So you’ve gone through the job interview process and finally received a new job offer. But before you can even begin celebrating, your current employer extends a counter-offer, promising more money and better benefits if you stay in your current position. What should you do?
It’s a tough decision to make, but our advice is this: most often, you’re better off declining the counter-offer and moving on to the new opportunity.
In this article, we’ll explain why counter-offers might not be as good as they seem and why you should consider declining even if it means leaving your comfort zone.
The Main Reason to Say No to a Counter offer
The number one reason to decline a counter-offer is that, in most cases, it’s only a temporary solution. When you decided to look for a new job in the first place, it was probably for a reason. Maybe you weren’t being challenged enough at your current company. Perhaps you didn’t feel like you were being paid what you deserved. Maybe you had just begun to dread going into the office every day.
Whatever the reason, chances are good that a counter job offer won’t address the issues you were going through directly. And even if it is addressed—say, with a salary payrise or a promotion—it’s
only a matter of time before those issues arise again. After all, if they haven’t been resolved in all the years you’ve been with the company, what makes you think they’ll be fixed now?
The Other Reasons to Say No Thanks
Aside from being only a temporary solution, there are other reasons why accepting a counter-offer is generally not a good idea. For starters, your relationship with your current company will almost certainly be damaged if you accept their offer and then decide to leave soon after anyway. They might just start to wonder why they bothered putting forth the effort to keep top talent like you happy— when plenty of other qualified candidates out there would jump at the chance to work for them.
Additionally, accepting a counter-offer can put you at risk of being passed over for future opportunities within your company. If your boss knows that you’re looking for other job options, they may not be as inclined to invest time and resources into developing your skills further or providing additional training. In other words, staying with your current company could actually be stunting your career growth.
Conclusion
When it comes down to it, deciding whether or not to accept a counter-offer is tricky—but in most cases, it’s best to politely decline and move on to the new opportunity that awaits you. Sure, leaving behind the comfort of what you know for something new and unknown can be scary. But trust us, it’ll be worth it in the long run.
Remember that recruitment is a two-way street, and just like you were assessing whether or not the company was the right fit for you, they were doing the same to assess if you would be a good match for their organisation. So even if things don’t work out in the end, know that it simply wasn’t meant to be.
Finally, keep your end goal in sight. The reason why you started looking for a new job in the first place has not gone away, and chances are good that a counter-offer won’t fix it. So if you receive one, take some time to evaluate your options—and then make the best decision for your career.
