

Ask HN: Rejecting an accepted job offer. Is it ethical? - hackathon

I recently accepted an offer from Y! and given the current turnaround of events, I am having second thoughts. Given my legal status I cannot afford to be in unstable position. What's the best thing to do in this position?
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justrudd
I'll veer away from the legal status aspects of it :) But as far as rejecting
an accepted offer, an offer letter isn't binding. It is signals your intent to
sign a contract (i.e. that long employee agreement that no one reads). And
even when you sign the agreement depending on which state you reside in, you
are probably in a "right to work" state which means you can quit without
cause, and they can fire without cause. So rejecting an accepted offer isn't
that big of moral deal to me.

The main thing is what is making your change your mind. Another thing to
consider is the size of the market where you are. If you are in a small market
(say Spokane, WA) then word might get around that you are "wishy-washy". In a
larger market, maybe not.

I've been on both sides of this before. From the employee side, I'd reject an
accepted offer if something came up that gave me pause. I've rejected an
accepted offer when I realized I didn't really want to move to Boston. Things
change. They understand that.

From the employer side, I'd rather someone reject an accepted offer vs. coming
to work and not really wanting to be there. It costs quite a bit of money to
on board an employee - benefits, computer, parking passes, etc. While some of
that might be in the works because you accepted, I doubt much of it is. I'd
rather eat the cost on the few things I did vs. bringing you on and having you
quit a few months later or having to fire you later for not working out.

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mgkimsal
Turnaround of events where? In your life? Or with Yahoo!?

If something's changed in _your_ life - unforeseen - that makes it more
difficult to accept, it'll be easier for everyone to understand and accept. If
it's just a case of... "I changed my mind"... well... they'll move on and get
over it, but you'll have a bad mark there. The people you let down may
remember this, and they move on as well. Basically one changed decision
probably won't have much of a difference, but if this is a pattern in life,
it'll have longer-term repercussions over taking the gig for several months or
a year until something better comes along.

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andrewljohnson
You are conflating two questions:

1) Is it moral? 2) What's the best for me?

It seems like your legal status is a big incentive to take the Y! job, so that
should encourage you to follow through.

But... if that's not an issue, it might be a little unethical, but you know
what... screw Yahoo. You're just a guy, they are a billion dollar corp. Do
what's right for you.

