When you receive a new offer for a job, your present employer may try to entice you to stay with a job counter offer. They may offer you more money or a better benefits package. Maybe they will offer you a better schedule or more time off. Whatever the offer is, it is up to you to decide whether to take them up on the offer or not. Keep in mind that there are many valid points and reasons why you would not want to accept a counter offer. After all, you already have a better job offer. If you choose to consider the counter offer at all, make sure you consider the following points:

It is expensive to hire a new employee, and employers will do all they can to keep the employees they have. This means that you have a lot of negotiating power to work with. It is less expensive to entice you to stay than it is to find, hire and train a replacement. You’re already trained and you already have in-depth knowledge of the projects you are working on. It will take a lot of time to get a new employee up to speed on all that you’re working on. If you give your present employer an opportunity to present you with a job counter offer, you could end up getting a very sweet offer.

But do you want it? If you’re in the job market, there are obviously very good reasons why your current job is not working for you. More money may not be able to solve all of the issues that you are up against. Many counter offers are made based on raises and promotions that the company had already planned on giving you. You might, in fact, only be getting your raise early with nothing more planned to come later.

A counter offer is not a guarantee of employment. Statistics show that 80% of people who take counter offers are out of a job within a year. Some are fired because employers feel that they are disloyal and that they will continue looking for another job. Many quit because whatever it was that made them look for another job is still an issue.

Before you discuss the possibility of a job counter offer with your present employer, you need to be 100% sure that you are prepared to leave your current position. Your employer might ask that you leave right away due to the fact that you have been seeking employment elsewhere. For this reason, you should be 100% sure that you are ready to leave your current position before you broach the subject of a counter offer.