I have Job A at My Company. I want Job B. I’m qualified for it, and it’s a completely lateral move, just with better hours. I’ve applied for Job B several times, and keep getting rejected, because My Company wants to keep me in Job A. Meanwhile, they can’t seem to fill Job B.
I’m /probably/ going to be offered Job C at Another Company. What a coworker has suggested is that I tell my boss, “look, I’d love to stay here but Job C has offered me the job at better hours. If we can discuss Job B I’ll gladly stay. Otherwise here’s my two week notice.”
Somehow I feel like all this is going to do is get me shown the door. Is this a thing in the modern US employment landscape?
I would wait until you actually have the offer from Job C but other than that it seems pretty standard to me. The time when you ask for the stuff you want is when you have leverage. A competing offer is great leverage. But you have to be prepared to walk.
I think I’d soften it a bit. “As much as I love it here, I’ve been frustrated by not really getting any opportunities to advance. Would you consider me for X position or is it better for me to move on?”
Note: I am a woman. It’s good practice for me to soften everything I say. I’m not sure if your way would be better received from a man.
A lot of this depends on the employer. If you go on reddit, there are lots of stories about employers finding out about job offers like that, making the employee a counter-offer, but then it turns out they just wanted time to find a replacement, the employee ends up fired anyways, and the new job is long gone by then.
But counterexamples do exist. My own brother was offered a few new jobs by other companies, and his bosses offered him raises to stay. And he’s still there years later. So, who knows? How well do you think you know your boss, and their boss?
It all depends on your boss. It could be a mistake to assume she will fold when given an ultimatum. If someone did that to me, I would have to decide whether I still wanted them around.
For sure don’t bluff. Many employers consider “I’d like [whatever] from you or else I’ll walk” to be proof of your unchangeable disloyalty. Which they will punish. Not all employers think this way. But many resent the idea you are anything but a slave; anyone showing some backbone is not good from their POV.
Only you can answer whether you think your employer is a jerk. That assessment applies to your immediate boss, her immediate boss, the supervisor of your desired new job B there, and the overall tone of management.
I’ve known several people who have tried this during my career. It has always resulted in “we hate to see you go,” and not getting the desired title/raise/position with the current employer.
It’s appropriate but get ready to leave if you’re turned down. Once of my co-workers did that and got a raise and then a year later pulled that stunt again with a new offer from the same competitor. They didn’t tell him, “sorry, we aren’t changing your salary”, they immediately walked him out the door. He was bluffing. He actually did get the offer but he had no intention of moving 300 miles away. His wife and children were inconsolable.
I employ a lot of people, have for many years now. If you come to me in a 1:1 and say “Hey, I think I’m ready for more responsibility/money/better hours/whatever,” I can help build a plan to get there. But if you come to me and say “I have a better offer, what can you do?” even if you have a specific, open role in mind, I’m likely to just congratulate you and send you on your way.
I’m usually not sitting on unspent budget for raises, and if there is an open role, I’ve probably already thought about all the folks I already have for it. It’s very rare that in that moment, I’ll have the ability to make the change inside the decision window for the other role.
And yeah, I’ve worked places where folks up the food chain from me would view this as demonstrated disloyalty and attrition risk and you’d end up with a target on your back even if we do find a way in the short term to make it work.
Only you know your particular work situation. The last time I was looking for a job, I trusted my boss and his boss, so I was upfront about an offer coming my way. It worked out – he helped find me a much better job in house.
You have to be willing to take the other job, and know your management chain enough to be sure they won’t agree to a raise and then fire you in six months, after you’ve passed on the other offer.
And note, sometimes the company someone is employed by has been known to contact the offer company and torpedo the offer, so do NOT mention that name of the offer company and get the offer in at least a email.
I’ve done it before. As mentioned above, be prepared to walk.
At a then current company, which had not given any raises to anybody the previous 3 years, they only offered a salary match to the offer from the other company and a token title change that wouldn’t have changed any job responsibilities. So I gave notice.
I’ll note they were surprised I had considered leaving, as they had been eyeing me for an eventual move up to management and thought that would be sufficient inducement not even to look elsewhere. But a non-written offer of potential promotion some years down the line is worth the paper it is written on, much less the lack of income, exacerbated by inflationary losses, the next several years.
I’ve seen other cases go others ways, too, there and at other companies. Some stayed after getting better counter-offers, some not get any counter-offers, some leave despite getting counter-offers, etc. YMMV in a big way
Agree with most of the above. Tying the “I’d like a promotion” to “or I’ll walk” isn’t likely to get you what you want. Have a discussion with your boss that you’d like a new role and if you’re not happy with the result of that, then find a new job & just give your notice.
It’s not to get you want you want in your current company, I’ve never seen it work. I had a boss who said that any time someone offers you an ultimatum, just end it; in personal and professional relationships. I kind of agree with him.