Candidate Advice

The Counter Offer

Posted on by

While counter-offers may be tempting and even flattering, there can be pitfalls that you need to be aware of. Ask yourself these questions:

  • Will your loyalty always be in question?
  • If there are future cutbacks, will you be the first to go because of concerns about your loyalty?
  • If you accept the counter-offer for more money, are you just giving your employer the time they need to locate and select your replacement?
  • Will your career track remain blocked if you accept it?
  • Will your responsibilities be expanded?
  • Will you have to report to a person you don’t respect?
  • Will you receive next year’s raise or bonus early?
  • Is the counter-offer a ploy to avoid a short-term inconvenience by your employer?
  • What are your realistic chances for promotions now that you have considered leaving?

It is not uncommon for your prior employer to contact you within your first three months of starting your new job and revisit, or offer for the first time, the counteroffer. The consequences of accepting a counteroffer now are just as negative, if not worse. Now, you will also have to resign from a company where you just started.

As attractive as counter-offers may appear, they can greatly decrease your chances of achieving your career potential.

10 Reasons For NOT Accepting a Counteroffer

  1. What type of company do you work for if you have to threaten to resign before they give you what you are worth?
  2. Where is the money for the counter offer coming from? Is it your next raise early? All companies have strict wage and salary guidelines which must be followed.
  3. Your company will immediately start looking for a new person at a cheaper price.
  4. You now have made your employer aware that you are unhappy. From this day on, your loyalty will always be in question.
  5. When promotion time comes around, your employer will remember who was loyal and who was not.
  6. When times get tough, your employer will begin the cutback with you.
  7. The same circumstances that now cause you to consider a change will repeat themselves in the future; even if you accept a counteroffer.
  8. Statistics show that if you accept a counter offer, the probability of voluntarily leaving in six months or being let go within one year is extremely high.
  9. Accepting a counter offer is an insult to your intelligence and a blow to your personal pride; knowing that you were bought.
  10. Once the word gets out, the relationship that you now enjoy with your co-workers will never be the same. You will lose the personal satisfaction of group acceptance.