Can Deloitte retract their offer? URGENT HELP REQUIRED.

I recently got into Deloitte for an audit school leaver apprenticeship and was extremely happy because it's my first choice. I have an offer from a few other places e.g BDO, KPMG etc but they all asked me to sign a contract. Deloitte has sent their offer via email and has told me I got accepted through a phone call and email BUT they haven't asked me to sign a contract. They told me they'd tell me to sign a contract about 2/3 months prior to my employment. Does this mean my offer isn't confirmed (even if I get the grades)? I want to go to an apprenticeship over university and so I don't want to decline my offers from KPMG BDO and a few others because what if Deloitte retracts their offer for some unknown reason? What is the risk of them coming back and saying oh no we made a mistake you're not in or oh circumstances have changed you can't come with us anymore? If that happens I'll have no apprenticeships because I would've rejected the other 5 I got into and I wouldn't know what to do because as I said earlier, I want to go for an apprenticeship over university. What should I do? If I were to sign a contract with another firm as a back up then went against that later what would be the implications? The other contracts don't say anything about leaving it later or whatever so would signing mean I'm locked in / confirmed to go? Urgent help please as the deadlines to accept/decline the others is fast approaching. Thank you in advance.

Reply 1

emiemiemi13

4

Original post by Incrediblezed

I recently got into Deloitte for an audit school leaver apprenticeship and was extremely happy because it's my first choice. I have an offer from a few other places e.g BDO, KPMG etc but they all asked me to sign a contract. Deloitte has sent their offer via email and has told me I got accepted through a phone call and email BUT they haven't asked me to sign a contract. They told me they'd tell me to sign a contract about 2/3 months prior to my employment. Does this mean my offer isn't confirmed (even if I get the grades)? I want to go to an apprenticeship over university and so I don't want to decline my offers from KPMG BDO and a few others because what if Deloitte retracts their offer for some unknown reason? What is the risk of them coming back and saying oh no we made a mistake you're not in or oh circumstances have changed you can't come with us anymore? If that happens I'll have no apprenticeships because I would've rejected the other 5 I got into and I wouldn't know what to do because as I said earlier, I want to go for an apprenticeship over university. What should I do? If I were to sign a contract with another firm as a back up then went against that later what would be the implications? The other contracts don't say anything about leaving it later or whatever so would signing mean I'm locked in / confirmed to go? Urgent help please as the deadlines to accept/decline the others is fast approaching. Thank you in advance.

hi! congrats for all those offers, ive just accepted my offer for audit at kpmg. id tell u to accept an offer at bdo or kpmg just incase deloitte dont send u the contract/retract the offer(which is highly unlikely).
if u accept an offer else where there is no implications, many people accept their offer and withdraw it after results day as they have changed their mind. so id say accept an offer elsewhere just to be sure

Reply 2

Incrediblezed

OP

12

Original post by emiemiemi13

hi! congrats for all those offers, ive just accepted my offer for audit at kpmg. id tell u to accept an offer at bdo or kpmg just incase deloitte dont send u the contract/retract the offer(which is highly unlikely).
if u accept an offer else where there is no implications, many people accept their offer and withdraw it after results day as they have changed their mind. so id say accept an offer elsewhere just to be sure

Congrats for getting into KPMG! What location are you based?

Original post by Incrediblezed

I recently got into Deloitte for an audit school leaver apprenticeship and was extremely happy because it's my first choice. I have an offer from a few other places e.g BDO, KPMG etc but they all asked me to sign a contract. Deloitte has sent their offer via email and has told me I got accepted through a phone call and email BUT they haven't asked me to sign a contract. They told me they'd tell me to sign a contract about 2/3 months prior to my employment. Does this mean my offer isn't confirmed (even if I get the grades)? I want to go to an apprenticeship over university and so I don't want to decline my offers from KPMG BDO and a few others because what if Deloitte retracts their offer for some unknown reason? What is the risk of them coming back and saying oh no we made a mistake you're not in or oh circumstances have changed you can't come with us anymore? If that happens I'll have no apprenticeships because I would've rejected the other 5 I got into and I wouldn't know what to do because as I said earlier, I want to go for an apprenticeship over university. What should I do? If I were to sign a contract with another firm as a back up then went against that later what would be the implications? The other contracts don't say anything about leaving it later or whatever so would signing mean I'm locked in / confirmed to go? Urgent help please as the deadlines to accept/decline the others is fast approaching. Thank you in advance.

While it is unlikely that Deloitte with retract their offer, a job offer isn't the same as say a university offer, and an employer can retract before any contract is signed. You could talk to Deloitte and explain that you have other offers, and while you prefer theirs, you are worried about not having a contract signed. They might send the contract early - though I suspect not.

You could also accept another offer and reject it later, but again this isn't the same as rejecting a Uni place, if you've signed a contract. Though there is little to nothing an employer can or will do if you 'resign' before you've started working for them.

