Last week I spoke with a talented young professional who recently made the agonizing decision to turn down an amazing professional opportunity. She is eager to move on from her current employer and has been actively seeking a new job for several months. So why would she turn down what was essentially her dream job? Integrity.

The prospective employer was very excited about bringing this woman on board but was hiring for a fast-moving project which required an almost immediate start date. Knowing that this would result in providing her current employer with only one week’s notice, she just couldn’t accept the job offer. She knew it would be unprofessional. She knew that it would leave her organization and colleagues scrambling to cover her role and find a replacement. And as difficult as it was to make this decision, she understood that there is a big difference between losing an opportunity and losing one’s integrity.

We don’t typically get a second chance to demonstrate what this young woman displayed so early in her professional career. Integrity matters. And in this hyper-competitive world where we face constant encouragement to jump at opportunities that will advance our careers, we sometimes overlook the importance of how and why we make these professional decisions.

Bring integrity with you to every job, every day. It won’t always be easy, and it may mean occasionally putting the needs of others before your own, but it will pay off considerably. How much do you want to bet that the aforementioned company will try to hire this woman again in the future? I would bet a lot. Because who wouldn’t want to hire a young professional who already knows what it means to act with integrity.