Withdrawing after being appointed

A colleague went for an interview in another town - his first visit to the school. His doubts grew as he toured the school, but he was appointed and shook hands, beset by mixed feelings. At home, reality struck and he wrote asking to be released. That was right for him, but by then the appointing school and his own saw it as a breach of faith, a sign of indecision and evidence of poor career self-management. He also left the interviewing school still to fill the job.

What is the right thing to do?

When I was up for my deputy headship one candidate knocked on the door of the interview room and withdrew before he was called. That’s what my friend should have done. Even during his interview a polite, “Sorry, this is not for me” would have been respected.

It’s like a wedding. You can back out right up to the point where you say, “I will”. After that, it gets messy. So, do the homework, be decisive and only go to interview when you can say “I really want this job”.