Accepting a Counter Offer–Kiss of Death for Your Career?

You Resigned but They Want You to Stay!

It is smart to think though what you would do in case they do make a counter offer to keep you. What would it take? Would the important things really change enough for you to be happy the day after?

Is accepting a counter offer likely to result in your being fired down the road?

I’m not going to address the tactic of getting an offer from another company as a way to get something from your boss, except to say it’s fraught with potential to get you fired down the road. ‘nuf said!

People often quote a statistic that most people who accept a counter offer are usually gone in 6-18 months.

I don’t know if that is right, but I do know that companies can often feel like they are being backed into a corner by your resignation. So what they are willing to do for you in the short term may be what they feel they have to do until they have a better solution—one that won’t include you.

If you are leaving because your new job has something your current job doesn’t give you and your boss wants you to stay, is it

a) Until they find someone to replace you OR

b) Because they have suddenly seen how valuable you are now they are facing life without you.

If there were more reasons for you to consider resigning, which of them are really being addressed? It can be flattering  to think they want you but think it through.

Sometimes a company may move to you consultant status for a variety of business reasons. This can seem like a viable short-term arrangement. However, you may discover that it is not at all like being an employee but with a different title.

I did this myself several years ago. I was amazed at how quickly I was left out of everything other than the project I had agreed to finish. You are likely to feel left out of decisions, meetings, the loop because you are being left out. It was very uncomfortable.

One other consideration. If you reject an offer from another company that you previously accepted, make sure it’s not a company where you really wanted to work. Your rejection will be noted in their database, and you are unlikely to get another chance.