kind of an odd situation.

About 6 weeks ago a competitor calls me about joining their operation. I listen to thier pitch and finally have thier offer. Very good offer. 20% pay bump, 25% more bonus bump with bonus floor guaranteed for 2 years.

This past Friday i give my current company the news. They want me to stay. I tell them the particulars of the offer. They match pay bump which pushes my bonus up closer to but not quite matching. I think about it and decide to stay with current company and let the competitor know mid day Monday.

This evening the competitor calls back and says they will give a 20k singing bonus if I reconsider and accept their offer. Competitor is a 12 year old company, seems stable. My current place is a 70 year old veteran.

I'm flattered. But agreed on Monday morning to stay. Didn't sign anything just said ok I'll stay. Feels a bit dirty to up and leave after accepting new comp plan. I know to always look after yourself. I have 14 years at current place so I know the system and have some unwritten perks.

I don't need the 20k but it would be damn nice.

This is in the commercial construction field.

Advice?

Are you happy at your current job?

If yes, then congrats on the 20% raise!

If no, then take the 20k signing bonus and change jobs.

I am happy at my current job. Have not thought about looking for a different job for 10 years. Was not looking when I got got the call from the competitor.

Is the competitor offering money that is reasonable for that position in your industry? A guy I worked with was in a similar situation, but the competitor was offering a bonus and salary that was unheard of in his role in the industry. He finally took the offer and was miserable for 2 years before being pushed out when he couldn't meet expectations.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Keep what you know and are comfortable with.

Congrats on the raise.

What are the future opportunities at current company vs competitor? Long-term, which will be better for your career?

I think the newer company would be a better place for further advancement. But I'm not totally sure that's what I want. Certainly wasn't looking for it, they called me. But there is the possibility of some advancement at my current place in 2-4 years with some retirements coming. I was comfortable at my current place and now more so with the comp bumps. Have a lot of autonomy at my current place. As long as I produce I don't get many questions and make most of the decisions on the projects I work on.

IMO it sounds like you current job is great for you and even more so with a 20% bump.

I would stay.

My question is why would you listen to their pitch knowing that no matter how much money or advancement they were offering, you were still intending to stay at your company?

Allow me to expand a bit, a few years ago I was at a customer's site to ensure them that we were the right company to help them with their problem. While having lunch, in jest the president started asking me about my situation and then asked me if wanted a job. He said he needed an engineer and sure could use someone to help his company. I politely declined and told him that I was happy in my current situation and that was that. He never mentioned it again and I really didn't want to lead him on knowing that I was only one month in my new job. Of course situations greatly vary so I'm not saying that my way is the right way but I'm only highlighting what I did in your situation.

While leaving for my current job, my previous employer offered to make a request to getting a pay raise. I declined because it was in my best intention to leave. I just didn't feel right reneging on my offer to my new company. And also because I had the presence of mind to NOT accept a counteroffer from my previous employer for a multitude of reasons.

At the end of the day, your current company now knows that you will consider jumping ship at a good opportunity and I'm sure that thought will not sit well for some higher up.

Not sure what kind of advice you're looking for, but I can't imagine staying at a place while not having signed something in writing about your new salary and/or bonus with your current company.

Unthought Known said:

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If the only reason why you're leaving your company is a 20% bump and our company matches it, then they never valued you until you were leaving.

That raise is a desperate move to keep you.

Never counter and never accept accounted offer.

Once you make a commitment, stick to it.

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This is the advice I'd give you. Same thing happened to me 4 years ago, except I stayed with company A and didn't go to company B a year later I called them a basically asked if they would hire me because the other job had gotten miserable (someone at company A just couldn't take it that I had entertained another offer)... I've now been at company B for 3 years am much happier, getting more experience, and making WAY more money than my old division leader at company A was/is.

Unthought Known said:

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If the only reason why you're leaving your company is a 20% bump and our company matches it, then they never valued you until you were leaving.

That raise is a desperate move to keep you.

Never counter and never accept accounted offer.

Once you make a commitment, stick to it.

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I have 20,000 reasons that is bad advice. If he ends up leaving, he got the huge bonus bc of his willingness to negotiate with both.

