Has anyone reversed a decision to accept a position?

[Anonymous]

I accepted a new position in a different state and regret it. My current boss would be happy to keep me. I feel so torn and awful about letting down the org at which I accepted the position!

[Anonymous]

This happens all the time. It will burn a bridge but you need to do what is best for you.

[Anonymous]

Oh and it’s best to do it ASAP so they can go with another candidate or get the hiring process started again. Don’t wait until the last minute.

[Anonymous]

No, but my colleague did (she decided a week later to stay in place as she was considered for an internal promotional move). It was an awkward 5 minute phone call, and she felt horrible, but she has not looked back. This was 5+ years ago.

[Anonymous]

OP, do it fast so maybe they can pretend to their second choice that she was their first choice.

Look at it like this: you’ve giving someone else the job opportunity!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, but my colleague did (she decided a week later to stay in place as she was considered for an internal promotional move). It was an awkward 5 minute phone call, and she felt horrible, but she has not looked back. This was 5+ years ago.

+1 i’ve done it and felt awful about it. That’s business, though.

[Anonymous]

Why were you looking in the first place? It sounds like situations when an ex starts looking great - the familiarity, etc - but then you remember why you dumped him the first time.

[Anonymous]

This happens more often than you think. Just tell them ASAP.

My husband did this once after a layoff when he decided he wanted to go out on his own instead. They ended up hiring him as a consultant instead.

[Anonymous]

This is the positive flipside of "no one is irreplaceable." Like PP said, let them know ASAP, and they can offer it to the runner-up.

Part of life.

[Anonymous]

i got a counter-offer (two VPs flew down separately to talk to me), and a 50% raise when i had put in my resignation and accepted another offer that was only a 5% raise. (we had been told our department was being closed after an acquisition.)

it was weird but worth it. HR at the other company kept a grudge tho.

[Anonymous]

This happened to me years ago. One week before I was supposed to start a new job, I received another offer with a much higher salary. I told the hiring manager that i received another offer and she was not mad at all. She said this proved that their organization was not competitive and wished me all the best. I didn’t make any excuse and just told her the truth.

[Anonymous]

happens every day.

I did it a few years back. They were not happy, but the company existed prior to me applying there, and they will exist afterwards. they move on, and so should you.

[Anonymous]

At least 15 times for me. Big deal.

[Anonymous]

It’s like breaking off an engagement. Better to do it now than commit to something you’ll know you regret and it’s so much harder to disentangle and break it off once you’ve started there. In other words — they’d rather you retract now than quit after 6 months or a year when they’ve invested a lot of training in you and lost their other pontentkal candidates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i got a counter-offer (two VPs flew down separately to talk to me), and a 50% raise when i had put in my resignation and accepted another offer that was only a 5% raise. (we had been told our department was being closed after an acquisition.)

it was weird but worth it. HR at the other company kept a grudge tho.

So - your employer told you they were closing your department, you went and found another job, and then what? Did they keep your department open or just move you to another role?