If you're doing your homework on the new job, you've had them match your current benefits or balance them with other benefits.
The thing that makes a new job's pay higher is the "total compensation" thing. It's not just the bottom line on your weekly pay -- it's a big bundle of stuff.
1) Your present employer (possibly) thinks you're underpaid, but has decided not to tell you or to let you at least have the cash. Or even something near it.
2) Someone else thinks you're worth more.
3) You feel underpaid.
If you're stupid, you will take all of this (except 2) personally.
Don't.
Unless it's an extremely small company, or some strange situation where you see everyone else driving expensive cars while you trek in via moped to eat saltines for lunch or something, usually you're not alone.
Usually, when you look around, you are underpaid like everyone else. I say this from experience (fwiw, I don't feel all that underpaid now, and I've been in the industry for over a decade).
A long time ago, in a job far far away from this one, I was such an employee. I felt underpaid, and I was. I was the admin for a Unix network in 1988-89. I remember getting extremely fed up with the management of the company, looking for a better paying job and finding it in no time.
I still didn't burn any bridges (hey, the hired me back as a consultant at like 1200 bucks a day on several occasions). But when I left I was extremely, extremely angry with the company and the system. I felt that they had singled me out peronally to pay me less than I was worth. There was an engineer there who was making more $ than I was -- he had threatened to leave, and had accepted a counter offer.
He stayed, and from what I saw, never moved much above where he was when I left.
I didn't threaten to leave. I left with clenched teeth -- asked if I would consider a counter-offer, I declined to even see it. I was pissed.
Looking back, I have but one regret: That I wasted precious cpu cycles being pissed about the situation. The place was extremely hard to work for. It rewarded its employees rarely. It had long hours and the emotional morale was ammong the worst I've ever seen anywhere. Period. I say this from authority because as a consultant I traveled all over the region, stepping into like companies -- without exception, they were the worst.
Of course, I didn't know it at the time that I left. What I thought at the time was that these bastards had worked me like crazy, I had a slave driver for a boss who didn't appreciate my computer skills (etc, etc, etc. Whine Whine Whine).
This isn't to say there weren't good people there -- there were. Most were "lifers" -- people who would more or less be born and die at that job.
All I can tell you is that I've never really looked back and regretted leaving.
Back to the main reasons why you shouldn't accept the counter:
1) It will, regardless of how you think of it now, always be something that management remembers about you. No matter how much your immediate boss may feel otherwise, or your coworkers -- the odds are extremely high that some stupid manager or some bean counter will remember having to make an exception for you. Better you should leave, and have them attempt to get you back at a later date and time -- and yes, this goes on all the time.
When it comes time for raises, you may likely be passed over for someone else. When it comes time for promotions, they may decide to stick it to you.
2) You will piss off the new employer -- possibly burning a bridge to a new experience. They will likely look at your attempt to get a new job as simply a way to raise your current income.
3) You will miss the opportunity to prove to your current employer that you are actually worth the cash you're asking. Take the job, and it's a mute point. Stay, and some stupid doubting thomas in management will likely sit around questioning your worth from time to time.
If/when you decide to come back, and this is a likely scenario, you will have a higher worth because the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, and guess what side of the fence you're on?
4) You will forgoe the chance to find out "what it's like out there". Rather, a new experience.
New experiences can always be counted as good, even if they suck(tm). I've recently did a tour of duty at a job that blew big chunks. It was like getting a ticket to the Titanic or something.
I still had a great time meeting new people. I learned some new technology. I saw a different reality. These people had done things differently than I had ever seen them done, to great negative effect in a lot of situations. Mostly, I had a lot of my beliefs about Free Software questioned by these people, and mostly, from my experiences seeing the stability of their environment, the ammount of crap they put up with, and the bills they paid -- mostly, I had my beliefs greatly confirmed. I walked away more confident and sure than ever before, actually.
I walked away after a layoff, extremely happy, because I'll never work there again. I got some paid vacation. It had been a long drive, the hours were long, I was on call 24x7. I still made some good friends, and I had some good times -- regardless.
