Is it normal to have to sign a contract for graduate jobs?

Ross1234

Ross1234

Ross1234

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Hi, I have been offered a job for graduation but it's quite low paid. Let's called it job A. I have other interviews for higher paid jobs, one of which pays almost double.

However, those other jobs are in no way definite as they are only interviews.

The problem is, job A wants me to accept in the next few days. I take it that it would not be good to accept, then cancel later? Have you any advice in this situation?

Thanks, Ross
 
Toughie. I've worked at some places where the employer has not known until the first day of work whether they will walk through the door and start or not, but I don't think that is the norm.

How long has it been since you were offered job A?
 
It's not ideal to accept then renege on it but if there is a long lead time between you signing the contract and actually taking up the job then it wouldn't be entirely without precedent for you to do so. If the job is interesting and will offer good experience but is low paid then it might be better to simply proceed with it for a while than go for another job which is more highly paid but less interesting - however that's a bit longer term rather than what you might do in the instant situation.

It's up to you whether you proceed in that way but it is unlikely to have any particular repercussions for you unless you later attempt to get a job with the company that you accepted the job with but subsequently turned down.
 
You can accept a position and later back out, but your bridges with A will be burned. How much do you want to work for them?

And don't try to stall them. If you even hint that you're waiting for a better offer, they'll decide all of that 'I really want to work for you' stuff you probably said during your interviews was BS.
 
I wouldn't be betting anything merely on an interview, especially in this day and age, and especially a graduate role. Accept job A and continue through the process for the other ones. If you like what you see, and if you get another offer you're in a better place to make that decision. You might annoy the people at job A if it does happen, but hey who cares. If you really like job A when you start, but get offered a lot more at one of the other positions, instead of just taking it and leaving job A you can always tell them you've had the offer but you don't want to leave. See if they'll improve your salary etc.

As said above don't try to stall as they'll probably guess what you're doing. At the end of the day this kind of stuff can never be timed right for everyone, it's nobody's fault.
 
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Thanks for the advice everyone.

physichull said:
How long has it been since you were offered job A?
Click to expand...

Today, but they want to get it sorted quickly. What I am worried about is that if I do accept, then try to go for something else is that I could be in legal trouble.

I maybe phrased it wrong, Job A is with a small company not really a graduate role, whereas some of the others are. It also does not offer much in the way of experience for the future. I'm not all that bothered about burning bridges with them, if it means landing a job elsewhere but it is a small world!

The start date is not until around July, so I think it's a bit unfair I need to sign already.

If I accept, then I am creating all this potential bother, but if I say I need more time they might pull the job offer and I could be on job seekers allowance when I graduate!
 
Ross1234 said:
Today, but they want to get it sorted quickly [...]

The start date is not until around July
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This is a company that wants you to commit, yet expects you to wait for a quarter of a year of your only life before it starts thinking about remuneration?!

Job A can Jog N, frankly. But by the sounds of it you know this already.
 
Ross1234 said:
Hi, I have been offered a job for graduation but it's quite low paid. Let's called it job A. I have other interviews for higher paid jobs, one of which pays almost double.

However, those other jobs are in no way definite as they are only interviews.

The problem is, job A wants me to accept in the next few days. I take it that it would not be good to accept, then cancel later? Have you any advice in this situation?
Click to expand...

Tell them that you're very interested but have got other interviews you've agreed to attend and so cannot confirm until after that. If they're funny about that then stuff them tbh... sounds like they're lowballing you with the offer anyway so bad indicators all round - I'd just walk away but I guess you could, if they're are still inflexible about you having to accept soon, simply accept their job and leave shortly after (you'd have to make sure you stick it out at the new place for a decent length of time else it could look bad on your CV.) - tis also risky as in some smaller industries you could be burning some bridges doing this.
 
Ignore the salaries completely. You will be a new grad - the most important thing should be experience.

So the only question you should ask yourself is: Do you want to work for this company?

If there is any doubt then tell them you've regrettably withdrawn your application.

I was in similar situation a few years ago for my industrial placement. I was offered a position with Company A - all I had to do was sign the contract. Company B came along and offered 80% more money. Of course that turned my head but more importantly I would learn more with them. I didn't sign the contract with Company A and ended up with Company B. The consequence was that I'd ruined all of Company A's plans and their relationship with my university. They completely scrapped their whole placement scheme because of this experience.

Don't sign or accept any contract unless you want to work for them!
 
TJM said:
And don't try to stall them. If you even hint that you're waiting for a better offer, they'll decide all of that 'I really want to work for you' stuff you probably said during your interviews was BS.
Click to expand...

I've always been upfront about this and told people at the interview, if and when the subject comes up, that I'm also interviewing with X and Y. Its hardly a negative to have a couple more companies in the same field who are also interested in you.
 
If I was you, I would look to see if the contract with company A has any clause about a probationary period. In my company, there is a probationary period of 3 months for any new applicant entering the company; meaning that either party can terminate the contract with a notice period of just one week.
 
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