B that you were able to negotiate a shorter notice period. Good luck.

You negotiated a shorter notice period to join A. So just tell B you've negotiated a shorter notice period... 🤷🏻‍♀️ Don't over complicate things.