I know it is bad, but I received a better offer. Will this imply stigma?
Back out of a job after acceptance
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There is a huge reputational cost if you do this. People at the place where you back out of the job will be seriously pissed, and they will tell their friends at other schools. It's a pretty small profession, so by doing this, you'll substantially hurt your chances of getting future job offers.
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^ This is just such absolute bullshit that grad. students keep repeating.
If you have an offer that clearly dominates the offer you accepted, then obviously take the offer. What is the point of having someone who is resentful of being there? In the worst case you can be super anti-social, never come in etc. And you can always quit after 6 months. People will be pissed, and then they will forget. period.
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^ This is just such absolute bullshit that grad. students keep repeating.
If you have an offer that clearly dominates the offer you accepted, then obviously take the offer. What is the point of having someone who is resentful of being there? In the worst case you can be super anti-social, never come in etc. And you can always quit after 6 months. People will be pissed, and then they will forget. period.I have been on hiring committees where applications have been rejected out of hand because they were known to have in the past pulled out of acceptances. You are majorly screwing up the hiring of the institution you pull out from and they will not forget you, I can promise. Others will be wary in the future of wasting time in talking to you.
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Whatever - It's your life. If you accept an offer podunk state, and then you get an unexpected call from Boston - if you really chose to reject that because you are worried what people may or may not think - and instead you chose to spend the next 8 years of YOUR life in a shithole because of it... well, I'm sorry, you deserve what you get. Come on - grow a pair.
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I know a case where he/she eventually lost both offers and could not get an academic job in the U.S. although he/she was not a rookie (he/she was in advanced AP market). If you plan to stay in this profession for a long time, I strongly recommend you should not do this. This profession is mainly built on credibility and trust and, by doing this, you show little respect for it. Life is long and this community is small.
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We'd be furious if this happened. Maybe we'd understand if it was a much better place, but understanding your reasons doesn't imply agreeing with your actions. There'd be a lot of bad press for you. It's costly, but naturally it might still be the best move from your perspective.
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I'm a bit more sympathetic when this happens on the back of an exploding offer. I have a colleague who responded to an exploding offer and then received an offer from his dream school. For many of the reasons discussed here, he did not accept the offer, despite that his dream school was superior in terms of salary, location, and culture. When he arrived at his appointment he found that he just couldn't shake that he absolutely resented the school for forcing his hand with an exploded offer. He left within two years. The long and short of it is... sometimes the school wins if you don't go. If you're just waiting to bail, no one will be happy, not you or the school.
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You need to have an open conversation with the place that made you the first offer. Explain your situation. See their reaction. Have a back and forth conversation, so there is not feeling of betrayal.
We are only in January and they can easily go after the candidates in their waiting list. There is a high chance that the place that made you the first offer will understand your situation and let you move on to whatever is best for you. They would be really stupid not to let you go at this stage of the market. If you are unhappy by sticking to your commitment, you will eventually leave.
If they absolutely do not want you to renege, then negotiate with the other place to start one year later and go to the one that made the first offer for one year. Tell them that you will go to honor your commitment but that you are not going to stay (they can not and should not expect you to stay and be happy to be forced to be in the place). Then move the following year.
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1140 has pointed out one exception: if you accepted an exploding offer, then the consequences of backing out later are vastly less serious than if you backed out on a more reasonable offer. A lot of people (including me) think that exploding offers are somewhat unethical, so I'm pretty sympathetic to people who bailed out on them.
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Would you really call it unethical? I'm not sure this is an accurate assessment. It is definitely frowned upon, but there is really no malicious intent on the part of the candidate (not that this is required for an unethical practice). It would indeed be unethical for a student to accept a job knowing he is going to bail for the sole purpose of locking a school down. It’s another thing to have a superior offer come in. The job market should be about the offer, not about who plays the risk-on trade best by coming in early.
In many cases, the schools that come in the earliest know candidates could go somewhere better and they try to lock them down or cut there losses and move on before the market closes.
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1140 has pointed out one exception: if you accepted an exploding offer, then the consequences of backing out later are vastly less serious than if you backed out on a more reasonable offer. A lot of people (including me) think that exploding offers are somewhat unethical, so I'm pretty sympathetic to people who bailed out on them.
how the hell are exploding offers unethical? in fact, pretty much every single job offer in every industry is exploding, though the explosion date might not be explicit. you expect employers to give you an open-ended offer you can accept anytime you like. ridiculous.