Seeking Advice - Have Job Offer on the Table

I'm currently working as a Systems Administrator for company X and have been an admin for the last 3 years. I love the job and the duties really fall in line with that of a Network Engineer, Cisco routing, switching, voip, wireless specifically. I love the job, love the company. I recently was offerred a job with the title of Network Engineer 3 (order goes 1 is beginning, 4 is highest) from company Y. The job pays about 13k more than my current job and the network is a lot larger with more responsibility and many opportunities to grow, learn and make my next big move in my career. If it were you, would go to the new company or stay with your current employer. Mind you, I don't see any engineering positions opening up with my current employer any time soon. This might even be a no brainier for some lol. The fact that I love this company and the work environment is what makes it so hard to leave. I'm inclined to leave. Thoughts? Is this a no brainer?

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Comments

White Wizard

If you want to continue advancing your career, make the move.

If your happy where you are at and do not want to advance your career, then stay.

Also, studies have shown removing your COD avatar result in becoming a man.

scaredoftests

Leave or else you will be kicking yourself later for not going for it.

kohr-ah

I think it would be a great move for your career. I would definitely give it a consideration but the other question is would you be happy there and when you met with their team did they seem like you'd get along with them well?

CodeBlox

I know one of the guys who works there. He came from my current company. It seems to be a lot of older people compared to my current job. Not that I have a problem with that. The 4 people in the interview were good company. They all seem very smart. I can't believe I am at the point where I'm actually qualifying for Network Engineering roles. Feels just like yesterday that I started on the helpdesk but it's been over 3 years and I'm well past the helpdesk. Man how time flies, I was literally posting on THIS forum back in 2010 asking about how to even break into IT.

CodeBlox

I lost the job offer. Long story short my current employer wanted to counter offer and possibly match the pay and position. There is an approval process to create a new engineer position and I still dont have 100% confirmation that things will work out. The prospective employer has already made other arrangements as of today and moved on to the next in line candidate.

TechGuru80

What is your long term goal? Technical engineer? Management? Realize there is not a ton of upward mobility if a 4 is the max. I don't see much problem with switching but make sure you aren't leaving money on the table...$13k might be a raise to you but short change in the new company.

olaHalo

White Wizard wrote: »

Also, studies have shown removing your COD avatar result in becoming a man.

Shots fired

CodeBlox wrote: »

I lost the job offer. Long story short my current employer wanted to counter offer and possibly match the pay and position. There is an approval process to create a new engineer position and I still dont have 100% confirmation that things will work out. The prospective employer has already made other arrangements as of today and moved on to the next in line candidate.

So when you say you had a job offer did they actually send you a written offer?
Why did they pull the offer?

And what happens now to your current employer matching the pay with their counter offer?

Z0sickx

olaHalo wrote: »

Shots fired

So when you say you had a job offer did they actually send you a written offer?
Why did they pull the offer?

And no what happens now to your current employer matching the pay with their counter offer?

yeah thats a bit weird if they offered you a job and then pulled it...unless you took to long to respond. my thoughts are is the experience in line with what you want in the future? is the extra 13k worth the extra work/hours you will need to put in?

joelsfood

He said he had the offer on 11/2 and the other company just moved on to someone else 12/10. I think they were more than generous letting you sit on the offer that long without a definitive answer.

As was mentioned previously, you've got to jump. Hesitation is for the weak.

Danielm7

joelsfood wrote: »

He said he had the offer on 11/2 and the other company just moved on to someone else 12/10. I think they were more than generous letting you sit on the offer that long without a definitive answer.

If that is accurate it's an extraordinarily long time to leave an offer on the table. I wouldn't say you "lost it" at that point, you just didn't take it.

Mike-Mike

I am also interested in knowing timelines here.... and how did it go down?

New company gives you an official offer? you say let me think about it? then take it to current company and say match this? THen what did you say to the new company?

In my experience, official offers have an expiration, like 48 hours or something.

down77

Mike-Mike wrote: »

In my experience, official offers have an expiration, like 48 hours or something.

If a primary candidate is unable to make a decision in a reasonable amount of time, then it makes me question their ability to perform when faced with a more difficult situation. I generally give candidates 3-5 business days to consider the offer/counter and then I move on to the next. I have other candidates that I may lose if I give too much time in letting the primary make a decision.

Ideally if the position is a fit, and the salary is reasonable then it should make the decision process easier.

