Articles

Congratulations. You've accepted a new job.

Now take a deep breath and prepare yourself for the challenge ahead. Even though you may be floating on cloud nine now, there are a lot of emotional and logistical hurdles yet to clear.

As you've already learned, the job-changing process arouses all sorts of feelings. During the transitional phase that begins with your acceptance of an offer and ends a month or two after you've started your new position, the emotional limbo you'll experience will beespecially acute.

Don't Let the Demons Get You Down

Relax. Everyone who changes jobs is plagued by these demons, to a greater or lesser degree. It's only natural.

But rather than dwell on the past, imagine for a moment that you're in your new job. 

Think of all the changes you're making, and how your new life is a huge improvement compared to what you had before. Think of the new people you're meeting, the new skills you're acquiring, and the new opportunities you have to advance your career.

Self-affirmations like these can do wonders for maintaining your positive energy and high self-esteem. And by projecting all the beneficial aspects of your new job into the present tense, you'll ward off the demons that can distort your judgment, and make youvulnerable to a counteroffer attempt.

Considering the Counteroffer

Of course, if your motivation for getting a job offer was to position yourself for a counteroffer, then you're in the catbird's seat -- you can'tlose either way.

Or can you? Some employment experts point out that accepting a counteroffer is the equivalent of career suicide.

According to Paul Hawkinson, publisher of The Fordyce Letter, your acceptance of a counteroffer could very well blow up in your face. 

Here's how. Let's say you announce your plans to leave your current job. This, in effect, blackmails your boss, who makes you a counteroffer only to keep you until he can find your replacement, at which point you're dropped like a hot potato. In the meantime, thetrusting relationship you've enjoyed with your current supervisors and peers abruptly ends, and your loyalty becomes forever suspect.

Is this sort of scenario accurate? I guess it depends. My experience has been mixed. That is, some of the candidates I've known who've accepted counteroffers have remained at their old jobs for years, and have smoothed over whatever difficulties caused their split in the firstplace.

It's precisely for this reason that I'm so cautious when I work with currently employed job seekers. I want to feel confident that theirmotives are pure before we both invest a lot of time and energy in testing the market.

However, there's a lot of evidence to support the theory that candidates who accept counteroffers become damaged goods once they've beenherded back into the fold.

If your intention to make a change is sincere, and a counteroffer by your current company won't change your decision to leave, you shouldstill keep up your guard. A counteroffer attempt can be potentially devastating, both on a personal and professional level. Unless youknow how to diffuse your current employer's retaliation against your resignation, you may end up psychologically wounded, or right backat the job you wanted to leave.

The best way to shield yourself from the inevitable mixture of emotions surrounding the act of submitting your resignation is to rememberthat employers follow a predictable, three-stage pattern when faced with a resignation: 

They'll be in shock. "You sure picked a fine time to leave! Who's going to finish the project we started?"

The implication is that you're irreplaceable. They might as well ask, "How will we ever get the work done without you?"

To answer this assertion, you can reply, "If I were run over by a truck on my way to work tomorrow, I feel that somehow, this company would survive."

They'll start to probe. "Who's the new company? What sort of position did you accept? What are they paying you?"

Here you must be careful not to disclose too much information, or appear too enthusiastic. Otherwise, you run the risk of feeding your current employer with ammunition he can use against you later, such as, "I've heard some pretty terrible things about your new company" or, "They'll make everything look great until you actually get there. Then you'll see what a sweat shop that place really is."
 

They'll make you an offer to try and keep you from leaving. "You know that raise you and I were talking about a few months back? I forgot to tell you: We were just getting it processed yesterday."

To this you can respond, "Gee, today you seem pretty concerned about my happiness and well-being. Where were you yesterday, before Iannounced my intention to resign?"

It may take several days for the three stages to run their course, but believe me, sooner or later, you'll find yourself engaged inconversations similar to these.

More than once, candidates have called me after they've resigned, to tell me that their old company followed the three-stage pattern exactlyas I described it. Not only were they prepared to diffuse the counteroffer attempt, they found the whole sequence to be almost comical in itspredictability.

The first thing you need to consider is the timing of your resignation. Since two weeks' notice is considered the norm, make sure yourresignation properly coincides with your start date at the new company.

Your resignation should be handled in person, preferably on a Friday afternoon. Ask your direct supervisor if you can speak with him privately in his office. When you announce your intention to resign, you should also hand your supervisor a letter which states your lastdate of employment with the company. Let him know that you've enjoyed working with him, but that an opportunity came along that you couldn't pass up, and that your decision to leave was made carefully, and doesn't reflect any negative feelings you have toward the companyor the staff.

You should also add that your decision is final, and that you would prefer not to be made a counteroffer, since you wouldn't want your refusal to accept more money to appear as a personal affront.

Let your supervisor know that you appreciate all the company's done for you; and that you'll do everything in your power to make your departure as smooth and painless as possible.

Finally, ask if there's anything you can do during the transition period over the next two weeks, such as help train your successor, tie up loose ends, or delegate tasks.

Keep your resignation letter short, simple, and to the point. There's no need to go into detail about your new job, or what led to your decision to leave. If these issues are important to your old employer, he'll schedule an exit interview for you, at which time you can hashout your differences ad infinitum.

Make sure to provide a carbon copy or photocopy of your resignation letter for your company's personnel file. This way, the circumstances surrounding your resignation will be well documented for future reference.

In all likelihood, the human resource staff will want to meet with you to process your departure papers, or cover any questions you mayhave concerning the transfer of your medical insurance or retirement benefits.

Back to top