Workplace Have you ever turned down a job offer?

Yes, I have and it was due to compensation. It was when I had been in the workforce for about 10 years and had built up skills and experience, and knew around what the position paid in my local area and industry. It was similar to what I was making, so not a stretch in the least.

Throughout the interview process, I was very direct about my minimum salary requirements when asked - even with the CEO. When he delivered me the offer and details, the salary was significantly lower than what I had stated. I get their reasoning (small company, not a lot of funding/revenue at that point, had to map to current employees, etc.) but I was disappointed because I was expecting the compensation to be at least at my minimum amount since I was very up front about it. If they couldn't pay that, they should have said earlier in the process, which would have saved both of us some time. I declined politely and even remain in touch with the CEO and support what the company is doing today. It was an icky but avoidable situation, unfortunately.

Interviewing is a 2 way street. Just as a potential employer is evaluating you, you should also be evaluating the company, job, etc. If you decide the job or employer are not for you for whatever reason it is okay to decline the job offer. It's uncomfortable and will likely be a surprise to the company but that's life. Be sure to be professional and polite and spell out your reason(s). The hiring managers and others who interview you will want to know.

Best wishes.
 
I've turned down a few. One place the owner was kind of creepy so I decided after the interview that I didn't want to work there, and then other places because they took forever to make an offer and I'd already gotten another job.
 
i have. .a couple times it was due to compensation, another time it was just because i didn't think the interviewer (hr!) was very professional when they were telling me about the executive team i would be working with.
 
Yes, quite a few times. A few years ago I was looking for a part-time job to supplement my full-time job, and for something more "fun." I was offered a job as an assistant manager at Blockbuster, but about a week before they offered me the position I had gotten a puppy and turned down the offer...I knew it'd be too many hours to raise a puppy on top of my regular job. Plus, the place and people seemed rather....dull, I guess. I'm really surprised that location hasn't been shut down yet.

In my most recent job search, I was offered a position at a very popular jewelry store. I turned it down because they make a point to start everyone at the base sales associate level (so they can say they have 100% promotion from within), which just would NOT work with my bills. The district manager came to me twice at my job (which I thought was kind of weird and unprofessional, luckily none of my employees were around when he did) to try to talk me into it. Still, he couldn't give me the pay I needed or start me out at a higher level, so again I turned it down.

A few weeks after that, I was made an offer from a bank. I had gone through the whole interview process and let HR know in my initial call I would ONLY consider the position if it were the full-time spot they offered me. So when HR called and were so tickled to offer me the part-time spot, I was like thanks but no. They tried to talk me into it again, saying the only difference between the ft/pt spot was 1 hour, but to me there wasn't as much job security in it, and if that was the only difference, why not just give me the ft?

In the end, I'm glad I turned down the jewelry store & bank and waited it out, because I found a WAY better job that pays more than I'd ever thought I'd make at this point, and makes me feel like I'm actually using my degree for once....plus I love the mix of my science background and management/customer service that it uses.
 
I've turned down several job offers for reasons including compensation/benefits, work environment, and change in job responsibilities.

I was already willing to take a pay cut and title bump down to work at this innovative new company. After the offer, they came back to me and asked me to be a temp for 3 months and take another pay cut because I couldn't make more than the girl they hired before me. This is despite the fact that I had 4 years more of experience than her. :rant:

I knew it would be a bad company to work for and kept looking before finding my current job which I love. :smile:
 
I turned down a couple... Most recently because even though I was offered a significant raise and reduced hours, the job description didnt thrill me. It wasn't what I wanted to do and would have painted me into a corner...
 
Yes. Several in the past year. One wanted to take advantage of my unemployment situation and offered me a wage that I was paid 11 years ago. Another wanted me to take an entry job (I have 16 years of experience, 10 in my field) and relocate to another city. One I wasnt crazy about the company or job description. And another would have killed my career.
 
yes. when looking to change positions, i usually interview with multiple companies and usually have been lucky to get several job offers. then it's just a matter of comparing offers: the work (who i'll be working with, who i'll be working for, long and short-term projects, title, career advancement, etc.), compensation package (salary, stocks, signing bonus), benefits (vacation, retirement - sp company match, health insurance, stock purchase plans, etc...), company culture (reporting structure, freedom, flexibility, cooperative, gossipy, back-stabbing, etc.), management team (vp, evp, c-levels make a difference because they set the tone for a lot of things), company health (established or start-up, financials).

for me, work and company culture are most important as long as the compensation is what i consider reasonable. and really, compensation is the most easily negotiated aspect of the offer. most recently, i had offers from companies A and B. i liked the work and culture of A better but B had a more generous package. i asked A if they would match B's salary and bump my stock options up. A did so i went with them.
 
Last edited:
I turned down a job because after thinking about it for a few days, I knew in my gut that it just wasn't the right fit for me. I knew that I could do the job just fine, and the money was okay, but I knew that in the long run, I would end dreading going to work each day.
 
When DH left his previous company for his current one, a vendor that he had worked with at his previous company called him to offer him a job. DH works in IT and this vendor was from a company that is a household name in the high tech field (which meant high salay, high stock opportunities) Apparently, vendors are not allowed to poach employees from companies they have contracts with, but once an employee of interest leaves the contracted company, all bets are off.

DH didn't take the vendor's offer because DH was very happy with his new job and company. Pus, he didn't want to cause any waves leaving the new company so soon. Moral of the story, always bring your A game--especially when dealing with vendors/outside contractors. May never know if one will come after you with a sweet deal in the future.
 
Last edited:
I forgot about one I turned down around 4 years ago, back in my research days. It seemed like a dream job, I loved the company, research/product, owners, everyone. But I was recruited for it from a very slummy recruiter and he made me nervous with how much he avoided answering my questions. They wanted to hire me on as contract for the first 6 months, then after that I would go full-time regular with a pay increase. I asked for that in writing (if it's not in writing, it's not worth anything imo) and they said "that's just not possible." So I asked to speak with someone else who was hired on through contract and they reluctantly agreed. It was a very odd, hushed conversation with the girl because she was in the office at the time but she did NOT seem happy. She said she was also told she'd be hired on full-time, but 8 months later, she was still contract with no talk of anything else. I tried to ask her more but she kind of ended it with a "I have to go, I've probably said too much already." Again, very weird. I would have had to move for this position and I would have been willing since I was so excited for it, but my gut was saying something was off if they couldn't put it in writing that I'd be regular by XX date and be paid a minimum of XX money.

A couple years later I was curious and looked up the company. I found an article saying that they had been bought out by a much larger research company right after finishing their latest project (the one I'd be working on), the owners got multi-million dollars out of the deal and everyone else was laid off, unless they wanted to relocate a few states away. It taught me a lesson to always go with my gut and ALWAYS get it in writing when it comes to a job offer. Don't believe it when they tell you "oh we'll start you off at this level but you'll be promoted to a better offer within XX time"....unless they put it in writing.
 
I turned down my first professional job offer out of college. I got my degree in criminal justice. I tested for state employment and specified that I wanted employment in corrections or law enforcement. They sent me a job offer as a real estate agent. Um...no. I cannot think of any others that I turned down. But, I've been rejected a lot.
 
yes, they wouldn't match the salary of the job i had at at the time. i didn't want to go lower. also glad it worked out because looking back i would have disliked the job.