Best way to withdraw from an accepted offer

Hi Rami,

Congratulations on your offers – that’s a great achievement.

I agree with the previous comments, I would recommend the following to structure your communication:

• Call the firm instead of writing an email. You will give a more professional impression
• Be honest. Refer to the fact you had an offer from another company that provided a response only now
• Avoid to mention the new company name. Better to keep it general
• Explain that you see the new company as the right fit for you in the long run. You can keep this general as well
• Thank them for the opportunity. Show appreciation for their time and apologize for having to withdraw from the offer

Best,

Francesco

Hi Rami,

Congratulations to your situation - many would be happy to have that choice at the moment!

Don't worry too much about it. It's almost daily business for HR and basically all applicants apply not only at one firm, so chances are pretty high that you might end up with multiple offers (and sometimes you can't arrange all interviews in a certain sequence which allow having all results on the table at one point in time to choose from).

The main idea is: communicate responsibly. Grab your phone and talk to HR. Be straight-forward and tell them that you decided to take another offer with a short explanation why (and focus how the other firm is a better fit to your skills/background) - at the end of the day both of you should be happy if your fit is better with the other firm and you don't take the offer we talk about.

Hope that helps - if so, please be so kind to give it a thumbs-up with the green upvote button below!

Robert

Would also call asap on Monday morning to let an HR representative know (or the persons who interviewed you depending on how close you are). Also follow up with an email, starting with "Dear X, thank you so much for your time on the phone [...]" and CC the consultants interviewing you/involved if you have their contact details, thanking them for taking their time to interview you.

Note: There's no easy way to do this without burning bridges. The ideal scenario would of course been to negotiate the mid-tier deadlines for when you had to accept the offer. MBB typically are flexible in interviewing you and can push your interviews before your other exploding offers. But sometimes this isn't doable of course :) Good luck!!

Hi,

I would be honest with the reasoning but very polite in the delivery and don't forget to praise 2nd tier firm in the end of your message.

e.g. I receive an offer from another company that I think is a better fit for me. However, I still think xxx is a great firm and this is decision is a personal decision based on reflection of career objective etc etc

This very likely blacklisted you from the firm but I don't think that matters at this point.

Hi Rami,

I agree with Udayan. I think his response strikes the right balance :)

I would just add, if you can, give them a call - it's always better to talk these sorts of things through over the phone.

Also, congratulations! You're in an enviable position for most!

Hi Rami,

Congratulations on the offers!

The best you can do is to be honest, call HR and say that you’ve got another offer and you find it more interesting (say why in few words).

Was it helpful?

All the best,

GB

Hello!

Congrats! It´s a lovely problem to have.

When I found myself in the same position, I actually set a meeting and told them in person.

It was a great experience, gained a lot of trust, and would recommend you doing the same (if COVID allows in your location).

Hope it helps!

Best,

Clara