Before you accept a counter-offer, ask yourself these questions

You found a new role, you accepted the offer and you handed in your notice. Then your manager asks for a chat and offers you more money to stay. It is flattering, it is easier than starting somewhere new and it can feel like a win.

Sometimes it is. Often, it only delays the same decision by a few months. Before you say yes, take a step back and answer a few honest questions.

Why did you start looking in the first place?

Write down the real reasons. Was it only money? Or was it the work, your manager, the lack of progression, the culture or the feeling that you had stopped learning?

If money was the only reason, a counter-offer may genuinely solve the problem. If it was anything else, more money will not change it. The reasons you wanted to leave will still be there on Monday.

Why is the offer coming now?

Ask yourself why your value was recognised only when you decided to leave. Sometimes there is a good explanation, such as a budget cycle or a manager who did not know you were unhappy. Sometimes it simply costs less to keep you for now than to replace you in a hurry.

How will things look in six months?

• Will you be trusted with the same projects, or seen as someone who might leave?
• Has anything changed in your role, or only your salary?
• Is the raise a one-off, or part of a real plan for your growth?

What happens to the other offer?

Turning down an offer you already accepted is allowed, but it has a cost. The company that hired you planned around you, and may remember. Be honest and respectful if you change your mind, and make sure you are changing it for the right reasons.

When staying is the right decision

A counter-offer can be the right choice when:

• money really was the only issue,
• the offer comes with a concrete change in role or responsibilities, not only a raise,
• you genuinely like your team and the work, and
• you would have been happy to stay if this offer had come a year ago.

Our advice

Make the decision you would make if both offers had arrived on the same day, with no pressure and no guilt. If you are working with us and receive a counter-offer, talk to us. We will not push you either way. Our goal is that you are in the right place a year from now, not that a placement goes through.