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Comment by redwards510 | Hacker News Reader

> They still wouldn't budge, so I got a counteroffer for $30k more than I was making,

Getting a counteroffer is not the same as what the OP is suggesting. Using another job offer as a leverage for a raise is not recommended by most experts. Just google "Should i accept a counteroffer?". Mainly because you create bad blood at your current employer and you have to be ready to follow through on your threat. Also, that employer you just pushed right to the edge of hiring you is going to be mad you were just using them. There are entire top 10 lists about why it is a bad idea!

I have pleaded the entire "it would cost you thousands to train a new guy, and you will have to pay him to start what i'm asking for right now!" line to bosses before. They are unmoved by financial arguments. It's as if management just decided to take a hard line against "persuasive" raises across the board, nevermind the damage it costs to lose talent.

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Of the top five results Google gives me, all are by recruitment agencies who have a strong incentive not to loose candidates and their commission.

The notion that accepting counteroffers is always hurtful to your career is contested to say the least: See this [1] HN discussion from about a month ago.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12624112

When considering this tactic, ask yourself one question: "Do I work for psycopaths, or for (relatively) rational human beings?" If rational, go ahead and let them know the market rate of your labor by showing a competing offer, knowing full well that you're ready to take it and move on. It's only business. If you work for psychopaths, just take the offer and leave because fuck that shit.

I feel like any company large enough to have a significant HR department won't count as a "rational human being". They'll probably fall into the "psychopath" category by virtue of dispassionately and emotionlessly assessing how much of a liability you are to them if you're willing to demand they make counter-offers.

In a large HR department, chances are you're dealing with somebody for whom you're just a number instead of somebody has a personal grudge.

Nothing personal, just business is the attitude you want when handling something as trivial as a salary negotiation.

Being a psychopath isn't about holding a grudge, it's about acting in pure self-interest with no regard for the effect on others. So psychopathy is a good way to describe an HR dept that does its intended job.

Exactly - given the prevalence of "psychopath" in common conversation as violent, unreasonable etc., perhaps I should have specified further or instead used "sociopath".

That is not what psychopath means. Maybe you are confusing with sociopath?

As far as I know, the two are synonymous or nearly so.

Just as a head up, most of the people who write answers to "Should I accept a counteroffer?" are recruiters who next mortgage payment is contingent on you not accepting the counteroffer.

I've read that, are you sure it's not a scare tactic by recruiters?

Why would there be bad blood if you decide to stay?

If you can bring in more than you make they will pay - management doesn't care about another 10k. They know what the replacement cost is.

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