Use job offer as leverage with current employer?

Little history first - currently employed on helpdesk and due to move to the networks team at current employer in 9 weeks time. Ive been offered a role with another company starting immediately(after notice period of course)

Current employer wont let me move to new role before 9 weeks as they state i havent been employed by them long enough to move internally yet, hence waiting 9 weeks and that time period would have passed.

Whats the likelyhood of me being able to use this new job offer as leverage to try and get my internal move brought forward? Any point in putting it to my employer, and if so, how would you go about bringing it up?

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Comments

Danielm7

I wouldn't do it. How long have you been with the current company, and is it your first IT job? 9 weeks isn't a really long time.

Now, if the new company offers you better commute, more pay, work that is in line with your goals, etc, then it's a different story. But if you're doing all this because you don't want to wait two months for an internal promotion I think you'd be making yourself a known target in your current company trying to strong arm an internal transfer out of impatience.

Welly_59

External offer is immediate payrise, internal role will be the same pay rise but I wouldn't get it until august. Much better commute 15minutes compared to 45 minutes each way at present. The internal role is in the field I want to move into, whereas the external offer isn't but does have a lot of promise.

networker050184

It's nine weeks. Why not just save yourself the trouble and wait it out? Thats nothing....

scaredoftests

Don't do it.

brewboy

How long have you been at this job?

Sounds like you have a sure thing staying put while taking the new job you will make a lateral move and there are no guarantees to moving up. Getting into the field you want is a huge plus. I would hang tight for nine weeks though and not try to leverage this new offer to move up the date

revbox

Your career is not like poker. Do not bluff unless you are actually prepared to call.

Why would you want to do this? Just to try to expedite the nine weeks? Why is that important? If the new job offer is more money and something you want to do, then take it. If it is not and is just some sort of lateral move, I would not risk it. Your current employer has a policy that they seem not to make exceptions for. Perhaps they want to see if you are patient enough to "wait your turn". Seeing other offers is fine, especially if you want a new role or better compensation. Using it as a card simply to see if they will cave on policy is probably not the best move.

powerfool

I would consider a change from a 45 minutes commute to a 15 minutes commute rather valuable... that is an hour round trip, daily, nearing 250 hours per year, depending on time off... over 10% of a traditional 40 hour work week. Plus, it is more money. Those aspects seem significantly better. I wouldn't ignore the other forms of compensation, especially PTO and 401k matching contributions and vesting schedule (I prefer a shorter vesting schedule to more match, within reason). Plus, there is the boss factor, do you like the boss or not at either place (still very early to tell)... I assign a monetary value to that... like a horrible boss means I need a lot more money (like $12k/year more... $1k for every month of dealing with it).

And I would echo sentiment of don't even try to use an offer to get them to move. If I had a new employee try that, I would just tell them to take a hike and maybe even just let them go. You haven't even been there for 9 weeks and you try that? Why would they want to deal whatever they imagine you will try after a year, two years, three years, etc?

mgeoffriau

Any time I'm feeling a bit stuck and am tempted to do something risky to push things along, I try to stop and approach it from the other direction.

What if, instead of approaching your boss and trying to force or negotiate things, you went to him and said this:

"I understand why I can't formally change positions until August, but I wanted to see if you could give me advice on what I could do in the meantime to best prepare myself for that change and make myself valuable to the company? Are there any particular needs on the Network Team that I could be studying or working on, or anything I can do to make sure the Help Desk is in good shape before I change roles?"

What you're trying to do is communicate that your ultimate goal isn't just to have a spiffy new title and a raise, but that you want to grow and be a valuable (and valued) employee. It doesn't always result in immediate changes or benefits, but it's something that has worked well for me.

DatabaseHead

External offer is immediate payrise, internal role will be the same pay rise but I wouldn't get it until august. Much better commute 15minutes compared to 45 minutes each way at present. The internal role is in the field I want to move into, whereas the external offer isn't but does have a lot of promise.

This says enough for me.

@OP I recently went through something like this, (like 2 days ago) and the good members of the board gave me a good pinch. All people get tempted from time and time and the fact you are chomping at the bit is a good thing. I would use the 9 weeks to decompress do a little as possible and get prepped for your new position, if that is possible.

Grats!

Welly_59

Ok all, I hear you!!
I am very keen to move into the new internal role as you can probably guess. The main issue I have with the move being delayed is the extra time it will take for pay rise to kick in - it kicks in 6 months after the move so total wait would be over 8 months. Whereas the external role would be an immediate raise

Legacy User

I wouldn't do it

If you wait 9 weeks you will go into a role you want versus going to a new role that has more pay not doing what you want but "promise".

I say wait the 9 weeks and go into the role you want and get the experience you need. After a year of getting as much experience as you can start looking for a bigger paying job but I'm sure if its a real network role depending on the environment you will learn so much that it would take you a bit over a year to learn the network infrastructure, every caveat, how to manage projects, etc.

Welly_59

another caveat of the network role with current employer which i need to consider is that the role requires security clearance. I'd hate to turn down the external role only to find out my clearance gets denied and i'm left with staying in my current role

p@r0tuXus

Hi Welly!

I'm sure your initial post had a lot of thought put into it, obviously you're wrestling with this decision. The more information you can put into your original post will get you the best results with thorough and thoughtful discussion. I think every person needs to figure these sort of things out for themselves based on what they think is likely to happen and what they can handle.

That being said:

You mentioned it's not likely to see that pay-raise for 8 months. If it's substantial that could help out enormously. Also, if that raise only comes after being in the position for 6 months, there's opportunity for the employer to reneg. based on your performance. I understand wanting to work in the role you desire and that 6 months would be useful for you if you wanted to try to better-deal your present employer with other offers for the same job later on down the road (within 6-months time?). Truly, in the end, I wouldn't worry about the 9 weeks so much as the 6 months of pay difference. That means someone is willing to pay you what you're worth to do the job you're doing and not the job you want to be doing until you've proven you have been doing it for 6 months. If anything, I think the offer would be worth using to expedite the raise situation at your current employer. You don't have to mention it's for the same job you're all ready doing unless pressed, but ultimately up to you (as I understand ethics can be subjective for some people).

Welly_59

the payrise is in the region of 25% so its quite substantial tbh. In 8 months time i would be on the same wage in either job but its still quite a large sum to be missing out on over the space of 7-8 months. Saying that though the annual pay rise with current employer in new role is in the region of 7% whereas external role is around 3% so the potential for earnings growth, without promotions/role changes, is much greater in current employment.

It really isnt about the money right now though, although it is nice, its about trying to find the right choice to get me to where i want to be. It really is a difficult decision. If my current employer would let me change roles in a few weeks instead of 2 months then i wouldnt be contemplating the move

TheFORCE

2 months is nothing, they already accepted you in the internal role, why throw that away?

p@r0tuXus

A higher earning potential and a position you enjoy sound like reasons to stay at current employer, even if commute and a 8 month wait for that money and a 2 month wait for the position can be deterring. Since the position and duties are what you want (no doubt the experience too), and you can stomach not having that extra capital for now... I'd say just stay. If your employer dicks you over or you don't pass the clearance examination then follow up with the other job since it has potential and more pay, plus, a 15 minute commute is awesome. When I started my NOC job 3+ years ago I drove an hour and 15 one way for only $15/hr. It paid off pretty soon after. Promotion in a month and salaried with double pay after a year and a half.

Welly_59

Update for all. Clearance has come through so I'm gonna stick and go for the internal