Counter-offers: when to take them seriously
Most counter-offers fix the number and nothing else. Here is how to tell when one is different.
Written by
Hana Kessler
6 min read
partners@keldwell.com
About one in four of the people we place receive a counter-offer. Most of them decline it, and the ones who accept often call us again within a year.
What a real counter-offer looks like
It changes the thing that made you look in the first place: the scope, the manager, the roadmap. If it only changes the number, it is a retention bonus with a deadline.
Questions to ask
Why now, and not six months ago? What changes on Monday? Who else knows about this offer? The answers will tell you more than the figure.
More
■ Keep reading
Three more notes from the desk.
Market notes
What an inference lead actually costs in 2026
Method
The four questions we ask before taking a search
Market notes
Frontier lab or trading firm? How the offers really compare
■ The Friday Funnel



