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Thinking about declining an offer after accepting it is one of the most unfortunate situations you can find yourself in as a candidate. This lesson explains how to delicately extricate yourself from such situations without causing yourself reputational harm.
This is one of the most common questions that we have been asked in-person and on numerous online forums. Usually, the story plays out with the candidate interviewing at several companies in quick succession. The candidate receives an offer that is better than his current position but definitely not his top pick. The candidate wants to wait for the outcome of all the interviews but is either coerced into accepting the offer or voluntarily accepts it out of fear of the offer being rescinded.
A bird in hand is better than two in the bush. Eventually, the candidate gets an offer from his favorite company when he has already accepted an offer from his not so favorite company. A worse situation to be in is when the candidate receives an offer from his favorite company a few weeks into the new job.
Before we delve into how to deal with such a situation, companies with mature hiring processes usually give candidates ample time to make a decision on their offer. Large companies with pool-hiring are more tolerant as new-hires can be repurposed across teams. However, there may be instances where a hiring manager or a recruiter forces the candidate to make a hasty decision. It makes sense from their perspective because a company can’t have a pending offer out for months on end because headcounts need to be filled, quarterly ...