so i've been at my new job for 3 weeks now and so far so good. the commute is easier than i expected and i feel like i'm acclimating well to the people and the environment. it's not perfect, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.
meanwhile, i've been doing some work for my old company to help them while they find my replacement. i was in the office last friday for a few hours when i was approached by my old manager. she expressed difficulty in finding a suitable replacement and asked how much extra it would take to keep me there. WHA? she threw out the number $20k and asked if that would be enough to change my mind and to let her know by monday or the next 5 minutes. i told her i couldn't make that decision on my own and would have to let her know on monday.
so i left feeling pretty ecstatic! sure there were non-monetary reasons why i left but an extra 20k!? that's hard to pass up. i told my patrick about the offer, told my family, and he told his family. all weekend i thought crap what am i gonna do?
and when i finally got home from our camping trip this weekend, i researched how to accept a counter-offer when low and behold all the career advice i found pointed to DON'T ACCEPT COUNTER OFFERS! they warned that they are mainly stalling techniques used by employers to buy them time to find less expensive replacements when they are good and ready to let you go. and once your loyalty is in question, it's very hard to gain favor if you go back. i read a statistic: 80% of those who accept a counter offer are usually not with the company in 6 months. regardless of whether that exact number is true, i hadn't even THOUGHT of the possibility that their "generous" offer had more to do with them and less to do with me. silly and naive of me, eh? and not one person in my family or patrick's family thought that either.
so i'm prepared to reject the offer. but it's been a gut wrenching weekend. to have to wrestle with the pros and cons AGAIN of each job, to day dreaming about what all that extra money could do for us, to having those dreams disappear in a poof! has been very emotionally draining. it's like an ex-boyfriend toying with you after you've broken up with him.
i seriously, seriously need a vacation.
