Candidates

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

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.

■ The Friday Funnel

One note a month on what the market pays and who is moving.

Create a free website with Framer, the website builder loved by startups, designers and agencies.