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I recently joined company X. They want to send me on a business trip for training for a few weeks overseas (standard for all new hires), and are coordinating with me to plan this trip. They will soon buy plane tickets and make other arrangements.

At the same time, I have a verbal job offer from company Y and they are preparing my formal offer. Their offer is much better than my current compensation, so I'm very interested in accepting their offer. They are flexible on when I would start.

I'm wondering how I should handle this, given the possible scenarios. I have not spoken to X about my offer from Y, since I have not received a formal offer. On the other hand, I don't want to leave on a bad note wasting company X resources. What if I get the offer after they buy plane tickets? Or even during the trip?

Also, if I'm considering staying with company X (assuming they can match Y's offer), should I just go on this trip (regardless of Y's offer), to get a better feel for their company? Again, it would look bad if I left soon after the trip.

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Your problem may be somewhere else:

In my company, when you sign a new contract and get some paid training, you have to stay a certain amount of time before leaving. Otherwise you will have to pay for compensation (which can be very expensive, the plane ticket would be the least of your problem...).

And even if it is not clearly stated in the contract, they could argue that you took advantage of them, and still have to pay for compensation.

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    At least in Western Europe, this wouldn't be possible unless redmind accepted (in writing!) that he will stay with the company this certain amount of time after receiving the training (normally, the alternative is paying for the training). It can't be just "implied", it's something the OP would need to be informed of and have accepted. So if he didn't sign anything in this respect, requiring from him to stay or pay for the training has absolutely no legal basis. – BigMadAndy Dec 4 '18 at 14:33
  • A company might well have that policy and have employees sign off on it. I see no way a company could collect compensation without a signed agreement. There's no law that says companies and employees can't take advantage of each other, and I suspect the companies would suffer more from such a law than the employees. – David Thornley Dec 4 '18 at 22:44
  • There's nothing in my contract that states that, and I've never heard that happening in my country. My training isn't happening in a formal way, and doesn't have a set duration. It's basically just people showing me the ropes and bringing me up to speed. Nothing contractual. – redmint Dec 9 '18 at 23:03
  • Then, it may be only about ethic or professionalism, not law neither contract. – P.Manthe Dec 10 '18 at 1:49
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Not sure why you would still be entertaining offers from other companies after accepting and starting work with X, but if you would rather work for Y you need to wait for them to give you a written offer. In the meantime, it is business as usual at company X. Behave as if you were staying at X until you accept a written offer from Y.

In the future, so you don't have to worry about looking bad, burning bridges, or wasting people's time and resources, stop entertaining offers from other companies once you have accepted and began work with a company.

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You have to stay at your current job until you get a formal job offer. After that, put in your two weeks notice of resignation and work in earnest. Then just go to your new job. Simple. Effective. Painless.

If your current boss wants to know why you're leaving, just be honest about the compensation. Everyone's gotta move on sometime these days.

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