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My situation is that I applied to two jobs. One is a full-time job at a big company - call it Company B, and the other is an internship at a medium-sized company.

I was more interested in the work and intangibles at the medium-sized company. They gave me a verbal offer and I accepted, but it's pending paperwork. At the same time, I am awaiting a phone call from Company B about my fate with them.

Should I e-mail/write to Company B that I already committed to another company? What if I'm curious about their offer (I haven't signed anything yet).

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    Until you show up for your first day of work you should not tell the second company anything. Because you might actually change your mind. – Donald May 25 '12 at 13:03
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At this point in time, you could say "thanks, Comp. B, for your time but I am no longer interested in pursuing this opportunity".

However, since the offer you accepted was only verbal and nothing is signed in ink yet, I'd wait until that happens before telling the other party that you are no longer available. If they (Comp. B) make an offer, you could tell them that you have tentatively accepted another offer, and maybe they will try to make a better offer. You could also tell Comp A. that "Comp. B has made an offer and could you please hurry up with the paperwork to make this new official".

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    I once had a verbal offer that was retracted at the very last minute when the project I would have been working on was canceled. Until you have a paper to sign, you shouldn't treat it as a sure thing. – Gort the Robot May 24 '12 at 20:20
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Why not leave the ball in Company B's court? So far there is no real obligation by any of the three of you to any of the others.

Until either company gives you a written offer you really have no offer at all. I have observed verbal offers being rescinded through no fault of the applicant before.

I wouldn't stir the pot at this point if I were you.

Sit by the phone and see what happens next.

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    Written offers can also be rescinded through no fault of the applicant. People have been laid off in the first week of the job. So there is no need to tell B anything. – emory May 24 '12 at 22:14
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    @emory: +1, it's common to have a probationary period where an employee can be dismissed without cause. I've seen these run as long as 6 months. – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner May 24 '12 at 23:51
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    @FrustratedWithFormsDesigner - Depending upon the country, if you are an "at will" employee pretty much your entire tenure with a company is a probationary period. – anonymous May 28 '12 at 23:28
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Since you have already accepted the answer, I would try to address the problem with my personal experience which I think will help make you and others take better decisions.

So right after graduation I had an offer from an MNC but due to downturn the company relieved me even before joining. So here I was rejected the other companies to get this offer and at the end I had no job in hand. So sometimes written offers can also be taken back.

Second part after couple of years now I am an expereinced professional I was again looking for a job change the company HR person verbally agreed to send an offer letter with the negotiated amount within 2 days and yet till date i.e couple of weeks I still didn't received any offer from them.

So the best thing is to have everthing in proof hardcopy or softcopy.

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    this does not even attempt to answer the question asked: "...do I notify the other one of it?" – gnat Apr 10 '14 at 7:51

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