Just my 0.02

CodeBlox

Here's how it went. They sent an official offer letter on Nov 12 which had an expiration of Nov 30. The start date on the offer was for yesterday Dec 10. I signed and returned their offer the next day. I took my 2 weeks notice in to my current employer on Nov 23. They indicated that they "didn't want to lose me but also wanted to be able to feed me" and that I'm "one of the strongest people on their network team". They mentioned that there are several heavy hitter large projects (datacenter move, phone system upgrade) coming up in Q1 2016 that they weren't worried about because they had me and these things are right up my alley. They asked that I give them the time to come up with a means of retention which could take a few weeks. I agreed and went back to the prospective employer and told them I wouldn't be able to start on Dec 10 afterall and that I needed more time. They wanted me to discuss the reasons why with them but I was trying to give my current employer some time to get something in writing for me as far as a counter offer goes. Fast forward to the supposed start date, I had nothing from my current employer and told the prospective what was going on. They then got back with me and told me that they had made other arrangements because they assumed I took another offer (despite me telling them to give me more time). I supposed I can't blame them, the candidate before me sat on the offer and took a counter offer, wasting their time. I guess its sorta my fault. Now, I'm still at my current employer who has a letter of resignation turned in from me with no counter offer as of yet. I do trust my manager and director as far as coming up with something goes but it's indeed a risk I'm taking. My director advised that if he couldn't get it approved (have the position created and pay increase), he would find me another job (he knows people in the industry) that's better than where I would have been going and pays more. We will see!

cyberguypr

You must really really really trust your current management.

TacoRocket

cyberguypr wrote: »

You must really really really trust your current management.

That's a lot of trust.

I wouldn't even trust my job to uphold their end of the two week notice. I even like working there.

powerfool

I would make the move unless there were other considerations that made it less appealing. For me, my biggest considerations are pay, flexibility, and benefits (specifically, medical/life insurance and 401k matching/vesting). If the new job were not very flexible, I would personally have a tick against the move. And by flexibility, I pretty much work when/where I want so long as I make time for my customers (works whether it is internal/external customers) and I handle emergencies as they arise (they seldom do, because it is mostly within my control).

That being said, I have had several jobs where I felt I was being compensated well and I loved my job. I felt loyalty to the company and didn't want to let them down. However, you have to understand that in most situations, that would not be reciprocated if there was any contention. If they had little wiggle room, the burden would get pushed down. Also, you aren't likely to get a "reward" for remaining loyal at the expense of personal growth. Put in the time you think you should (if that is 2-3 years) and look onward if internal opportunities aren't present. Remember, these people aren't going to just offer up your life's dreams or personally take care of you in retirement. No need for ill-feelings, by any means, but you have to keep a watch out for yourself, first and foremost. Keep things amicable and maybe you have great references and an opportunity to come back if new opportunities arise.

EDIT: Ouch, I didn't see the update. Yeah, I have gone against my own advice in the past, but if you are going to take a job, stick to your guns. If the current employer wants some help, be willing to help, but don't say you will extend your dates. Being wishy washy gets you into situations like this. It is always tough because you need to ensure you aren't making a mistake one way or the other and you have to keep paying your bills, so I understand. I have had some encounters like this myself where I have had job offers pulled because I had exhibited signs of hesitation... sure I had them, but I also didn't say anything other than I was committed. Oh well. We live and we learn.

NetworkNewb

Ouch, yea... Kind of sounds like the new opportunity didn't really want you to take the extra time to start and you still took it anyways.

Helping out a previous company instead of doing what you can for a potential new and better job... can't say I blame them for going elsewhere either. Sounded like a great opportunity.

NetworkNewb

cyberguypr wrote: »

You must really really really trust your current management.

Especially after they couldn't come up with a counter offer a timely matter and pretty much got you screwed out of the new job oppurtunity.

CodeBlox

I do indeed trust them. I would just advise everyone to be cautious about ever considering counter offers. The folks in my shop met with me again this morning to provide a status update. They have to talk to several VPs and have had several meetings. The process is moving along slowly but if it doesn't work out, they will bring me back as an engineer through one of our vendors. They have already spoke with a few of our partners who said they would do this for us.

jeremywatts2005

You should have told your current employer they have 24 hours to get you something in writing or your leaving. I did this at my current employer. I was about to walk and they wanted to counter offer. They told me a week I said you got one day. I got my counter offer that night at 9 PM.

scaredoftests

So, are you out of a job? So sorry. That really sucks

Mike-Mike

yeah, are you out of your current job too? that part wasn't clear.

I know this sucks for you, but I'm glad you posted and appreciate your honesty.

I will be in a similar situation soon, and I wont' be trusting a future offer

scaredoftests

Mike-Mike wrote: »

yeah, are you out of your current job too? that part wasn't clear.

I know this sucks for you, but I'm glad you posted and appreciate your honesty.

I will be in a similar situation soon, and I wont' be trusting a future offer

Trust it, but verify.

CodeBlox

Not out of a job. My last day here was supposed to be 2 days ago. They haven't made me leave since I agreed to let them come up with a counter offer and if not a counter offer, a job thats better than and pays more than the prospective job that passed me up.

Dakinggamer87

Keep us posted

scaredoftests

I hope so.

Mike-Mike

yeah, I hope it works out for you, but I can't imagine a situation where an employer would find you a job with another company

CodeBlox

Update to this thread:

I finally got the pay raise which should be showing up in a couple of weeks. Took several months... I am happy but probably would never entertain counteroffers in the future.

Dakinggamer87

Glad it worked out for you!!

dcarey4698

Reading this from front to back had me sweating for you, LOL. Glad you got that raise!