How to Get a Counteroffer

OK. So you’ve decided you’re underpaid. A few of your team mates are making considerably more than you.
You know you’re as good (if not better) than them, so what gives?

You really do like your job. The company Christmas party is off the hook! The drive is less than 5 minutes and your best buddies work there too…….but you keep seeing jobs all over the internet paying more than what you're making and it's starting to weigh on your mind......

So what can you do about it? Call a recruiter? Well, maybe…..

But you know what happens next, right? If you’re so good- you’ll be going on an interview next week. Then another. Pretty soon you’ve got yourself an offer. More money!!! Woo hoo!!

But wait! Now you’ve got to resign. And you don’t really want to do that, do you? You’ve got to go through with this, though…….right? The recruiter is calling you night and day making sure you’re “on the same page” and you’ve already reluctantly agreed that he can accept an offer on your behalf. Who knows – maybe he already did…?

This isn’t what you really wanted, is it? To leave all your friends? To bail out on the awesome project you’ve been working on the past 2 years? It’s just about ready to go into production. All your hard work – and you’ll never see how happy your customers are……bummer……

I’ve got a solution for you. All you really want is more money. Heck – we all want that. So let me help you do just that without dragging a few other companies and that nice recruiter through the mud.

Wear your best suit into work tomorrow. Look better than you have since you interviewed there to begin with. Let your boss know you need the afternoon off. She’ll ask you why. Just let her know “It’s personal” and try to seem a bit apprehensive about it.

Next week you’ll need to take a whole day off. Again – let your boss know it’s personal. You might jokingly say “I’m not going on any interviews or anything” and then throw in something about your grandma not doing so well and she lives quite a distance away. Again – keep it somewhat vague.

Hang in there. You’re almost done Just one more step. This is the important one. You now need to tell your boss you need a few minutes. She’s already thinking something is up and this will confirm it. Her suspicion will be that you’re leaving – and she can’t have that happen now. Not at this critical time!

When you’re in her office let her know you just want to get a better idea of where you’ll be in the next few years. Ask about your chance of promotion. Let her know you feel like you need some more responsibility – but NEVER let on that you’ve been “interviewing” – just make it appear as though you’re at a crossroads and “might” be looking elsewhere. She’ll suspect this. She’s been here before. Trust me.

She’ll be on the phone with HR in a matter of minutes. Within a day or two you’ll find yourself in a meeting again. This time she’ll be happy to let you know that she’s been thinking of your career plan there – and while
that all shapes up – there is also a salary increase she’s requested for you. There you have it. You’re in!

Simple. No hassle. No bitter recruiter. No other company involved. Just you, your company and your new, phatter paycheck.

Good luck!

Comment by Jerry Albright on October 14, 2010 at 4:32pm: In case anyone is wondering - I chose to delete CB's very odd "I don't like this" reply. Not sure why he thought he needed to repeat it 400 times. Oh well.....

Comment by Maureen Sharib on October 14, 2010 at 4:35pm: The pain, Jerry, the pain. Kind of like a long agonized howl. I tol' you - you hit a nerve.

Comment by Maureen Sharib on October 14, 2010 at 4:49pm: There oughtta be a money prize ($5,000 anyone?) at the end of the year to the person who puts a posting up that generates the most buzz on a site.

Comment by Roberto Angulo on October 14, 2010 at 5:14pm: This is a great article. At AfterCollege, we try to be proactive as managers and reward people who are good. If someone is not good enough, or they are good, but think they are better than what they are, then this is a good time to part ways. I like Jerry's strategy. It helps with upgrading teams and speeds up the process for both employer and employee to decide to stay together or part ways.

Comment by Sandra McCartt on October 14, 2010 at 5:39pm: LOL, LOL, LOL. I love righteous indignation, particularly when it comes from folks who do not know when something is funny. It's a joke son, laugh. And like most funny stories it has more than a grain of truth. Yeppers Maureen, it's like the "old days". Brings em out of the woodwork screaming like somebody just took the meat off their sandwich.

Ok all you purists. let's try this. How would you feel about somebody who does not want to do this horrible, dastardly, deceitful, risky, career killing, manipulative act of human cowardice just asking a colleague in his department to go to their boss and say, "I'm not sure, but i am afraid we are going to lose ole Jerry, i heard him talking on the phone and i think it was to a recruiter."

Now let's say that he didn't ask anybody to go tell the boss, somebody in his department heard him talking on the phone and thought it was to a recruiter went to the boss and said exactly the same thing.

Is one instance a horrible act and the other an unfortunate oversite with the same end result?

Now take it one step further, the other guy really did hear ole Jerry on the phone talking to a recruiter, he does the same thing. Now who do you want to call horrible , blah, blah.

I love it, love it, love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Comment by Joe Madden on October 14, 2010 at 5:54pm: Let me guess Maureen, you're a big fan of Jerry's....no one can tell.

Frankly, I wish all candidates would pull this bush league move every time before they talk to me. At least then I'd know I have a candidate that isn't screwing around with me on a counteroffer. They'd already know their company could care less about them. But wait, then why would I want them anyway?

Comment by Suzanne Levison on October 14, 2010 at 6:33pm: Or, the hiring person may have 100 other possible candidates/may backfire

Comment by Ken Forrester on October 14, 2010 at 6:54pm: Great post Jerry,
I have to admit that this is the best article I have read on the subject of counter offers. Obviously you need to have a lot of experience in the trenches to nail all the details that go through the mind of a candidate who is susceptible or thinking about taking the counter offer route to get an increase in pay. The only issue I had with this is the title. A better title could be “How a Candidate Thinks before the Counter Offer”. And Jerry, now that you have everyone’s attention, how about a follow-up post on “What Recruiters Should do to Prevent Counter Offers”. I can’t wait to read it.

Comment by Craig Silverman on October 14, 2010 at 8:16pm: Nice post Jerry! I like the way you think. This should be sent to all the hiring managers out there. Maybe a few would take the hint and be proactive in recognizing their top people by giving them something without them having to ask for it.

Looking forward to our next jam session :)

Comment by Kelly Blokdijk on October 14, 2010 at 11:08pm: While I can certainly appreciate the cleverness of this idea, I can also see why some people are pointing out the potential risk of something like this backfiring. Whether or not one is a valued employee, anyone’s situation can change in an instant in these uncertain times. Not only are employers being stingy with their financial resources; paranoia and CYA attitudes cause otherwise reasonable people to stock up ammunition to protect their own job security interests. In some cases this results in willingness to throw an employee or colleague under the bus for the slightest offenses.

From an HR/ER standpoint, I’ve actually observed numerous occasions where someone was suspected of interviewing and rather than try to retain that person, their management chose to assume the worst and shun them and right them off for their perceived disloyalty. I don’t want to get into specifics of what was said and done during these scenarios. Of course I did whatever I could to prevent or contain this when I became aware of it, but unless there is blatant or overt hostility you can only take it so far – especially if it involves complex dynamics in the power structure.

It is incredibly unfortunate and outrageous to imagine someone retaliating against an employee for the mere act of looking out for their future, but it happens! Let’s face it there are people in every workplace (many at the very top) lacking the maturity and professionalism to process things rationally and objectively. Instead of embracing the opportunity to fix whatever it may be that is compelling someone to look elsewhere they prefer to push them closer to the door.

That said, very entertaining article and follow-up comments!