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I am currently employed at a middle-sized company. The pay and work environment aren't great, so I've been looking for another job for the past few months.

About 5 weeks ago (March 11 for the sake of simplicity), I interviewed at a large Fortune 500 company (let's call it "Company A"). I felt like it went well, but a few days later the job was re-posted on the website. I asked the hiring manager at Company A and he said it was routine to allow them to interview more people internally.

Assuming that I wouldn't get this job I continued looking, and went through a 3-week interview process with a small company ("Company B", about 50 employees) that eventually made me an offer. I countered with a pretty big increase, and they met it by sending me a pdf of the revised contract. I said over the phone that the offer "looked good", and put in my two weeks notice at my current employer (this was on April 4). Company B and I established that I would start on April 22, and sign my contract then.

Now it is April 16th and, along with being very apologetic for the delay, the hiring manager at Company A calls me with an offer that beats even my revised amount with Company B by a significant margin (even before the counter offer that I plan to make). The jobs themselves are pretty comparable, but along with the better pay I would be slightly more comfortable working in Company A's stable corporate environment.

Given Company B's size, it might be a huge blow to them to have spent so much time interviewing me and waiting 2+ weeks for me to start only for me to say "never mind". If I take Company A's offer, I would immediately give Company B a tactful note or call to let them know the situation.

TL;DR: I have all but signed the contract for one offer, but a significantly better one was made by another company. So the question is: is it acceptable for me to take the better job offer days before starting at the other one, or will this somehow blacklist me? Am I legally obligated to any certain action, possibly including mentioning Company B on my future resume? Is there any other action I should take?

kugo2006
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    What are the differences from your situation and this question? – enderland Apr 16 '13 at 20:16
  • Keep in mind you only have a verbal offer from Company A, don't talk to company B until you have signed contract from Company A. – mhoran_psprep Apr 16 '13 at 20:32
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    @enderland you're right they are very similar. I searched pretty extensively before posting but guess I didn't use quite the correct terms to find it. – kugo2006 Apr 16 '13 at 20:48
  • @mhoran_psprep I agree that's very important. The last thing I want to do is end up with 0 jobs. – kugo2006 Apr 16 '13 at 20:49
  • @user8039 - Each time I've been in this situation I felt that I owed it to B to go with them since I had a verbal agreement with them. When A called I told them that was my reason for rejecting their offer. One year later A called me back, and accepted I their offer. Why did I accept then? Because I didn't feel like I was jerking B around. I made my decision based on how I felt about it and not economic reasons. Did it matter to the companies? Probably not. Did I feel better about the decisions? Yes. No matter how you make your decision, heed the advice of mhoran_psprep. – Xenson Apr 16 '13 at 22:22
  • This also seems very similar in scope to this question in all but the minute detail of having a verbal offer vs. a final interview. – jmac Apr 17 '13 at 03:57
  • @jmac yes it was also similar to that one, only this situation is a bit "milder" since I haven't signed the contract with B and I'm letting them know (albeit shortly) beforehand. – kugo2006 Apr 17 '13 at 18:06
  • related: How do I coordinate the process of pursuing multiple job opportunities at the same time? – gnat Jun 30 '14 at 10:39
  • I won't post this as an answer, but if it were me it'd be entirely up to how big this margin is.

    I won't break my word if the difference is 1900€/month vs 1800, but if the jump was all the way to 2500, I would.

    I'd just call company B asap to let them know, and be honest with them. In the end, it all boils down to the money.

     – Demonblack Mar 11 '16 at 09:20
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    hey @kugo2006 ! whatever happened with this one, way back then!? – Fattie Apr 17 '19 at 15:45
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    The offer with [A] was enough better (roughly 10%/$6K TC higher) that I went with them. I accepted their offer and sent [B] an email with my regrets that I would no longer be taking that job with a full explanation of the awkward timing and misunderstanding with [A] as well as a reasoning and an apology.

    @Fattie: The manager at [B] (who due to its small size was also the owner) replied with a short email, "I am disappointed in this decision, but better now than a month from now," then asked if I had anyone else I'd refer.

     – kugo2006 Apr 18 '19 at 15:32
  • @kugo2006 that is really fantastic and fascinating information. THANKS !!!!!!! Cheers – Fattie Apr 18 '19 at 15:58

1 Answers1

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If both you and Company B felt that your answer of "looked good" and your setting up a start date of April 22nd was an acceptance, then it is an acceptance. Backing out of it two weeks later is indeed not nice and is poor form. You will almost certainly annoy Company B, and will likely be on the "bad list" there, and with folks who work there.

That said it is very unlikely that Company B will pursue you legally. (I am not a lawyer, so will not comment on the actual legality of your move).

I once worked at a company where we hired a Developer. The day he was due to start, he sent an email saying that changed his mind and wasn't actually going to show up. He also mentioned that his father was a prominent local attorney (who was often in the television news). We didn't pursue any legal remedies, but I would never try to hire this guy again. And if I found out he was about to be hired by someone I cared about I'd warn them. I don't know if that's considered "blackballing" or not.

Your best bet is to be honest with Company B, apologize profusely, and accept the fact that your name will likely be "mud" to them. And no - don't mention Company B on your resume ever again - no good can come of that.

Joe Strazzere
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  • Great advice! I will see if I can find anyone with legal repute who I can get a certain answer on – kugo2006 Apr 16 '13 at 20:51
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    Very good point. Another thing to consider is that company B may blacklist you, and would not allow you to work there under any circumstances, even as a consultant in the future. You also need to consider the size of the geographic area, and the culture of the area. You can getaway with actions in NYC that you couldn't in Fargo. Also, the folks at B that remember you may ended up at company that you apply to later. – Xenson Apr 16 '13 at 22:28