Succint "rules" of counter offers
Or why you shouldn't take them...
"1. You get a job offer.
2. You accept it.
3. You quit.
4. Current company makes you a counter offer.
5. You accept it.
6. You call new company and say you changed your mind.
7. New company get pissed at you for wasting their time.
8. Current company puts the screws to you, because they now know you don't
have the b@lls to leave.
9. Current company now starts training someone else to do your job someday.
10. Next company wide lay-off, you find yourself part of it.(Oh, don't bother calling the other company back)"
I saw that and it said things as well if not better than I've seen it before, so I had to steal it.
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Oops... Succinct even...
Oops... Succinct even...
I think I had mentioned this
I think I had mentioned this before, but when I put in notice and was counter-offered by my company, it was more in line with my desired career transition (versus purely monetary). I was planning to change employers because I wanted to work in chip design. When my current employer realized my motivations were not salary-based, they countered with the exact position I wanted (starting the next week).
I called back the company I had planned on moving to, and they were actually congratulatory, with no hard feelings. They were happy to hear I found the exact position I was looking for. It was a great experience all around, probably because it wasn't a move based entirely on salary.
I think that is a different
I think that is a different kind of "counter offer". The kind that one shouldn't accept is a monetary offer to stay in your current job... In your case it was really the offer of a totally different job so I don't think the same rules apply.
A touchy situation, but one
A touchy situation, but one that requires some professionalism to handle properly.
First and foremost, if you've truly taken the time to find a new position and negotiate compensation,then you are most likely set on taking that new position and should follow through with it (generally-speaking/ethically).
But before going through all that, you should have had discussions with your prior employer about your career goals and objectives and pre-determine if there is any possibility of finding the right position or addressing your concerns, and then you know if you need to take the time to look for another job.
If however, you work at a place that frowns on you looking outside, and you've attempted to resolve your concerns in the company ahead of time to no avail, then you probably should be looking elsewhere anyway and if you found something, stick to it and go with it.
The 'reasonable' employers will do what they can if they want to keep you, but also should know if there is anything tey can do to make you happy (within reason of course and still meet the needs of the business). But there's plenty of 'unreasonable' employers or managers who would rather get rid of you if there's any sign that you are looking elsewhere.
You have to walk that fine line carefully, and each situation is different.
That's all pretty good
That's all pretty good advice... but for whatever reason, most tech workers tend to change employers every 2-5 years so I basically just take it for granted that most people sooner or later will be in a position where they might get a counter offer.
Of course in today's job market it is a lot less likely to be an issue since employers are less likely to go out of their way to retain someone when there is a good chance they can either just use it as an opportunity to save money by making the rest of the people do the work or they can replace the person with someone cheaper (H1B, contractor, etc), or outsource/offshore the work.
Hopefully someday the job market will turn around...
Rule of thumb: Do NOT quit
Rule of thumb: Do NOT quit until the deal on the other end is signed, sealed and delivered.
I completely agree with
I completely agree with that. My life would have to be the worst kind of living hell to make me quit before I had another job that was a solid done deal. I did it once and got burned... never again.
That's the truth... But
That's the truth... But that also removes the possibility for being "ethical" if a counter-offer is worth considering. I say "ethics" in quotes because I don't believe it's an ethical issuer per se, but others seem to think so.
I don't think it is really
I don't think it is really an ethical deal either, but I also go by the "once you've decided to quit, follow through with it" rule. A counter offer would have to be basically impossibly good before I'd even consider it.
Yes. And if the
Yes. And if the counter-offer was impossibly good, that means the company knew they weren't paying you what you're really worth to them.
That is true... and that is
That is true... and that is the kind of company that is most likely to make the type of scenario from the original post a reality. I may be more jaded than most because I've worked for a number of bad employers over the years and although I haven't had all the bad things happen to me personally I've seen a lot of them happen to co-workers. Sadly it seems that truly good employers are actually quite rare.
I got a call about a month
I got a call about a month after I left a company to move to Austin for a new position, asking if I would consider returning. My decision to leave was twofold. First, I saw that things were changing in a negative way after the company I worked for was purchased. The mindset of the purchasing company (a cable company) versus the acquired company (long distance telecom) was worlds apart. That started my search, but the opportunity I found in Austin was one that would expand my knowledge and ability, challenge me on a daily basis and offer a better opportunity for career growth.
When I got the call they offered to match my salary (it had been a 43% increase over what I was earning). I had to explain to them that there was more than salary involved.
6 months later, that company was aquired again. Everyone I worked with was let go, but then rehired months later at significantly reduced salaries.
When you make the decision, you have reasons. If it's strictly monetary I can see accepting a counter offer, but if there's more to it than that, you have to follow through. The reasons you went looking are not going to go away with a pay raise.
