You’ve been offered a job. You’re not sure you want the job but you say yes. Then you have second thoughts and decide maybe this job isn’t the one for you after all. Or perhaps a better offer comes along. What do you do?
The best answer is to prevent this kind of scenario from ever happening. As you journey down your job search road, construct your strategies with an ethical mindset. Build your reputation to be a person of your word, a person others can count on, a person others can trust, a person with integrity. You will go far.
Weigh your options carefully. Decide if your ideal job is a reality. Decide if you’re willing to wait for that ideal job knowing that it may not arrive; or decide if you will accept a position you find less desirable so that you can begin to gain valuable experience and add it to your resume for your future job search.
Make your choices wisely and when you accept a position (even verbally), your job search is over. No more interviews. No more searching. If you continue interviewing and searching after you have accepted a position and the employer finds out, they have been known to withdraw their offer and your name may be entered on a do-not-hire list. After all, would you want the employer to keep interviewing other candidates to see if they can find a better applicant for the position you just accepted?
Davida Bluhm
Director, Educational Career Services
University of Illinois@Urbana-Champaign