It’s that time of year when job offers are forthcoming and many engineering students are trying to make decisions about their future workplaces, whether just for the summer or for years to come. Having more than one job offer is a good “problem” to have! However, it’s important that you make and communicate your decision ethically and appropriately with employers.
Over the past several days, our staff have been notified about six students who have reneged on job offers, meaning they formally accepted offers and then rejected them for various reasons. As career professionals, my colleagues and I are disappointed to learn about these cases. Besides being widely considered both unprofessional and unethical, reneging on a job offer is problematic for a variety of reasons.
First, it puts the employer in an unpleasant situation. When you accept an offer, you are making a commitment to that employer. When you renege on that offer, the employer has to reopen the job search, which means potentially having to readvertise the position and interview new candidates. It also means additional time that the position goes unfilled, which can add to the workloads of existing employees in that group or on that team. It creates bad feelings all around and ensures that you will never have an opportunity to work for that employer again.
Second, it can harm your future career prospects. Recruiters within engineering disciplines often know each other. They may have worked for each other’s companies in the past. They talk at career fairs and other recruiting events and they discuss their hiring experiences. If you have reneged on an offer, you can assume that the recruiter will tell a friend in the industry about it and that consequently that friend will also be unlikely to consider you for future employment. Reneging can also harm other Penn State students’ job prospects. An employer who has experienced several reneges by Penn State engineering students may be less likely to recruit at Penn State in the future or may feel less positive about making offers to Penn Staters.
Third, it is an example of treating an employer in a way that is the opposite of the way you’d want the employer to treat you. How would you feel if a recruiter from a company where you really wanted to work made you an offer and then got in touch later and rescinded the offer in favor of a “better” candidate?
The best way to ensure that you are not tempted to renege on an offer is to make sure you don’t feel rushed into making a decision that you might regret. Never make an on-the-spot decision about any job offer! Most employers will give you at least two weeks to consider an offer so you can discuss it with your family, consider the cost of living vs. the salary offered, etc. Ask for a deadline by which you need to respond to the offer; request an extension if you find that you cannot reasonably make a decision within the allotted time frame.
If you have an offer from one employer but are waiting for another offer from an employer where you’d rather work, ask the first employer for additional time to consider the offer. Unfortunately, sometimes schedules dictate that you have to make a decision about one offer before you hear back about the other.
Once you have accepted an offer, immediately notify all other prospective employers. This helps to make your commitment final by ensuring that you do not continue to get offers that you are not really free to accept. It also allows the employers to move forward with making offers to other candidates.
If you need help considering and evaluating your employment options prior to accepting an offer, please contact our office!
