Hypothetical scenario below. Curious what your guys' thoughts are. Background: Firm A: Firm hypothetical architect worked at for 10 years Firm B: Hypothetical Firm said architect left firm A for Firm C: Hypothetical firm said architect accepted offer from but reneged on the deal.
TLDR: Hypothetical architect worked at Firm A for 10 years. Got a hypothetical offer from Firm C, accepted but ended up reneging on the offer (various reasons but none dealing with the work of the firm) due to staying at Firm A being made lucrative at the time. Architect ended up joining Firm B and 2 years later realizing it is not all the architect thought it would be (promises said, not kept, no vertical growth, etc).
Architect is considering reaching out to Firm C, the firm he has potentially burnt a bridge with, to be honest about the situation, apologetic, etc. etc. and see if there is another opportunity available. The work is great there and the culture also seems good (has some friends of friends there) He knows that this is likely a bad look but also knows business is business and perhaps they would look past his poor judgement in reneging on the deal. He was very sincere and professional in his backing out of Firm C, gave the hiring manager a call and spoke with her for a while about why he is doing what he is doing, things seemed cordial.
What do you all think, seriously and without callous...about this hypothetical scenario.
Firm A and C could be a no-go. Firm C could still be an option but could very well not be... such as what isn't said. Both firms may have feelings about the situation. Maybe look into Firm D, E, and/or F as options. That is, looking into options not currently being looked at. Just an initial gut feeling from me.
It depends. Many firms understand that moving from one firm to another is often the only real way to improve your salary in this field, and this is all just business, nothing personal. But many firms don’t understand this. Does Firm C?
I think good firms would respect and understand the decision why the applicant would turn down the offer as long as it's been communicated back to them in a professional manner.
I have been in that exact situation, including reneging. If I hadn't moved for job B, I would have gone back to C, as they were actually a better fit for what I'm good at and what's important to me.
It is a strange scenario. I was definitely curious how others would react if they were in the shoes of Firm C. I don't want to pour salt on the wound but not sure if I reached out (and there were a scenario where they did hire me) that I would be treated strangely based on the reneging of the job.
I just realized that I misremembered. In my case, the owner of firm C is a friend, and he and his partner had offered me a position. Then out of nowhere, firm A offered me a substantial raise (and increase in responsibilities) and I stayed on for another year or two. Then I left to help another friend start a new business, and almost immediately regretted it. In retrospect, if I had gone with firm C, I would be doing exactly what I'm doing now but would have gotten there more quickly, and with people I enjoy spending time with. I'm still friends with the owner of firm C.
In your case, I think the best you can do is explain what led you to make the decisions you did and be honest about why you would like to reconsider your decision.
I was in a similar situation once. A large firm with offices in various places said I would work for office A but be located at office B.
Flew out to office A, interviewed, everything was great with office A except the manager wants me to be in location A . Its location is HORRIBLE for me. I turn the offer down. Four months later office B is hiring, I apply and get an interview. I explain why I turned down the offer for office A. The firm understands and really likes my work. I did get an offer from office B but its pay was too low for the area and I declined.
I wouldn’t consider that a burnt bridge-More like just life happening. I think reaching out would be welcomed from the perspective of the hypothetical employer.
Jul 27, 23 12:11 pm ·
·
x-jla
I look at like this- any employer who would hold a grudge after that amount of time for a cordial and professional dismount of a deal has a fragile ego and would not be fun working with. A positive reaction from them would signal that they are decent understanding human beings. A negative would signal that it’s a toxic environment. Just my 2 cents.
You mention friends of friends working there. I would find out if any of those FoFs are (or know) a reasonable person in management. If so, you might ask them to pose the hypothetical to them as a coalmine canary.
do you actually want to work at firm c or are you just regretting your current state? this sounds a lot like wistful fantasizing about the high school crush you thought about dating but never did... only less engaging.
otherwise, consider this: firms can and do rescind job offers if projects fall through. if you didn't sign a contact, you didn't break any promises. no one cares; ask.
what's a hypothetical offer? why is this whole question framed as if you (an anonymous poster) don't want to be accused of making a banal decision none of us care about?
