Accepting job offer, and backing out? How unprofessional is this? [duplicate]

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• Leaving a job very early to accept another offer [duplicate] 9 answers

so I currently work two jobs. One that pays ~$9/hr, and another that pays roughly $14/hr. Both give me ~20 hours each week apiece.

I've recently accepted a job offer at a company, after two interviews to accept the position at $12 an hour. He's since ordered a company phone for me (and not a cheap one).

I feel bad, but I've already handed in my two weeks notice at my other jobs. One of them, where I work as an IT administrator part time at $14/hr offered to bring me on as a salaried employee at $40,000 if I stayed.

The miscommunication is because I'd told my boss I planned on leaving, but when the owner of the company found out, this offer was extended to me.

What should I do? I know what I want to do, but I can't bare screwing the company over whose job offer I've accepted. I feel like a real ass about the whole situation.

Can anyone offer any insight? Thank you.

Answer 1

Not to sound insulting, but at the rates you're referring to here and the fact that you mentioned "IT Administrator", it will not be difficult for the company you turn down to replace you. You are very likely really early in your career, so while this is mildly unprofessional, it is not a career killer. The person you end up turning down will ultimately understand. The guy ordering a company phone would have needed to anyway for whoever accepts the position so don't worry about that. If you choose not to stay with your current company, it's not a big deal because you're replaceable. They just don't want to have to replace you. While there are likely plenty of candidates who can replace you, sifting through them is a bit of an annoyance.

While reneging on an offer acceptance is mildly unprofessional it's not horrible. Handle it directly and professionally, and you won't have any issues.

Normally I'd warn someone to be wary of accepting a counter offer, but with this kind of salary increase they're serious about keeping you.

Answer 2

Assuming there are no crazy stipulations in the employment contract, you should be fine. For example, if you accepted a sign-on bonus, that bonus could be rescinded. Otherwise, assuming you live in an at-will employment state in the US, nothing bad will happen.

The only thing that will happen is you will most likely burn a bridge with this new company. If you had a friend refer you for the job whose offer you are rejecting, his reputation might suffer a bit as well. If neither of those things apply to you, then you are fine.