I work in a niche field in hardware. Not more than 15 companies in the US have openings for what I do. Out of curiosity say I interview with two different companies and get offers from both while leveraging each offer to get a higher offer and accept one. What happens if I want to move to the company that I reject in favour of the other after a couple of years. [because of team fit etc]. Do the recruiters/hiring managers hold it against you if you rejected their offer some time ago? This is assuming Hiring managers stay the same which they do in my field
Depends on how you handled it and whether you give HM reason to hold grudge
Any tips on how to handle it gracefully
I rejected the offer with a company , after some time , I worked with same hiring manager in cross functional team . It was supper easy and no one holds any grudges by decling offer . Unless you have done some weird during decling offer
What did you say when declining
This is pretty common in SW domain. Don't overthink this. But be courteous.
Just try to make your decision as early as possible. A hiring manager will probably remember if you accept and reneg just before joining.
Probably not against you, but they might not take you seriously. Be ready to answer "why now?" and also to give your pay expectation up front. They don't want to waste time to interview you again if your ask is above their range.