Has anyone ever declined a job offer?

[Ceriane]

Has anyone ever declined a job offer after going through the interview and being offered the job and given really good feedback, after thinking about it for a while and then realising it’s really not for you and you are better off staying where you are for the time being, and realised the job you applied for isn’t quite what you thought it was?

God yes!!! I can think of four times I've done this. First time, the job was two jobs being rolled into one and sounded I didnt trust the employer not to screw me over. Second time, when I told my employer I had been offered another job they trumped the offer which made me think "better the devil you know". Third time, a friend recommended me to a role but I quickly realised the job was going to be a huge challenge and I wanted something easier (friend belatedly discovered this too, and left a few months later). Fourth time, I just did not like the guy i was going to work for and the job sounded dull (fun employer, Pinewood Studios, but boring role - with hindsight it was a mistake and I wish i had taken that job).

For me, an interview is a two way process. I give 100% (often 150%) to a job, so I want it to be the right one. It's like dating, you don't date someone you don't really like or fancy. You need to want to be there to really be your best self.

Yes, I had a feeling about the person that would be my LM not being the best person to work for, and this was proved right. I'm glad I never took the job.

I’m shocked at the number of women turning down job offers because they found out three were pregnancy and ‘didn’t think it was fair’??? You know we have hard fought for employment laws to protect the rights of women in the workplace to not be discriminated against and yet youre happy to throw yourself under the bus? Boggled

I attended a day long interview.
One of the members of the interview would have been a future colleague, whom I would work closely with.
As the day progressed I found her to be unnecessarily abrasive and unpleasant.
At the close of the interview I was offered the position. I declined even though the salary was excellent and the conditions etc would have suited me. The response from the unpleasant interviewer warranted my decision.
I heard afterwards that she was indeed a nightmare to work with. I never regretted my decision.

@Hexinthecity I didn't throw myself under the bus. Having been a recruiting manager in the past I realise how hard it is to fill vacancies for certain roles. Male or female, if you start a job and then need a significant time off it puts pressure on the service and staff. For me it was just about being considerate, nothing to do with gender equality.

Yes. I was trying to leave a micro managing boss. At the interview, I got some bad feelings about my potential new line manager's lines of questioning and the way she described the role. After the interview I did a bit of due diligence and it confirmed my suspicions ie. I was about to move from one difficult boss to another. So I turned it down. They were gobsmacked but it was all very professional. I consider it very sensible as the relationship wouldn't have worked at all, they needed someone different in the role.

One of the members of the interview panel, I should have said!

I was most likely going to turn down a job offer after what they had said at the interview. Which was along the lines of you get 30mins lunch but we never down tools. We take it turns to go out and get the lunch and have it at our desks. Also said if it's busy u need to work on until your done oh and no overtime. Bare in mind it was a low paid office job when I was about 18 and I already had a job. I also had a hobby that I did once a week and wld need to shoot out the door 5pm latest to do.

So when I asked how often this working on thing happened and what if I wanted to take my lunch break, she rudely replied well the jobs obviously not for you and put the phone down on me. I was 😮 what I should have done was complained to the job centre where they were advertising the role. Absolutely shocking behaviour.

Infact I at first asked for time to think about accepting and she said what's there to think about. That's when I mentioned no breaks and unpaid overtime. Still can't believe it years later!

Yes - I applied for a full time role, and when they offered me the job a week later, it had somehow turned into a job-share so they were actually offering me 2.5 days a week.

I turned it down on the basis that I couldn't afford to effectively take a 50% salary cut, which they seemed most bemused about.

Yes, twice. Each time it was the right decision.

Yes. I figure the interview isn't just for them to decide if they want to hire you, but also for you to decide if you want to work there. If you can already tell from the interview that is not right then of course you are going to say no to an offer. I said no, held or for something better, and ended up somewhere much better.

I recently declined a job offer. Only a local shop so nothing special but just knowing that I would have been at least the 20th staff member in the 6 months since the management changed, it was obvious there was an issue there I didn't want to get involved in. I would think the same for any job though. The interview is two way. You need to know what they are like too.

It always surprises me the number of employers who take offence when people decide they don't wish to take the role on. What on earth do employers think the point of the interview is?

Yes because at the interview I learned I would be working under a guy who was on the interview panel and was a total twat. I am SO pleased he was there otherwise I may have taken it and hated it. As PP have said, an interview is as much about you interviewing them as the other way, some don't seem to get that!

Yes, a long time ago. I'd had 2 interviews. The company seemed lovely, everyone I meet was friendly, the offices were beautiful, it was closer to the station for the commute, but the salary was too low. It would have been a 25% reduction in whY I was already earning. They weren't able to make a higher offer and I very reluctantly turned it down.

Thank you. I’m sure I made the right decision.

I luv pickles that’s terrible! They clearly don’t care about their staff at all!

Yes, but on those occasions I have been applying for multiple jobs and had a better offer from somewhere else.

Yes, twice!

First time was when I was being made redundant around 10 years ago and the company making me redundant offered me a different job in another department. I turned it down because it was a role that I had zero interest in doing and would have bored me to tears.

The second time was last year.

I was offered a job in a field I'd been trying to get into, for an organisation who manufacture something pretty cool and a salary within the range I was looking for.

Unfortunately it was a 2+ hour commute each way, they wanted me on site 4 out of 5 days every week and there was no flexible working which meant I had no public transport options and would've had to drive the 130 mile round trip every day.

I said thanks but no thanks. They came back with a higher salary but I still said no.

Life is too short to do a job that you don't enjoy and on both these occasions a better offer came along fairly soon after.

Thank you.

Yes, At the interview it became clear that the role wasn't quite as advertised, and I preferred existing job,

I turned one down a few weeks ago. I had felt it wasn't quite right and wanted a few days to think about it before accepting but they needed an answer. I did later regret turning it down, i wish they had given me bit longer to weight things up after the interview.