Originally Posted by Marcellus (Post 7388461)

Without knowing your company or boss's attitude towards these types of things, I would say keep this in mind.

You are basically holding your company hostage if you tell them about the other offer and ask them to match or meet you somewhere.

Nothing wrong with that but keep in mind, even if they match or meet you in the middle, there may be resentment going forward that could cause trouble later. Maybe not I don't know your company.

Not saying it should be that way or it's correct just saying I have seen it happen.

One approach would be just to put in notice. They will obviously ask you why and you can tell them better financial opportunity. If they want to make you a counter offer it's on them at that point.

I guess all I am saying and you may already know this, don't go in there saying or implying I am leaving unless you give me XXX. Let them approach you about what they need to do to keep you.

If they don't do that you are probably better off going where they value you more anyway.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by frazod (Post 7388439)

In this economy, do you want to give up a secure, reasonably long term job that you're happy with to become the newest employee for a competitor? That's a serious consideration in this economy. And if you get greased by the new place, good chance you'll have burned your bridges with the old one.

A few years ago, I'd say jump and not think twice. But this ain't a few years ago.

Originally Posted by Saul Good (Post 7388506)

This post confuses me. You seem to be agreeing with a post and then saying the exact opposite.

Originally Posted by BigRedChief (Post 7388546)

I'm saying you should consider Frazod's advise. The economy is for chit. I don't know your field or supply and demand for employees in your field.

There is a bigger demand than supply of qualified employees in my field of endevour. I believed in myself and took a leap of faith. But it could have went south and set me years back financially.

It's the ying/yang. Both are legitamate points. Only you can decide whats the right move.

Clearer?

Originally Posted by Bugeater (Post 7388434)

It would have to be at least 25% for them to even get my attention. It's tough to put a dollar value on not dreading to have to go to work in the morning.

Originally Posted by BigRedChief (Post 7388546)

I'm saying you should consider Frazod's advise. The economy is for chit. I don't know your field or supply and demand for employees in your field.

There is a bigger demand than supply of qualified employees in my field of endevour. I believed in myself and took a leap of faith. But it could have went south and set me years back financially.

It's the ying/yang. Both are legitamate points. Only you can decide whats the right move.

Clearer?

Originally Posted by Saul Good (Post 7388562)

Wow. 25% minimum? That's strong. I totally understand where you're coming from, though. No amount of money is worth dreading coming to work. That's why I added the "all things being equal" caveat. I know that there's no such thing, but it's hard to quantify the uncertainty.

I've also come to realize that job security is a myth, and I don't really believe in loyalty to an employer in most circumstances. If the employer has gone out of its way to help you out when you had a sick family member or something, I would say that you owe them something. If they just pay you for coming to work, you don't owe them any more loyalty than your grocery store owes you for buying a gallon of milk.

In my case, I feel like I agreed to work to the best of my ability, and I have. They agreed to pay me a certain amount, and they have. It's been a good deal for both sides, but I don't feel like I owe them anything, and I don't think they feel like they owe me anything.

Originally Posted by alnorth (Post 7388554)

yep, you also gotta know your real worth and how solid the new company is.

Every field is different. I'm in an odd little profession where the labor pool is very low (as in merely thousands in the entire country) and the demand has never been higher. If I was in something more generic like sales or I was an MBA, then the risk of "leaping" to a higher ledge is much bigger.

Originally Posted by rageeumr (Post 7388573)

I think the crux is that you say "Assuming that everything is a push in terms of pros and cons between the two companies", but the fact is that they probably aren't, and those non-monetary factors can affect your happiness, whether you're cognizant of it or not.

The example I always give people about my job is freedom. I work out on the company clock nearly every day. A lot of days I eat lunch at my desk or work late and more than make up for it. But some days I don't. And no one is watching me and auditing my hours. I can go run errands during the day if I need to. If I get my stuff done, no one messes with me. I'd turn down a 25% raise in a heartbeat if they told me I had to be there 8-5 unless I got it cleared with a manager.

Originally Posted by BigRedChief (Post 7388571)

I've never approached my employer for a raise or let them know of another job offer and expected a counter offer. All the jumps were for clearly better positions.

Originally Posted by Saul Good (Post 7388607)

Neither have I. Then again, my raises have been about 3% over the last 4 years, so maybe I need to re-think my strategy.

If the new employer offers me 20%, and my current employer offers me 10%, I'm thinking I'll probably stay. Anything less than that makes it really tough to decide. The more I think about it, the more I wonder if this isn't about stroking my own ego. If my current employer told me that they could only offer me 7% but really hopes that I will stay because they realize that I am valuable to them, that would probably mean more to me than them offering me 10% and telling me to take it or leave it.

Originally Posted by rageeumr (Post 7388652)

I'm not offering this as advice, simply as an anecdote. My wife and I went to undergrad together. She's a year older than me, graduated a year earlier and went to grad school. I graduated and took a job. When she got out of grad school she had an offer with a company in Pittsburgh that she really wanted to take. I went and interviewed with them, and they made me an offer for substantially more than I was making at the time. In the end, I convinced her to move to KC.

I took my offer letter from the other company in and gave it to my boss. I explained to him that I wasn't looking to negotiate and that I had already turned the offer down, but I wanted him to know what my market value was. My next raise was to the exact level of that offer.

Originally Posted by Saul Good (Post 7388676)

Interesting. That's kind of similar to what my strategy with my current employer is going to be (except I'm not going to shut the door completely first). I'm planning on showing them the offer and telling them that I want to stay where I'm at, but I think that they should pay me market value.

Three things can happen, the way I see it.

1. They can give me a raise.
2. They can tell me that they don't think I'm worth that much.
3. They can tell me that I'm worth that much but they are going to choose to under-pay me.

Situation 1 is a total win. Situations 2 and 3 would tell me that I'm probably better off going somewhere else, anyway.

Originally Posted by alnorth (Post 7388688)

There's nothing wrong with this course of action, as long as you are professional and honest with everyone (the current and offering companies). I'm sure it isn't the first time your boss has ever had this conversation either. The only thing is, once you start that conversation you have to be ready to leave. You cant take it back if your boss reacts poorly and you didn't really want to accept the offer at all.