You can't buy an experience like it, in other words. So don't sweat the bad times -- in the IT world, they can be over in 10 seconds.
Embrace as much diversity as you can stomach -- pay attention, add tools to your "IT Toolbox", and move on when things get shitty. They will sometime, always get shitty. Maybe you don't live on the Planet Earth, however, so this last saying may be wrong for you.
Anyway, finally, try not to get emotional about it. People are morons. Some are bigger morons than others. Believe it or not, I've seen complete morons in IT management that are actually *afraid* of automation. Completely, totally affraid of it. That made them afraid of me too.
Did I take it personally? -- I tried not to, and in the short time it pretty much worked. I pitty them more than hate them, in other words. Take your skills, keep your resume up to date, and don't depend upon any manager, other individual or organization to help you. You're on your own, in other words. Keep your chin up, take the cash from the new job, and move on.
Your career will thank you.
The cost of hosting a fairly small web site is pretty cheap (approaching free, but not, of course).
The cost of hosting and running something like Slashdot.org is way more than a lot of people are willing to admit to. Banner advertising might work, but from personal experience, I can tell you it ain't always enough. Worse, it can lead to tempatations from what I've seen.
Let's just say that it's time we grew up. Those of us who grew up without the web remember getting two types of magazines -- Free ones (trade rags) and subscription ones (going the route of the dinosaur). The really expensive ones were sometimes the best. The trade rags -- do I need to remind people what kind of dross was found in them?!? Crappy reviews and huge payola were often the norm. A rare voice like Nicholas Petreley could be found from time to time.
Why do a lot of people fail to realize that some things are going to be worth paying for? We like to think that advertising will just do it, but the God's honest truth is that it's just not doing it. It might be different if web advertising were more intrusive (like TV advertising, for example) -- but it's _not_ -- it's one of the things that makes surfing the web a pleasurable experience. If we had to watch (even catchy) flash movies every time we tuned into a web site, we'd freak.
CmdrTaco, Hemos -- I applaud your bravery, and I'll consider the cost of your ad-removal. Oh, and thanks for Slashdot.Org and your hard work.
Slashdot Mirror
If you're doing your homework on the new job, you've had them match your current benefits or balance them with other benefits. The thing that makes a new job's pay higher is the "total compensation" thing. It's not just the bottom line on your weekly pay -- it's a big bundle of stuff.
1) Your present employer (possibly) thinks you're underpaid, but has decided not to tell you or to let you at least have the cash. Or even something near it.
2) Someone else thinks you're worth more.
3) You feel underpaid.
If you're stupid, you will take all of this (except 2) personally.
Don't.
Unless it's an extremely small company, or some strange situation where you see everyone else driving expensive cars while you trek in via moped to eat saltines for lunch or something, usually you're not alone.
Usually, when you look around, you are underpaid like everyone else. I say this from experience (fwiw, I don't feel all that underpaid now, and I've been in the industry for over a decade).
A long time ago, in a job far far away from this one, I was such an employee. I felt underpaid, and I was. I was the admin for a Unix network in 1988-89. I remember getting extremely fed up with the management of the company, looking for a better paying job and finding it in no time.
I still didn't burn any bridges (hey, the hired me back as a consultant at like 1200 bucks a day on several occasions). But when I left I was extremely, extremely angry with the company and the system. I felt that they had singled me out peronally to pay me less than I was worth. There was an engineer there who was making more $ than I was -- he had threatened to leave, and had accepted a counter offer.
He stayed, and from what I saw, never moved much above where he was when I left.
I didn't threaten to leave. I left with clenched teeth -- asked if I would consider a counter-offer, I declined to even see it. I was pissed.
Looking back, I have but one regret: That I wasted precious cpu cycles being pissed about the situation. The place was extremely hard to work for. It rewarded its employees rarely. It had long hours and the emotional morale was ammong the worst I've ever seen anywhere. Period. I say this from authority because as a consultant I traveled all over the region, stepping into like companies -- without exception, they were the worst.
Of course, I didn't know it at the time that I left. What I thought at the time was that these bastards had worked me like crazy, I had a slave driver for a boss who didn't appreciate my computer skills (etc, etc, etc. Whine Whine Whine).
