Can I Back Out After Signing An Offer - Changing Your Mind on a Job Offer (Ask A Recruiter)

I had a candidate asking me, can I back out after signing an offer. It's a really good question. In general, changing your mind on a job offer can put you in a really tough spot. You don't want to burn a bridge with a potential employer as a candidate, but at the same time, you don't want to accept an offer that isn't right for you for the wrong reasons. In this video, I talk about the legal ramifications of turning down a job offer after you have already signed the job offer as well as the career impact it can have on you as well.

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[ma]

Great advice! However, a typical company doesn't care about you when they want to lay you off, or when they ghost you anytime in the application process. So if they are upset that I walk away, too bad. It's part of the process and goes both ways.

[EvaMariposa]

I was in that exact position earlier this year. Got a written offer, I accepted it, but then found some bad reviews on the company that put me on high alert. So after 3 days of signing the offer, I withdrew my acceptance. I didn't have any legal ramifications, because I hadn't officially started yet. But for sure I probably upset a few people with my decision. My lesson in all this was to always, as much as possible, do a thorough research on the company and my future boss BEFORE I accept any job offers.

[DriveandThrive]

5:00 You mean like what happens to employees all the time?! We are always being interviewed and ghosted, frequently after multiple rounds of interviews. Never paid for our time wasted. Spare me. Honestly, unless you were to somehow need that company again it would never actually hurt you at all. Always do whats best for yourself because believe me companies will do whats best for them

[davecthompson]

With the thousands of companies within thousands of cities and you'll live maybe 80-95 years, I wouldn't worry about backing out of a job agreement. It's your life, live it up.

[jillianchaloux]

I accepted a job offer, However it's not the job I wanted. I've been racking my brain for the last week weighing out the pros and cons of the job position. The cons for me, are higher than the pros. I'm happy to have come across this video.

[qjfall]

There are just situations in which you can’t delay the signing any further without risking losing the offer. Even if you’ll receive results fairly soon from another company like within the week. Situations like this unfortunately just happens. It goes without saying that sometimes we just can’t delay the offer signing any further otherwise we won’t be watching this type of videos.

[showdown]

While I agree it is best not to burn bridges, I still believe that you should be no more loyal to a company than they are to you. I did go through something like this many moons ago, I had verbally accepted a temp position(1 month contract) and then later declined it. The recruiter told me that if I did that I would not be able to do business with their agency anymore and I said that's ok I understand. He later forwarded me the email response from the hiring manager of his reaction to me turning down the offer which I felt was unprofessional. Felt like I made a good choice :)

[SasquatchActualFitness]

You can always back out! It’s your life and time.

[divineenigma]

Currently at 75k accepted a 90k offer for a new project within the same company. Accepted it, signed the offer, next day another company I didn't think was going to move forward with me reaches out with a $120k offer. I'd be a fool not to take it I think.

[ericoliphant]

Just dealt with this same situation. I accepted a position with a medical cannabis laboratory and found a lot of bad reviews with more research. I wrote them a letter rescinding my acceptance and took a better offer in a biomedical lab with great pay and benefits! Next time I won’t be so quick to jump the gun without thinking. I’m glad I didn’t get locked into that other position because I would have been miserable.

[shaochiavang]

I would not want to work at a company where you are not legally allowed to leave. And also declining the offer after accepting it is not a career ender. I skipped out on my internship because i found a job, and once i was done with college i went and applied at the same company i skippes out on (2-3 years after) and got the job...worked there for 3 years..although it was in a different department.

[afixithei.V]

some companies don't give enough time for potential employees to make decisions. I got an offer letter a day after interviewing with company A and was told I had to respond to it that same day. Meanwhile, I was expecting an offer from company B. Company B offer came in the day I resumed at company A and I requested for a pay rise for me to accept the offer which they did. This is now 4 days I've worked with company A and I'm confused whether to accept company B offer and stop work at company A or not. I'm a software developer and company B is now offering me 25% more than company A, I prefer the kind of software I'll work on at company B, it's closer to my residence (meaning less amount on transport), I'll only need to come to the office 2 or 3 times a week and resumption is 9am instead of 8am at company A

[dhenderson]

It depends if you value the principle of someone sticking to their word and doing what they say they will do.

[appendix-qk]

We as employees always get the “At Will” words thrown into our faces when a company decides to terminate you or lay you off or whatever. It only seems to be problematic when we the people use that to our advantage then somehow it’s considered burning bridges. Everyone knows that “At Will” employment exists and signed into law through lobbying by large corporations to benefit them not the employees.

[product_designer_lp]

Hi Ben, thanks for the video! I just have a question: if you reject the offer (without signing it ), do companies also add some notes to the ATS saying they shouldn’t hire you in the future (because you rejected them)?

[TheHarrisal]

I just had this happen. Signed an offer, went through the background check. I start in a month. I had interviewed for another company 4 months ago. Thought the job was gone. They called me 1 week ago with a job offer. I with Drew the offer but I'm sure I'm black listed.

[Bobthetomado]

7:13 As if the word of the company means anything

[sotiriskordas]

What if you have only verbally accepted an offer and haven't yet received a written, more detailed letter offer to sign? Do the same things still apply? Would you be frowned upon if something else wraps up on your current workplace or you receive another offer, and now you want to back out? Is this something that would burn bridges?

[anonymoushuman]

I accepted a job offer but now I’m having second thoughts because the commute time is over an hour and gasoline is so expensive these days

[xkimmyxkimbo]

I’m in this dilemma right now. After I accepted a job offer, I got an offer for a different department of that same company (but through a temp agency) that I had interviewed for earlier. The temp job is for at least a year and pays $10 more hourly than the direct hire position. I tried to negotiate higher pay for the offer I accepted, but they wouldn’t budge. I told them that I’ll move forward with this job anyway because it’s direct hire. Now I think I made a big mistake. With a temp job, they have a tendency to hire after. The rate is so much more. I feel bad saying: I accept, I got a new offer can you match it, ok I accept, and now actually no thank you.