I personally never had to pay one back, but had taken a couple in my career and also was a hiring manager in a couple of firms where we gave these out. I would

I personally never had to pay one back, but had taken a couple in my career and also was a hiring manager in a couple of firms where we gave these out. I would agree with hwstar that if no other companies are offering signing bonuses and you run into one that is it is a good reason to take a closer look and ask some more questions. That said, back in the dot com boom it wasn't rare to see almost everyone offering relo and signing bonuses, of course if you took both the bonus was less. As for what they expect, in general companies will collect it, but even when the contract doesn't state it most companies prorate the amount and allow you to pay it back over a period of time. If you last 6 months you only owe them 50% and if you weren't an ass to them and up front they will generally have no problem letting you pay it back over time. There are horror stories about companies that don't do any of that and if you leave 1 day early they want it all back immediately, but I think that is uncommon. Personally, if you are reasonably fresh out of school (1-2 years), I say stick it out and use it as time to learn. At least stick it out for a few more months, it will lower the amount you owe and also let you get some more experience. I really wish someone would have given me that advice on a couple of projects I bailed on early in my career, I would've learned more early on that way which would've made me better faster. A lot of times it looks like a project will never ship, but in reality you'll find as money keeps flying out the door projects start getting discipline fast and cut things out etc just to ship. Not always, but it is interesting to see nonetheless and you can learn some good stuff from either outcome, even if it is just how better to evaluate your next employer or project.