Let’s say that you accept an offer of employment from another company and submit your resignation. Then your boss makes you a counteroffer that includes a substantial raise.
There are many reasons why you should not accept that counteroffer. First of all, you should ask yourself, “Why haven’t I received this compensation until now?”
In fact, that’s just one of many questions that you should ask.
Was your employer intentionally underpaying you because they could get away with it?
Did you have to threaten to leave before your employer was willing to pay you what you’re worth?
Is this additional compensation going to be subtracted from a future raise?
Then there’s the fact that the reason you decided to leave might have nothing to do with money. If compensation wasn’t the real reason that you left, then what good is a counteroffer that includes more compensation?
Not only that, but sometimes a company will make a counteroffer to an employee who submits their resignation, just so they can keep them there until they find a replacement. Unfortunately, this does happen.
That’s because now your boss knows that you were looking for a new job. Not only that, but you were also prepared to actually leave for another position. For all you know, if you accept the counteroffer, your employer could just be buying time until they can find a replacement for you.
All of these are excellent reasons why you should not accept a counteroffer.