So the bottom line is you've got a variety of options, and they all have risks - there is no perfect answer. See if Deloitte will give you a contract early, and if not, then you have to decide if you want a back-up option or not.

Reply 4

sinforemil

3

Original post by Incrediblezed

Congrats for getting into KPMG! What location are you based?

Thanks! london

Reply 5

Slowprop

7

I think that sometimes you have to be a bit selfish and look after #1. Try to get Deloitte to send you the contract early. If they won't just leave Deloitte on the table for now and wait for their contract. In the meantime I think I would accept one of the other offers and if necessary you can back out later. That's not a great thing to do but I'm sure nobody wants to force you to work for them.

Reply 6

Jakson123

14

If you don't get the grades they want then these companies will drop you without a second thought - so why not accept an offer and then if a better one comes along you can drop them. No doubt they'll have a waiting list so it's not really any skin off their nose.

Reply 7

apprentinsideryt

7

Original post by Incrediblezed

I recently got into Deloitte for an audit school leaver apprenticeship and was extremely happy because it's my first choice. I have an offer from a few other places e.g BDO, KPMG etc but they all asked me to sign a contract. Deloitte has sent their offer via email and has told me I got accepted through a phone call and email BUT they haven't asked me to sign a contract. They told me they'd tell me to sign a contract about 2/3 months prior to my employment. Does this mean my offer isn't confirmed (even if I get the grades)? I want to go to an apprenticeship over university and so I don't want to decline my offers from KPMG BDO and a few others because what if Deloitte retracts their offer for some unknown reason? What is the risk of them coming back and saying oh no we made a mistake you're not in or oh circumstances have changed you can't come with us anymore? If that happens I'll have no apprenticeships because I would've rejected the other 5 I got into and I wouldn't know what to do because as I said earlier, I want to go for an apprenticeship over university. What should I do? If I were to sign a contract with another firm as a back up then went against that later what would be the implications? The other contracts don't say anything about leaving it later or whatever so would signing mean I'm locked in / confirmed to go? Urgent help please as the deadlines to accept/decline the others is fast approaching. Thank you in advance.

Sign all of the contracts. You can just withdraw in August before you start from the ones you don't want anymore. You do not want to risk a company retracting the offer - some companies can do this.

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 8

Incrediblezed

OP

12

Original post by Slowprop

I think that sometimes you have to be a bit selfish and look after #1. Try to get Deloitte to send you the contract early. If they won't just leave Deloitte on the table for now and wait for their contract. In the meantime I think I would accept one of the other offers and if necessary you can back out later. That's not a great thing to do but I'm sure nobody wants to force you to work for them.

I'm just scared dropping one of the others after having signed a contract will mean bad things and the deadline is in 2 days 😭

Reply 9

Slowprop

7

Original post by Incrediblezed

I'm just scared dropping one of the others after having signed a contract will mean bad things and the deadline is in 2 days 😭

As one of the other guys says these companies would drop you without a second thought if you don't get the grades they want. In fact if circumstances change at their end they might even retract their offer. You've done really well to get more than one offer. At the moment you don't know what your grades are going to be either. Some companies might be more flexible than others ?
I'm sure they will get people dropping out and will likely still be able to fill their vacancies. I doubt that any of them have the time or inclination to come after you if you back out. Seriously it's just business to these companies.
Accept any offers you like the look of for now. Then see what happens. It's testament to you that you don't want to mess people around but it would be awful if you ended up with nothing after having done so well. I would do all you can to make sure that doesn't happen.

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 10

lawofducks123

12

I know a lot of people here are suggesting signing the other contracts/accepting other offers and then going back on them once you get a Deloitte contract, however I would suggest being wary about this, as if an apprenticeship contract is for a set period of time, not working there for the duration of the contract could be a breach of contract and lead to legal issues. So essentially, please read contracts carefully before you sign them if there is a possibility you will want to withdraw from the contact. I'd probably second the recommendation to reach out to Deloitte or to choose another contract (and plan to keep with it), but obviously totally up to you! 🙂

Reply 11

Incrediblezed

OP

12

Original post by lawofducks123

I know a lot of people here are suggesting signing the other contracts/accepting other offers and then going back on them once you get a Deloitte contract, however I would suggest being wary about this, as if an apprenticeship contract is for a set period of time, not working there for the duration of the contract could be a breach of contract and lead to legal issues. So essentially, please read contracts carefully before you sign them if there is a possibility you will want to withdraw from the contact. I'd probably second the recommendation to reach out to Deloitte or to choose another contract (and plan to keep with it), but obviously totally up to you! 🙂

Everyone I've spoke to has said it should be okay and it's a little too late now I've already signed EY and BDO. I don't think the contracts said anything about withdrawing - all they mentioned is I had to give 1 month notice before leaving. I hope it should be okay.