URGENT: Reneged company contacted career center!

Back in the middle of December 2008, I verbally accepted an offer for a financial analyst position for a fortune 100 health care company. However, I was not satisfied with this position and so I decided to continue interviewing. About a month and a half later, I successfully interviewed for and received an offer from a company that offers an FMP program (think JNJ, P&G, GE, Raytheon, etc.). Result: I went ahead and accepted the FMP program. However, I did not renege on the first company until I completely finished all the paperwork for the FMP company. Surprisingly, the company took it well (I think).

Now, several months later I just received an email (June 1) from my school's career center, informing me that they received information from the company that I had reneged on. And they would like to speak to me or at least have me clarify the situation to them.

To the WSO community, I am asking: What should I do? What is the best course of action to take?

Thanks so much.

14 Comments
 

Are these full time positions or summer internships? If the former, I see no reason to not tell them the truth. If it's just a summer internship, I would think you may want to "spin" the facts your way to ensure that you won't get barred from on campus recruiting in the fall.

"I'm not sure what the four 9's do, but the ace, I think, is pretty high."
 

I'm not saying don't reply to them, I'm simply saying that you shouldn't really worry what they say, because you already have the offer in your hand. It would be nice to just explain to them you picked the best option for your future goals, but all in all who gives a shit what they say. Just try and keep the relationship going like Drexe said.

 

Sorry I didn't respond to your PM.

I would certainly respond to career services. Explain to them that though you had verbally accepted, you never received paperwork and were concerned given the state of the economy. Because you did not receive the official, formal offer (which would have been a written offer), you continued to participate in recruiting opportunities. When you received another offer that satisfied you, you accepted it and signed the paperwork, making it "official."

They should be understanding of your concerns with not getting the written offer. That's what generally makes an offer "official."

 

Thanks jimbrowngou.

I will go with your advice and hope for the best. In addition, do you recommend that I absolutely do not tell them which company I accepted an offer with as well?

 

jimbrowngou,

Regarding your suggestion, would career center be so nosy enough that they would actually go about calling the company to verify information?

To a large extent, my offer did not feel like a real offer (offer sent via email with nothing to sign for).

 

Well, if all the company did was send you an email offer, what's the problem? Even if the school verifies the validity of your statement, the company has no chance of saying you signed an offer because you didn't. Honestly, you have to reply to career services in case you want to use their services in their future (no matter how unlikely it is). But even if they ban you, who gives a shit? You've graduated so it's not a big deal.

 

My understanding is that if this is a FT offer, then you have nothing to worry about. Many career centers have policies where if you renege on an offer, they ban you from school on-campus recruiting in the future.

This would obviously be bad if you're a sophomore or junior, but if you already found a FT job, I think you're pretty gold. I would still talk to the career center to explain, but I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

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