"Counter Offers: Four Scenarios Recruiters See Every Day"

A practical look at why counter offers become complicated for candidates, employers and recruiters.

Counter offers are rarely simple.

From the outside, it can look like a candidate either stayed or left. But in recruitment, there are usually several moving parts underneath the final decision.

Scenario One: The Candidate Accepts The Counter Offer

Sometimes the candidate accepts the counter offer because comfort, loyalty, money and fear of change all arrive at the same time.

That does not automatically make them wrong. But they do need to remember why they started looking in the first place.

Scenario Two: The Employer Feels Let Down

The potential employer may feel frustrated because they invested time, liked the candidate and believed the offer was close enough.

But close enough is not always enough when a candidate is making a major life decision.

Scenario Three: Salary Flexibility Was Missing

Sometimes a business really likes a candidate but becomes too rigid at the final stage.

If the candidate is genuinely strong, a small amount of flexibility can sometimes save the business far more in time, delay and lost opportunity.

Scenario Four: Recruiter Candidate Care

Sometimes recruiters also need to look in the mirror.

After 15 years in recruitment, candidate care still has no single definition. Some candidates need less attention. Some need more. The recruiter has to adapt to the situation.

The Bottom Line

Counter offers are emotional because career change is emotional.

The best way to handle them is not to blame one party too quickly, but to understand what each party was trying to protect.

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