According to a new report by the Conference Board, a New York-based nonprofit research group, roughly half of employed Americans are unhappy at their current job. When you consider how difficult it is for most people to find their true passion, this statistic isn’t hard to believe. Many of the individuals that feel trapped doing a job that they don’t enjoy have reached out to their supervisor to see what they can do to fix the issues they’re having. For example those that are bored with their day to day tasks should have already spoken with their manager about taking on more challenging projects. Or for the employees who feel they’re underpaid, they should have had a conversation with their boss about a raise. If you’ve identified the issues you’re having in your current job and have worked to resolve them, and nothing has come from it, it should be a strong indication that it’s time to look for a new job. 

So you’ve done your research, applied for a job with a company that you believe better matches both your career goals and aspirations, and you’ve been offered a position. It’s now time to give your current employer your two weeks notice. When you go to have the discussion with your supervisor instead of accepting your resignation, they offer you a raise. What do you say?

Many people don’t believe that this would ever happen to them and therefore go in unprepared to respond to this offer. Let us give you a tip, the answer should always be “No, thank you.” Some will question themselves and think they’re being offered this raise because they’ve somehow become more valuable to the company. But if the problem isn’t money and instead it’s quality of life or enjoyment of the job, will those things change just because you’re being paid more? Forbes mentions in an article that in many cases, “the counter offer is to avoid them having to deal with work disruption that your departure could create.”

What does this mean? Stand by your decision to pursue a career that will improve your quality of life, because that’s what you deserve. We are constantly telling our candidates that if you did the research and took the time to address the issues, a raise isn’t going to make you happy longterm. A job isn’t a job if you enjoy what you’re doing and that’s what we work hard to instill in our candidates. As a company it’s our mission to pair our candidates with clients who we feel will allow them to grow both professionally, and personally.

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