If you don't have to relocate for the job take it then quit it if the others don't fall through. Do not feel bad about doing this. They would not feel bad about doing it to you.

i guarantee you made the right decision

nah trust yourself

If you had a bad feeling about it before you even started there then there's a 99% chance that you were going to hate it if you took the job.

You'll never know if it happened to be in that 1% category now but there's no point torturing yourself over it because how many times would you have to roll the dice and take shitty jobs that you hate before you luck out and find a winner?

Better to keep the momentum up in the job hunt and find something that has a better vibe.

I had a similar thought as Awoo, just take the job with the intent of ghosting but since you already said no:

Working at a place you hate to make a barely perceptible (or even kinda nice) amount more on your paycheque isn't worth the soul crushing dread of waking up and crying before you leave for work, using all of your willpower to stand up and go. Good call, if you have the means, waiting for something that might not make you want to die

If its not what you want to do then you made the right choice.

After bouncing around between dozens of different jobs in my “professional” career all I can say is that you should never settle for a job you hate. It doesn’t matter how well you’re paid if you’re absolutely miserable, that misery will permeate all other aspects of your life and crush you. If you’re dancing on the knife’s edge of precarity it can make sense to take a bad job short term but do NOT settle, apply for other positions on the clock. My previous job was absolute hell but I needed the money to survive, kept applying and doing interviews for other positions until I eventually found one that was pretty decent.

Your instincts here are good, you are a valuable person that can offer a lot to a company willing to compensate you appropriately and treat you well. We are pressured into accepting the first offer that comes our way regardless of how bad it may be but if you know your own worth and have patience you will eventually find something worthwhile. Don’t feel bad about it, feel proud that you have the self confidence to say “no”

Like you say, these are no-win situations. Sometimes, being void of money is better than going through a torturous hell 40+ hours a week, it's a shit choice, but it can absolutely be the right one.

Most jobs are things I can see myself doing, but inly for a month or two. If you haven't done the same job description before, it allows you to say "been there, done that".

I keep to the "best time to apply for a new job is when you already have one" strategy, which feels clutch in the states since healthcare access and the basics of material survival are tied to employment. i struggle to negotiate in the best of circumstances, so when I'm desperate I just roll over.

that said, it fuckin blows to be applying for jobs like it's a job when you already have a full time job that sucks.

I just went through this and am at a better new job now after 10 years with a previous employer. the earlier job was fine for several years, but had steadily gotten worse and worse from a non existent job ladder/step system and institutional rot. so what I would do, is when my frustration would spike, I would hop on indeed at work and job hunt for half a day, update my resume/CV, and toss out applications.

after like a year or so, something really good hit, I beat out the competition, and got a good offer. and then I got to pull the rug out from my shitty former boss, which has made all those frustrating times sweeter.

but really, I'm too much of a coward to turn down an offer while unemployed, or even to be unemployed. I did it some times in my 20s, but it sorta fucked me up, mentally.

You probably made the right decision. Think of it this way, if you had one job that would have gone through maybe you'll get others.

I sold my soul to a shitty job and its killing me slowly. I'd say if you are able or if anyone is able find something enriching, lifes too short to spend most of your waking hours wondering when a meteorite will crash into your office to make it all go away.