Picture this: you’re unhappy at your current place of work. You enlist the help of a reputable recruitment agency with stellar reviews to help you find a new job. It goes well – you receive multiple offers! But when you go to tell your current employer that you intend to resign, they hit you up with a counter offer. And not just any counter offer, a pretty generous counter offer. It’s a substantial pay increase. You take it (yay!) but a month or so later you realise that despite the money, you’re still not happy at work because the reasons you started job-seeking to begin with have not changed. Damn! Is it too late to change your mind?
In our work as Allied Health recruiters, we’re noticing a new trend with job-seekers. Not the counter offers, they’re nothing new, but what IS new is the next part…
Candidates who stay in their job because of a counter offer often regret the decision, but are too embarrassed to go back to an employer that they’ve turned down.
What’s behind all this?
Why are candidates accepting counter offers? Quite simply, many people want or need more money.
Rising cost of living and inflation are driving candidates to ask for more money right now. And when pushed, many organisations are happy to provide, since it’s far cheaper to offer a pay rise than it is to hire and induct a whole new employee.
So, finances are why someone would accept a counter offer, but it’s important to create a distinction here. Money might be the reason why someone would accept a counter offer, but it’s rarely the reason why a person begins a job hunt in the first place, especially in Allied Health where many are driven by passion.
In most cases, a candidate job-hunts outside their current organisation because they’re unhappy. Perhaps the team environment isn’t a good fit, perhaps they’re receiving inadequate training or don’t see a clear career progression. Maybe there’s too much pressure put on billable hours, they need more flexibility or they hate their commute.
These reasons don’t go away when more money is offered.
Beware the counter offer
Research shows that counter offers rarely work. Around 70-80% of staff who accept a counter offer leave or are let go within 12 months of the counter offer being made.
This is because the reasons for changing the job do not change.
The truth is, the Allied Health industry is in turmoil because candidates are in short supply. So, when a staff member resigns, current employers are throwing money at the problem.
Here’s the thing: If you have to resign to get more money and have your value seen by your employer, that’s a red flag!
This money is a short-term gain. A band-aid. Rarely will it actually fix anything. We encourage any job seeker who receives a counter offer to think really carefully about the reasons they want to leave, and whether a pay rise will make those issues go away. Unless an employer has agreed to address the reasons for a staff member leaving, nothing will change, and a candidate will be back on the job hunt within months.
Or will they?
So, what if you change your mind?
Ok, you screwed up. You took a counter offer, and you STILL hate your job. The money wasn’t really why you resigned in the first place, and it hasn’t fixed anything long-term. Or maybe you just feel slightly bitter that it took for you to resign for your value to be seen.
Don’t feel bad! Go back to your recruiter or the person who offered you the job and restart talks again.
Some recruitment companies will have you believe that rejecting then accepting a job offer is ‘the worst move you can make’. Not true! You’re entitled to rethink things. It’s not the end of the world!
We have candidates who feel embarrassed about the fact that they’ve previously had multiple offers on the table which they’ve turned down in favour of a counter offer.
Don’t be embarrassed! Know this:
– It’s OK to change your mind or realise you made a mistake.
– In most cases, the prospective employer is happy to explore options with you again.
From our end, we don’t bad-mouth candidates to employers. We’re on your side – we turn down jobs on your behalf in a professional manner and present you in the best light. There are no ill feelings and employers who partner with Medijobs Australia always leave the door open for our candidates, even if they’ve been turned down. No bridges have been burnt.
In terms of the offer that was made to you, the good news is that the same offer or something similar will likely still be on the table. The Allied Health industry is completely underserviced in terms of workforce right now. Employers want you. Moving forward, the money offered will go up, not down.
So in short, it’s completely fine to change your mind after you’ve turned down a new job in favour of a counter offer. Pick up where you left off and go get a job that you really love.
If you’re thinking about leaving your current job, or you’ve turned down a new role in favour of a counter offer, get in touch! We’ll help make the job-hunting AND resigning process easy for you. Check out our collection of 5-star Google Reviews for proof!
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