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You gathered your nerve, held your breath and jumped. You accepted an offer for a new job! As you exhale, however, you encounter a complication. Your current employer weighs in with a counter offer. Here are seven great reasons to say no.

1. You quit for a reason.
By accepting an offer for a new job, you have already made the decision that it represents a better opportunity for you. You are ready to make a move! If you weren’t ready to make a move, you would not have gone through the interview process and accepted an offer from another company. If you’ve reached the point where a move is necessary, it’s important to trust yourself.

2. Money isn’t all that matters.
Money isn’t going to solve all the problems that led you to look for a new position. If your employer wants to sweeten your compensation now, you have to ask yourself why they didn’t want to before – and where that money is coming from. Did you just get your next raise?

3. It’s a short term solution.
How likely is it that the issues that caused you to leave will suddenly be fixed? Consider this: in almost every case, it’s far less expensive to keep you that to replace you. Is this counter offer for you, or is it to buy time to find your replacement? More often than not, it’s the latter. In fact, study after study shows that employees on average stay less than a year after accepting a counteroffer.

4. You will burn bridges.
Are you willing to give up on future opportunities with a new company in order to stay at a job where you were clearly not satisfied? When you accept an offer from a new employer, it’s reasonable for them to believe that you’ve handled yourself like a professional. That you’ve thought this move all the way through. Accepting a counter offer undermines all this hard work – and can burn a bridge indefinitely.

5. Things won’t improve.
We keep up with industry trends, and the studies are right. A shocking amount of people – as high as 80% in some surveys – report that office relationships and overall productivity take a major hit for employees that accept counter offers.

6. Trust is broken.
After a counter offer has been accepted, a feeling of mistrust often grows on both sides of the equation. Your employer will wonder about your true commitment level, and they will likely start looking for a person to replace you. They would be foolish not to. From this day forward, your loyalty will be in question. How do you think this will affect you being considered for a promotion?

7. Your reputation matters.
Pittsburgh is a small place, and IT an even smaller microcosm of that place. When an employer spends the time to interview you, get to know you, and offer you a job, it’s with the expectation that you are sincere in your desire to make a move. By accepting a counter offer, you are signaling that you took advantage of their need simply to leverage your current employer. How do you think the people involved will feel about you going forward? What do you think they will say to their friends and colleagues in your industry?

At OpenArc, it’s our job to help you navigate these important decisions. Our behaviorally certified recruiters use training and fit to match top talent with top employers, and everything we do is rooted in our commitment to our relationship with you. Contact us today and let’s start a conversation.