Should You Take A Counter Offer?

The “Counter Offer” is arguably the most controversial topic in recruiting.

Most recruiters recommend not accepting them.

But that’s because they’re biased, right? Sure. But there’s a rhyme to their reason.

At least in my experience - along with many of my peers - counter offers don’t work out in the long term.

Most counter offers come in the form of a short-term fix: a raise and/or promotion.

Chances are, you’ve asked for these for months and years, and they magically found the room for it once you looked outside the company.

That’s a little odd, right?

Usually these are short term, bandaid fixes and the candidate ends up leaving within a year anyways, or even worse, you get whacked in the mean time.

In my opinion, they should rarely be accepted.

Here’s why 👇

1: The underlying issues remain

You started looking for a reason. Maybe a raise/promotion was one of the top factors, but there’s usually more to the story than that.

You’re being overlooked for top projects, and your peers keep getting them over you.

You may have received a promotion on paper, but you’re still undermined by your boss and peers.

You may have received that raise, but once you start receiving your new paychecks *after taxes* you start to think to yourself “is this really worth all the BS?”

Within a few months, you’re likely to find yourself on the market again.

2: Trust and Loyalty

There’s always going to be some sense of doubt in the back of the employer’s mind.

Once you’ve tried to quit once, you’re marked. They’ll think you always have one foot out the door at all times.

You have a disagreement with your boss? They’ll think you’re going to quit. Argument with a co-worker? Didn’t get assigned to the project you wanted? You give any sort of push back on anything?

Again, they’ll think you’re going to quit. And this is going to hamper your advancement opportunities, thus leading to your eventual resignation anyways.

3: Short Term fix for you AND the employer

You’ve already tried to quit once, they’re going to think you’re eventually going to do it again.

Not only is a counter-offer a short term fix for you, but it is for them.

You quit unexpectedly (at least they didn’t see it coming). Sometimes they give out counter offers so they can start working on relevant knowledge transfers, and even start working on recruiting your backfill while you’re literally still working there.

Then, a few months later, budget cuts come, lay offs ensue, and guess who’s first up to get WHACKED like Joe Pesci in a Scorsese film.

4: Career Growth

Let’s say you’re leaving because you want to advance your career. You’ve been asking your employer for months, and even years, for a promotion after you’ve been busting your ass.

They keep telling you, not now, we have no room, we’re working on it, etc.

You finally look outside the company, and another employer see’s all the potential you have that your current employer doesn’t.

You finally give your resignation, and they magically find that promotion for you?

I call BS.

Do you really want to work for an employer where you have to work yourself up so much that you end up giving your resignation to get what you want & deserve every time?

Bonus: Sometimes it works out? Maybe, maybe not.

My father actually took a counter offer way back in the day, and ended up staying at that company for another ~5 years.

That’s a long time for someone who took a counter offer.

He was eventually laid off after an acquisition (who knows if that’s what attributed to it) and took a severance package, and just retired after that.

But for those five years, he genuinely was happy in the role he had, and his boss understood where he came from.

As with everything in life, there are always exceptions and “it depends”.

All I ask of you is to don’t get blinded by the lights of a raise & promotion, and really take a good, hard look at yourself in the mirror. Ask these questions, see into the future, and know what you’re truly getting yourself into.