Career Services Office

Accepting and Rejecting Offers

Ultimately, you will have to either accept or reject every job offer that you receive. The best way to do this is to first call the department, since that will allow them to know of your answer in a timely manner, and then to follow up with a written letter of acceptance or rejection.

Acceptance

When you accept a job, be certain that your official letter of acceptance confirms all terms that were decided upon for the job, including start date and any negotiated benefits. If you have applications currently under review at other institutions, it is courteous to notify the search committees and withdraw your name from candidacy. If you have other pending job offers, you should certainly also notify those departments and reject them as soon as you accept your offer. You should begin to familiarize yourself with your new department, and it is never too early to start building relationships. This can be done by contacting some of your new colleagues and introducing yourself and learning as much about the new department as possible. Try to stay in touch with the department between the time of acceptance and your start date.

Rejection

Sometimes you will end up rejecting a job offer. This may occur for multiple reasons:

You receive and accept another more attractive job offer.
You accept a post-doctoral position instead.
You realize that your dissertation will not be completed by the promised date.
You realize that the position will not be a good fit for your skills, personality, and/or family.
You cannot accept the terms of the offer.
You are confident that you will receive an offer from an institution that is more attractive to you.

When you reject a job offer, be extremely polite and courteous. Notify them of your alternative plans and focus on the aspects of their department that were positive to you. It is important to conduct yourself professionally and leave a positive impression on the department; the academic community is relatively small, and you will likely encounter these committee members again.

Job Search Ethics—Can you Back Out on a Job Acceptance?

Sometimes a situation will arise where you accept a job offer, and then you are offered your "dream" job at another institution. Applicants often wonder if they can ethically break their commitment to the first institution and accept the position they really want. Some people will tell you that you are ethically obligated to meet the commitment you made to the first employer; others will say that you need to do what is best for you, your career, and your family. Ultimately it is your decision, and you must be comfortable with your decision and be prepared to live with the consequences. Backing out of a job you have accepted will likely not ingratiate you with members of the search committee, and it could have negative ramifications for your future career. Carefully consider your personal ethics and values, and perhaps get some advice from a faculty member whom you trust.

References

Dantzig, Jonathan A. Landing an Academic Job: The Process and the Pitfalls, http://quattro.me.uiuc.edu/~jon/ACAJOB/index.html, University of Illinois, 1995.

Formo, Dawn M. and Cheryl Reed. Job Search in Academe: Strategic Rhetorics for Faculty Job Candidates Sterling, VA: Stylus, 1999.

Golde, C.M. (Jan/Feb, 1999). "After the Offer, Before the Deal: Negotiating a First Academic Job," Academe: Bulletin of the American Association of University Professors, January/February 1999, Vol. 85, no. 1, pp. 44-49.

Heiberger, Mary Morris and Julia Miller Vick. The Academic Job Search Handbook, 3d ed. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.

Pinkley, Robin L. and Gregory B. Northcraft, Get Paid What You're Worth. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000.