This isn't to say there weren't good people there -- there were. Most were "lifers" -- people who would more or less be born and die at that job.
All I can tell you is that I've never really looked back and regretted leaving.
Back to the main reasons why you shouldn't accept the counter:
1) It will, regardless of how you think of it now, always be something that management remembers about you. No matter how much your immediate boss may feel otherwise, or your coworkers -- the odds are extremely high that some stupid manager or some bean counter will remember having to make an exception for you. Better you should leave, and have them attempt to get you back at a later date and time -- and yes, this goes on all the time.
When it comes time for raises, you may likely be passed over for someone else. When it comes time for promotions, they may decide to stick it to you.
2) You will piss off the new employer -- possibly burning a bridge to a new experience. They will likely look at your attempt to get a new job as simply a way to raise your current income.
3) You will miss the opportunity to prove to your current employer that you are actually worth the cash you're asking. Take the job, and it's a mute point. Stay, and some stupid doubting thomas in management will likely sit around questioning your worth from time to time.
If/when you decide to come back, and this is a likely scenario, you will have a higher worth because the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, and guess what side of the fence you're on?
4) You will forgoe the chance to find out "what it's like out there". Rather, a new experience.
New experiences can always be counted as good, even if they suck(tm). I've recently did a tour of duty at a job that blew big chunks. It was like getting a ticket to the Titanic or something.
I still had a great time meeting new people. I learned some new technology. I saw a different reality. These people had done things differently than I had ever seen them done, to great negative effect in a lot of situations. Mostly, I had a lot of my beliefs about Free Software questioned by these people, and mostly, from my experiences seeing the stability of their environment, the ammount of crap they put up with, and the bills they paid -- mostly, I had my beliefs greatly confirmed. I walked away more confident and sure than ever before, actually.
I walked away after a layoff, extremely happy, because I'll never work there again. I got some paid vacation. It had been a long drive, the hours were long, I was on call 24x7. I still made some good friends, and I had some good times -- regardless. You can't buy an experience like it, in other words. So don't sweat the bad times -- in the IT world, they can be over in 10 seconds. Embrace as much diversity as you can stomach -- pay attention, add tools to your "IT Toolbox", and move on when things get shitty. They will sometime, always get shitty. Maybe you don't live on the Planet Earth, however, so this last saying may be wrong for you. Anyway, finally, try not to get emotional about it. People are morons. Some are bigger morons than others. Believe it or not, I've seen complete morons in IT management that are actually *afraid* of automation. Completely, totally affraid of it. That made them afraid of me too. Did I take it personally? -- I tried not to, and in the short time it pretty much worked. I pitty them more than hate them, in other words. Take your skills, keep your resume up to date, and don't depend upon any manager, other individual or organization to help you. You're on your own, in other words. Keep your chin up, take the cash from the new job, and move on. Your career will thank you.
The cost of hosting a fairly small web site is pretty cheap (approaching free, but not, of course).
The cost of hosting and running something like Slashdot.org is way more than a lot of people are willing to admit to. Banner advertising might work, but from personal experience, I can tell you it ain't always enough. Worse, it can lead to tempatations from what I've seen.
Let's just say that it's time we grew up. Those of us who grew up without the web remember getting two types of magazines -- Free ones (trade rags) and subscription ones (going the route of the dinosaur). The really expensive ones were sometimes the best. The trade rags -- do I need to remind people what kind of dross was found in them?!? Crappy reviews and huge payola were often the norm. A rare voice like Nicholas Petreley could be found from time to time.
Why do a lot of people fail to realize that some things are going to be worth paying for? We like to think that advertising will just do it, but the God's honest truth is that it's just not doing it. It might be different if web advertising were more intrusive (like TV advertising, for example) -- but it's _not_ -- it's one of the things that makes surfing the web a pleasurable experience. If we had to watch (even catchy) flash movies every time we tuned into a web site, we'd freak.
CmdrTaco, Hemos -- I applaud your bravery, and I'll consider the cost of your ad-removal. Oh, and thanks for Slashdot.Org and your hard work.
--Paul Ferris