Never, never, NEVER, accept
Never, never, NEVER, accept a deal before the chance to counter is given. Once you have an offer, ask yourself, "what would it take for me to stay at my current job?" If the answer is, "no way, no how", accept & chance your voicemail to, "Take this job and shove it!" If you can see an option, get an appointment with your boss same day and say, "I've not been completely satisfied with my position here. I'm wanting... I have an offer with another company." But do NOT say how much you want. You want better/more/different. Tell him you need to respond to the offer, and ask if he needs a day to decide if he wants to counter. In a large company, this can take most of a week. In the mean time, communicate to the offering company that your current company is working on a counter.
Once you've accepted an offer, though, you've given your word. Do NOT go back on it unless a truly exception situation arises. Note that there is nothing to stop your original offer from also being raised in the middle of things. In fact, you might even expect it. Think of this as an auction, "Going once. Twice? Sold!"
In today's weak job market
In today's weak job market if I had a solid offer I am not sure it would be a good idea to let a prospective employer know your current employer is working on a counter. That kind of brinksmanship might have worked before the crash but today I'd seriously worry that the new employer might rescind the offer and at that point you'd have already tipped your hat to your current employer that you are thinking of leaving, which may put your head on the chopping block with them too. In any case it makes you look like you are greedy and trying to game things, and unless maybe its a sales position or something like that you're talking about that may not be a good thing.
I have a minister friend
I have a minister friend (also a counselor) that says "once the pain gets bad enough, everyone will make a change". That was for anything...a job, a marriage, a city...
And I also had a manager tell me once that he never offered anyone a counter offer because of the same reasons. If the pain is bad enough for a person to make a change, he surely did not want that person corrupting the morale of his current employees. Therefore, he would ask the person to pack their stuff within an hour of giving notice. If they gave 2 weeks notice, he would pay 2 weeks severance...if they gave a months notice, he would give them a months severance.
So just think about the repercussions of staying for two weeks. At every instance, many folks would iterate “I can't wait until my notice is up so I can leave this God-forsaken job". What does that do for the morale of the folks that still have to work there?
Rolling it all up, I am sure I would be the guy making the negative comments…so to keep myself honest, I have never accepted a counter offer. And yes, when I turned in my notice at PS, I was asked to have my stuff packed and out the door in an hour.
My current employer is one
My current employer is one of the ones that seems to have taken the policy that they escort people out as soon as they give notice. I don't think they pay any severance either. I doubt that most companies with that kind of policy counter offer either.
The side effect I think of the walk out policies is that it would tend to lead to employees forgoing the customary two week notice period. If most people had any idea that they would get a months salary as severance, they'd probably give that notice and be ready to start at their new job the following day...
Well, one factor completely
Well, one factor completely ignored here is the situation in which the original offer come in. I was offered by a company when I wasn't really looking for a new position around first of the year. I had an old resume (4 yrs old probably) sitting out on Monster that people continued to send things to, but it was a LinkedIn 2nd generation connection that read my profile and just emailed me cold because I sounded like what they were looking for. I am of the firm belief that you should ALWAYS listen to what another company has to offer, so I talked with them a few times and they made an offer about 5-10% more than I was currently making, but additionally it was a better company with more growth potential.
I let my employer know when the offer came in that I had an offer that I was considering so I may be leaving just to make sure they had enough time to find a replacement. The COO immediately offered me a 15% raise and let me know some of what they were trying to accomplish behind the scenes that wasn't publicly released yet. I probably wound up staying more because of familiarity than anything else, but allowing them to respond gave me an indication of how much I was valued.
Th irony of course is that my current companies plans have so far completely failed to pan out and I've decided to leave anyway. But I still think accepting the counter offer was a good choice at the time.
I would also like to point out that in your list, you mention "quit" as a step immediately following the offer. That's bad salesmanship; your position as an existing employee trying to make things work where you are is far better than as a malcontent who only cares about the money (even if that's the case.)
[quote]you mention "quit" as
[quote]you mention "quit" as a step immediately following the offer. That's bad salesmanship; your position as an existing employee trying to make things work where you are is far better than as a malcontent who only cares about the money (even if that's the case.)[/quote]
Funny, but I don't remember getting treated all that well when my company made decisions that negatively impacted me. I'm not advocating being a malcontent, but then again, I recognize that corporations don't concern themselves much with what their decisions will do to me, what the job market looks like for me, what impact it will have on my family, my bills, my home, etc.
Sometimes, it makes perfect sense to look out for number one, even if it's just about money.
I'm very happy that you were treated the way you were, but not everyone is that lucky. I wish you well with your new search and I hope you find what you're looking for before the company makes a decision that could impact you.
I'm not sure that a counter
I'm not sure that a counter offer really indicates how much you are really valued. If they really valued you, you'd have been making more all along.
FWIW, as I said in the original post, the rules weren't mine, I "borrowed" them.
I think that turning in your resignation once you've accepted another offer is the proper thing to do. In order to solicit and consider a counter offer you should talk to your boss before you accept the other offer. However even at that point you might look like you are trying to extort more money out of them and things might not work out well in the end.
There will always be corner cases but all in all I still think as general rules of thumb, the stuff I quoted in the original post hold up pretty well.