I think the OP wants to keep things hypothetical so it stays anonymous. Even though people post with usernames quite a few of us know each others real names.
Jul 27, 23 5:09 pm ·
·
midlander
my response was only hypothetically rude, since it's the hypothetical answer to a hypothetical question.
Actually do not mind working at Firm C. The work is good, I was just put in a position of staying at Firm A because they offered me well above Firm C's offer and it made sense at the
time with location. As stated, I accepted the offer (in writing) from Firm C and subsequently called them to tell them sorry I have to back out of the entire thing. It was a cordial call. They were "disappointed" but seemed to understand. This is all hypothetical, of course.
i'd only call this "burning a bridge" if you relied on a contact there to help push this through and they declined other strong candidates waiting for you. it doesn't sound like that happened. if you think they'd judge you for choosing the best paid option then i question whether that's actually a good place to work.
Jul 27, 23 7:47 pm ·
·
midlander
the obverse situation happens occasionally too (not only in architecture) when a firm makes an offer, the candidate accepts, and the firm cancels the offer before they start. usually only if there are serious changes in the business that means they don't need more employees.
Doesn't hurt to try. It is possible you burned a bridge, but if you know what you're doing and they need good people (and already offered you once), you're probably ok.
It was a few years, so one would hope that the "tried something for a bit that seemed like a better fit at the time didn't work out" still stands. Seems like Firm C benefits from not having to do full interview process - and could stand to gain from the additional experience [assuming they have a need]. As others mentioned - if they're holding some grudge, then they'd be bad to work for anyway. I've kept touch with a few places I interviewed with over the years to keep my options open [and from time to time send others their way]. Recently had someone go through 2 rounds of interviews, back out, come back to complete process, then took another gig anyway - that one ruffled feathers with time/money spent on process by the firm.
Hypothetical Scenario
Hypothetical scenario below. Curious what your guys' thoughts are.
Background:
Firm A: Firm hypothetical architect worked at for 10 years
Firm B: Hypothetical Firm said architect left firm A for
Firm C: Hypothetical firm said architect accepted offer from but reneged on the deal.
TLDR: Hypothetical architect worked at Firm A for 10 years. Got a hypothetical offer from Firm C, accepted but ended up reneging on the offer (various reasons but none dealing with the work of the firm) due to staying at Firm A being made lucrative at the time. Architect ended up joining Firm B and 2 years later realizing it is not all the architect thought it would be (promises said, not kept, no vertical growth, etc).
Architect is considering reaching out to Firm C, the firm he has potentially burnt a bridge with, to be honest about the situation, apologetic, etc. etc. and see if there is another opportunity available. The work is great there and the culture also seems good (has some friends of friends there) He knows that this is likely a bad look but also knows business is business and perhaps they would look past his poor judgement in reneging on the deal. He was very sincere and professional in his backing out of Firm C, gave the hiring manager a call and spoke with her for a while about why he is doing what he is doing, things seemed cordial.
What do you all think, seriously and without callous...about this hypothetical scenario.
Over N' Out.
Firm A and C could be a no-go. Firm C could still be an option but could very well not be... such as what isn't said. Both firms may have feelings about the situation. Maybe look into Firm D, E, and/or F as options. That is, looking into options not currently being looked at. Just an initial gut feeling from me.
It depends. Many firms understand that moving from one firm to another is often the only real way to improve your salary in this field, and this is all just business, nothing personal. But many firms don’t understand this. Does Firm C?
I think good firms would respect and understand the decision why the applicant would turn down the offer as long as it's been communicated back to them in a professional manner.
I have been in that exact situation, including reneging. If I hadn't moved for job B, I would have gone back to C, as they were actually a better fit for what I'm good at and what's important to me.
It is a strange scenario. I was definitely curious how others would react if they were in the shoes of Firm C. I don't want to pour salt on the wound but not sure if I reached out (and there were a scenario where they did hire me) that I would be treated strangely based on the reneging of the job.
