I wanted to be perfectly clear that I would never keep the bonus money. If I happen to get the other offer I will of course return the bonus money. There is no way I would do that to the school who has been nice enough to give me an offer with a bonus.

Clio: You are right. However I must think of my future and the other offer would work better. I genuinely feel awful about contemplating this but it is a once in a lifetime dream job that would change my life.

I appreciate all of the advice here so thank you Psyguy, Shadowjack and wrldtrvlr.

Just to clear things up I did not get my current job nor the new contract offer from the recruiter I am repped by. I did however get the lead for the new school (the one I really want) via my recruiter.

It is a longshot that I will even be offered the dream job at this point. I am content though in honoring the contract I signed and am grateful for the opportunity. The dream job would be life changing though and I applied to it before my contract was offered and also started the interview process before the contract was signed as well. I felt like I needed to take the contract on offer though as it was a great deal.

If offered a contract from the dream job do I tell them I already accepted a contract with the other school or just keep mum about that fact? Will my recruiting agency find out I had to bail on this other contract? If so how do they handle that? Again I am more than willing to forego the bonus and of course I would at least be honorable enough to give that back.

Any extra advice on what to do IF I do somehow end up getting the dream job offer would be great. I already have some idea from the above posts about how to handle the situation. Definitely not an ideal situation to be in so I am almost hoping the dream job does not come through.

Was offered a contract with a school that was in a region not on my radar. At the same time I was already a top candidate for a position in Europe that was really terrific but it looked like a long shot.

The contract I signed states that if I break it I will lose a few thousand dollars of the signing bonus. I negotiated this position and contract and found it outwith my recruiting service. This major recruiting service (think ISS or Search, etc) did not help me find the position I signed the contract for at all. The European position that I really wanted MIGHT now have a spot for me after all.

Was wondering what the possible ramifications might be if I took the European position after already signing a contract for another school for next year? From what I read of the contract and had a lawyer friend read I would just forfeit the bonus.

I realize people do this all the time. I do not like to go back on contracts or my word in general but life is short so what would be the best move?