Sometimes you hand in your resignation and your employer
tries to keep you in your current job by offering you better
pay or conditions, or a better job within the company.
You may be certain you don't want to accept. If there is no
doubt in your mind, and it's not likely that you'll regret
your decision in the future, thank your employer and refuse
the offer firmly.
But if you have any doubts at all, ask for time to consider
the offer carefully. It's hard to make a decision on the
spot, especially in your supervisor's presence.
When you're thinking about the offer, consider the
following things.
- What are they offering you - a higher salary, different
job role, a promotion, better conditions?
- Whatever the offer, is this what you really want? Has
the offer addressed the reasons you decided to resign in
the first place?
- As a result of your looking elsewhere, will your
employer doubt your commitment to the organisation? If your
job search might be used against you in the future, perhaps
you should move on.
- If you accept the counter offer, how will your
integrity with your would-be employer be affected? How much
do they need you, and did you give them any reason to doubt
that you might come on board? If you stay with your current
employer, it might look as if you went through the whole
job application process just to extract better conditions
from your boss; that's not a good look.