I just realized that I misremembered. In my case, the owner of firm C is a friend, and he and his partner had offered me a position. Then out of nowhere, firm A offered me a substantial raise (and increase in responsibilities) and I stayed on for another year or two. Then I left to help another friend start a new business, and almost immediately regretted it. In retrospect, if I had gone with firm C, I would be doing exactly what I'm doing now but would have gotten there more quickly, and with people I enjoy spending time with. I'm still friends with the owner of firm C.
In your case, I think the best you can do is explain what led you to make the decisions you did and be honest about why you would like to reconsider your decision.
Thanks, hope everything worked out for you Wood Guy! You and a few others are good characters on this forum.
It can't hurt to try.
I was in a similar situation once. A large firm with offices in various places said I would work for office A but be located at office B.
Flew out to office A, interviewed, everything was great with office A except the manager wants me to be in location A . Its location is HORRIBLE for me. I turn the offer down. Four months later office B is hiring, I apply and get an interview. I explain why I turned down the offer for office A. The firm understands and really likes my work. I did get an offer from office B but its pay was too low for the area and I declined.
I wouldn’t consider that a burnt bridge-More like just life happening. I think reaching out would be welcomed from the perspective of the hypothetical employer.
I look at like this- any employer who would hold a grudge after that amount of time for a cordial and professional dismount of a deal has a fragile ego and would not be fun working with. A positive reaction from them would signal that they are decent understanding human beings. A negative would signal that it’s a toxic environment. Just my 2 cents.
I'm also in the can't-hurt-to-try camp.
You mention friends of friends working there. I would find out if any of those FoFs are (or know) a reasonable person in management. If so, you might ask them to pose the hypothetical to them as a coalmine canary.
Fortune favors the brave. Whats the worst that could happen?
Can't imagine anything bad happening with the tag line "Fortune favors the brave" ! (ha)
.
An unfortunate association with a good saying.
I Do Not Want, What I Haven't Got.
do you actually want to work at firm c or are you just regretting your current state? this sounds a lot like wistful fantasizing about the high school crush you thought about dating but never did... only less engaging.
otherwise, consider this: firms can and do rescind job offers if projects fall through. if you didn't sign a contact, you didn't break any promises. no one cares; ask.
what's a hypothetical offer? why is this whole question framed as if you (an anonymous poster) don't want to be accused of making a banal decision none of us care about?
Don't be so rude.
I think the OP wants to keep things hypothetical so it stays anonymous. Even though people post with usernames quite a few of us know each others real names.
my response was only hypothetically rude, since it's the hypothetical answer to a hypothetical question.
If we're only speaking hypothetically . . . .
Actually do not mind working at Firm C. The work is good, I was just put in a position of staying at Firm A because they offered me well above Firm C's offer and it made sense at the time with location. As stated, I accepted the offer (in writing) from Firm C and subsequently called them to tell them sorry I have to back out of the entire thing. It was a cordial call. They were "disappointed" but seemed to understand. This is all hypothetical, of course.
i'd only call this "burning a bridge" if you relied on a contact there to help push this through and they declined other strong candidates waiting for you. it doesn't sound like that happened. if you think they'd judge you for choosing the best paid option then i question whether that's actually a good place to work.
the obverse situation happens occasionally too (not only in architecture) when a firm makes an offer, the candidate accepts, and the firm cancels the offer before they start. usually only if there are serious changes in the business that means they don't need more employees.
Doesn't hurt to try. It is possible you burned a bridge, but if you know what you're doing and they need good people (and already offered you once), you're probably ok.
if it's been a couple years they probably forgot about you. if not, then it's only a burned bridge if you were an asshole or left people feeling bad.
It was a few years, so one would hope that the "tried something for a bit that seemed like a better fit at the time didn't work out" still stands. Seems like Firm C benefits from not having to do full interview process - and could stand to gain from the additional experience [assuming they have a need]. As others mentioned - if they're holding some grudge, then they'd be bad to work for anyway. I've kept touch with a few places I interviewed with over the years to keep my options open [and from time to time send others their way]. Recently had someone go through 2 rounds of interviews, back out, come back to complete process, then took another gig anyway - that one ruffled feathers with time/money spent on process by the firm.
This is tough!
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