Darrin Grella – Interview Guru

Counter offers are so tempting.  Should I accept one??? This past week I had the opportunity to witness from an outsiders perspective a friend of mine and his counter offer experience.  I have to say that in all of the studies and my previous posts, we learn that accepting a counter offer is good enough as career suicide.  Sometimes when we study a specific situation we question if that really applicable to our personal situation.

This individual, who we can call Wendall, began interviewing about 6 months before receiving an acceptable offer.  He interviewed with 4 companies which he considered had potentials for him beyond his current company.  Wendall considered making a career move because of low pay (which I actually agreed with in this case), his direct supervisor was worthless and overly bossy and the company he worked for was smaller with very limited career advancement.

He received a nice offer from a big company (Top 10 Interactive Agency) with some of today’s top talent and incredible career potential, away from his manager and fair market salary increase.  Sounds like a no brainer until he put in notice.  Wendall told his supervisor in their review and then went out to lunch with the owner of this small company and that is where it all went “down hill”.

The owner gave him a counter offer for a significant amount more money, reorganization from under his supervisor and a guaranteed long term contract.  Wendall of course was flattered and confused.  Now what?  He had already accepted the other offer and his integrity is on the line.  Now that the week has passed the reality of the matter is that he accepted to stay in his comfort zone and accept the counter offer from his current employer.  He is emotionally engrossed in the situation and it made sense.  Wendall a young man in his early career was caught victim to a “perfect”

Take away points.  All of this could have potentially been avoided.  I always suggest to the professionals that I am working with to talk to ownership or management if you feel there is something in your path that can be corrected.  In this situation it is compensation and relatability.  Many times this outcome can be achieved without months of stress, that guilty un-loyal feeling and burned bridges.  If there is an issue bring it up…try not to be nervous or too worried as it may be easier than you think.

What has been your experience with counter offers?