Aston04 said:

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Unthought Known said:

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If the only reason why you're leaving your company is a 20% bump and our company matches it, then they never valued you until you were leaving.

That raise is a desperate move to keep you.

Never counter and never accept accounted offer.

Once you make a commitment, stick to it.

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I have 20,000 reasons that is bad advice. If he ends up leaving, he got the huge bonus bc of his willingness to negotiate with both.

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You missed my point but I didn't write it as clearly as I should've.

I got your point-- nevertheless the 20k re-counter offer bonus never comes if he goes straight to the competitor and does not entertain his current company's offer.

he did well but got really lucky. It's unusual for that to happen.

Why would you back out of the new offer? You made the deal and had a clear path and good opportunity in front of you. The old company is going to keep you around as long as it takes to replace you, or pigeon hole you. To think otherwise is ignorant but at least you would be joining a long line of fools.

Now, based on your actions, you've proven to your new company that you are wishy washy and have no problem backing out of agreements. This is recoverable...

The smart decision is to apologize to the new company for your temporary lapse in judgement and confirm you will be there on the start date.

Good luck-

Unthought Known said:

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he did well but got really lucky. It's unusual for that to happen.

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It's rare for a company to sweeten the pot when a job candidate turns them down / counters? When I make my first offer to someone I come it 10-15% what I think I can offer them. If I think my boss will approve me to pay them $140k, I'll probably offer around $125k. If they don't counter, they are leaving money on the table.

That being said, if i ever get the sense they are using me to get a better offer from their current employer then I'm less likely to ever offer the full amount because I'm not in the business of helping people get raises while wasting my time.

As for what you should do, you know better than any poster here. Do you have a strong relationship with the people who matter? Where I am at now, I'd feel pretty confident that I'm not easily replaced so they aren't going to run me off if I came and got a raise by threatening to leave. At my last company, I felt different, particularly after we had a CEO change.

I've always read that you should never accept a counter offer after you've told your company you are leaving. They now know you are open to leaving in the future and will second guess your company loyalty for future advancements.

PlanoAg98 said:

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I've always read that you should never accept a counter offer after you've told your company you are leaving. They now know you are open to leaving in the future and will second guess your company loyalty for future advancements.

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So now he tells Comp A that he's joining them. He tells Comp B that he's leaving. They offer him a raise to stay. They valued him so much that only the threat of leaving gives him that raid. He tells Comp A that he's declining their offer. Comp A gives him $20k more. They valued him that much, that they held $20k in reserve that they could've offered in the first place.

He either needs to take the money and run, or stay and not bring up the $20k to Comp B.

That being said, this back and forth reflects poorly on the OP.

But, at the end of the day, if he's as good as it seems that he is, he's developed the relationships and rapport that it'll all come out in the wash.

Good luck.

Never take the counter from your current employer.

Unthought Known said:

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PlanoAg98 said:

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I've always read that you should never accept a counter offer after you've told your company you are leaving. They now know you are open to leaving in the future and will second guess your company loyalty for future advancements.

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So now he tells Comp A that he's joining them. He tells Comp B that he's leaving. They offer him a raise to stay. They valued him so much that only the threat of leaving gives him that raid. He tells Comp A that he's declining their offer. Comp A gives him $20k more. They valued him that much, that they held $20k in reserve that they could've offered in the first place.

He either needs to take the money and run, or stay and not bring up the $20k to Comp B.

That being said, this back and forth reflects poorly on the OP.

But, at the end of the day, if he's as good as it seems that he is, he's developed the relationships and rapport that it'll all come out in the wash.

Good luck.

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I always love how it always reflects poorly on the employee and never on the employer for not giving a damn about the employee until it was going to impact the employer.

A company has really poor management if the standard response is to expect an employee to turn down a better offer because they haven't laid them off yet. You know what might help an employee turn down offers? Valuing them so it doesn't matter. Money and stability talks. If it's ok to make "a business decision" and lay someone off because of their salary it's fair game to entertain a better offer every time one presents itself. They should be happy he gave them a chance to keep him. They sure as hell won't give him alternatives if his number comes up during the next down turn.