if let say you go for an interview for a job, you may 50/50 want.

supposed the co A offer you job role, verbally, agree to give 20% pay increase.

you decided to tell them to wait give about 3-4 working days for you to decided to sign the contract.

Meanwhile, you text to your big boss and tell him you want to resign, you are going to tender officially, but you want to see him first to discuss. you tell him that you need to see him urgently as the other side is offering you a better job role and you have 2-3 days to decide.

then you see him, you tell him, bla bla bla, that you served the co so long but you felt lack of job opportunities, then you tell him that you want a promotion and 40% pay increase, better job exposure.

if scenario A, he says yes, you stay
If scenario B, he says no, you say thank you, and go to Co A and sign contract.

what do you guys think of this tactic?
I don't think its a good idea to sign contract with Co A, then negotiate, else afterwards the Co A can take legal action, and even if they don't, you become blacklisted.

Why I think of this idea? Some may say accept Co A offer lah afterall you are unhappy at current place.
Answer: true true, but if you think about it, if I go to Co A, I still have to go through probation and that is risky. I got family to support, I can't afford to take that risk. I go for interview, everything looks ok, check the co background and ask around. But that's at face value, you never know when you join, suddenly your new boss is an asshole or co suddenly delegate another boss to you and not the interviewer instead. Whereas at current workplace, I been here for 6 years, I know the flow, the sop, the culture, know the boss working style, so I easily fit into a promotion position (if offered).

This post has been edited by hoonanoo: Aug 24 2023, 08:53 AM

I had a team member do this. I got my bosses consent to counteroffer 30% higher. But I told him that the HR letter for the pay increase will only be made available if he can let me have a 3-second glimpse on the 30% stated in the offer letter (He wasn't that good of a coder, 15 % at most). He couldn't produce it.

He ultimately left and joined the other firm.

Actually the team member have the right not to show you.

nowadays - some offering company won't give you the offer letter, as they know you will use it to go back and request for counteroffer.

offering company may just let you have a copy when you are there to sign on the spot. current companies may also ask for a copy to sight, if not they wont counteroffer.

so depend on what type of companies you currenty are dealing with.

some of them email the offer letter.

but regardless, if the current co want to see your offer letter in order to justify increase your current pay, you mind as well leave for new co.

So to summarize, you want to stay in current company but trying to nego for revise in salary.

It is like you table down but before you do that, consider how much of a valued employee you are and how much lower you're being paid compared to the market rate out there.

1. If you're a big contributor to the company and you've got a pretty pivotal role in the department - ie. some sort of skills that's harder to replace, or you've been around so much/ so long to solve a lot of company issues and the company find it difficult to find a replacement for your role, then by all means give it a shot.

2. If you're really underpaid or merely hitting the low/ near mid range of the average market salary bracket (and you KNOW the company could pay higher), it may be a risk worth taking.

Best case scenario is that you're both #1 and #2 serving this company. Your success rate is higher in negotiating for what you want.

Because otherwise, there's a good 50% chance they're willing to let you go even if you show them the other company's offer letter. If you're someone holding a role with common or medium skill, whereby the manager/ HR may find it no issue to get a replacement - then this is a risky move for you. They may even think its not a bad idea to replace you with someone fresh to get in new ideas or bring additional skills/ value to the dept. It is troublesome to train people, but if you've got some bad habits that they're not happy with, they may welcome the idea that you're voluntarily leaving.

So when you present another offer letter in the negotiation, be ready to fight for what you want (tell them why you deserve the salary revision, what you can contribute more to the company if they give you what you want) and at the same time, also be ready to pack up & leave.

You'll know your situation better.

This post has been edited by sweet_pez: Aug 25 2023, 09:44 AM

precisely, i am ready to ship out if they say no to my counter offer request.

I am doing this because:

1. I just want to try my luck
2. I know the risks involved in moving to new co, if something didn't turned out what I expected, for eg, new boss turned out to be tyrant or suddenly co not doing well due to shockwave from economy, my new probation may be affected.
3. Being able to get counter offer and stay - means I know the culture, i know the people, I know the job. So I wouldn't need to go new place and relearn everything all over again. I fit there like a glove albeit higher pay.
4. I am not the first who does this tactic. A few has done it and success and some not success and left for greenier pastures. Or maybe not, because i know some went to new place, turned out to be night mare.
5. The co is having a staff hiring freeze. So if I leave, no new headcount. So the bosses are scrambling to keep what headcount they can, so maybe a counter offer with insurance outside may twist their hands to accept.

May I know why you say so? Just curious because I tender, then my ask for offer letter as they want to counter. I just share the front page that stated new remuneration etc. But HR said wanna view full offer letter then can only proceed counter. The result for counter also not guarantee. I was a bit skeptical as why you wanna view full offer letter and still the outcome not clear

In most cases it's always better to leave. Don't let comfort zone and fear stop you from expanding your horizon.

The few occasions where you don't leave could be:
1) Current company is top 3 in the industry and plenty of room to grow.
2) Offer from new company is too low, or logistics (ie- need to move faraway etc) are not great.
3) Current company offers a promotion and expanded scope.

I'd advise going, and don't bother with any counteroffer. After all, you're familiar with everything - meant things are getting stagnant. Learning new things, meeting new people etc outweights the risk of joining a shit company or a bad boss. If you're really unlucky, you could seek another opportunity elsewhere.

Folks that do well in career are constantly learning and upgrading by doing something or going somewhere different.

Also 20% is too low... but it does depend on the leverage you have. All the best deciding!

Because HR arent there to pay you fairly - they're there to ensure they pay you the minimum possible. That's why they needed the written offer to set a baseline and increase minimally or match. If your boss or HR values you, they'd offer what you're worth, not match what other companies think you're worth.

In one of my last company - I told my boss I am underpaid and on the spot they increased my pay. No third party offer or letters needed. They understand if they don't, I'll leave. BTW I left anyway....

Thats a point. Its like they just want to know what is the benefit on the other side. Share the front page of the offer. They said need full offer letter and the outcome isn’t guarantee.

I was like, nevermind.. Why I should I share if the counter is not certain. Will continue with new company then.

It's just a lazy way for them to do a quick check at the market.
My advise is just say you can't show and take your word for it.

They'll eventually find out when they need to hire your replacement if your original salary was way below the market rate.