You Want What Now?

OK... so I was about to hand in my two weeks' notice at work tomorrow when I received an email from the people hiring me. They sent a document requesting my signature so they can check my references. This worried me because suddenly I wondered if their "official" offer had been revoked.

I gave them a call and got no real answer as to whether or not I should be worried. That in itself worried me. They said that they had forgotten to check my references before hiring me which is a little sketchy. I should keep telling myself that maybe they were just so excited to have found someone as intelligent as me that they just offered me the job without thinking about it first, ha ha. I signed the document and gave them a few references to check. Part of me thinks they may not even call them; they just want them on record. I'm really not all that concerned if they do call my references - I have good ones that like me, but this situation is a bit unnerving... I'm about to start a new project at my current work tomorrow morning (going to the first project meeting) and I really shouldn't go if I'm leaving -- I was going to quit beforehand... and I've pretty much decided to quit before I go, I mean, I have a written job offer, which I signed, and returned... can they even back out now if my references say I'm the most horrendous worker they ever met?

I'm not trying to be bitchy towards the HR people -- they've been more then excellent and awesome in every way, and I think part of the reason this step was missed was because I've been pushing them so much to get everything together, almost to the point that I feel guilty when I call there. I can't help it though, I've never been so excited about a job before... it seems like so much more than just a "job." I'd say this is the first time I've been offered a job where I can say that this is 100% the direction I want to be going in, career-wise. Above and beyond that, it offers a cultural experience far beyond what anything in Ontario could ever offer.

(posted by Jeff with contributions by Jaime)