The real truth is that it is the employer who is faced with the counteroffer situation.

Counteroffers

In the world of employment, job hunting, interviews and finding the right job comes a lot of other factors such as things that may be beneficial to you as the employee or may not benefit at all. One of the things that can happen in the work place is something called counteroffers, which is essentially a rejection of the original offer.

Why are counteroffers so bad?

A counteroffer as mentioned earlier rejects the original offer and gives the party who posed the counteroffer the upper hand because he/she need to make the next move and give an answer either accepting, rejecting or not replying which will complicate and prolong the process.

Who is usually faced with a counteroffer?

Counteroffers are usually posed on employees looking to leave their old job and move on; their then current employer may use a counteroffer to keep them from leaving or simply to complicate the situation. A counteroffer can look as if leaving is the wrong decision, in many cases employees will feel confused and obliged to accept because it will have better prospects. It is important that even before you go ahead and accept the counteroffer is to recall why you wanted to resign in the first place.

The real truth is that it is the employer who is faced with the counteroffer situation. They usually are not expecting someone to resign. That person is handling work that needs to be completed, no matter how meagre it may be. It is far easier for your boss to keep you a little longer.

But consider these points:
• Why did you want to leave your current job at all? – There are many reasons people seek better prospects some may include compensation, lack of growth, the work environment.
• Less prospects for those who wants to leave – In many cases employers won’t be willing to invest their time and resources into employees who shows an interest of leaving the company.
• Employers are desperate to keep you – Sometimes the employee will be presented with a counteroffer, because it may save the company money and time to recruit and train another individual in your place.
• End of the road with the new company – Individuals who are already in the process of getting new employment been to the interview and are on the verge of being accepted – if they turn down the offer from the new prospective employee to accept the counteroffer of the old employer, they may not get the opportunity to work for that company again.

Rethink any counteroffer

Some people resort to counteroffers as a temporary way of resolving a current situation, for example better salary or added benefits. However, disregarding why you originally wanted to leave will only result in seeking to leave at a later stage. It may be a few months for some and just over a year for others, because everything that may have influenced your decision to leave would probably still be there as it always was.

Rather weigh all your option and not feel intimidated or obliged to accept a counteroffer and even if you do feel those feelings, its best to “stick to your guns” throughout the process.