Career change tips : major decisions HELP

My sister in law has a major decision to make and I don't know how to help her. She currently works for a company that she has been with for five years. Her boss is a micromanager

. She could possibly be up for a promotion to a Senior title in July of 2008. Her current company has recently had some issues with the FBI. She is worried about stability with her current company. She makes good money but b/c she is worried she decided to post her resume. She interviewed with another very small company and they offered her the position. The new company offered her 8.5% more than what she makes now and her own office (not a big deal). She has two problems that I could not help her with: 1) How to counter with the new company for at least 10-12% more thanh what she currently makes 2) (her boss now is a micromanager) she wants to see if her current company will match or beat the offer without causing problems at her current job if she stays...any advice would help

It's great that your sister-in-law found a new position with little muss and fuss. An 8.5% increase is nothing to sneeze at and she really shouldn't make a big deal out of it trying to have it lifted to 10%.

With her boss being as much of a micromanager as he appears to be, discussing the negotiating the move in order to stay on with better conditions is not going to be a possibility. Micromanagers don't like their authority challenged and your relative trying to negotiate is doing just that; challenging his authority.

So, my opinion is to take the office, 8.5% raise in pay, increase in stability without FBI intervention and make it work.

Here's the thing. Anytime you try to counter an offer you run at least a 50% risk of losing it. If you're in a strong position, that's a good risk. It does not sound like a good risk for your SIL. Even if she's making $100K a year, the difference between 8.5% and 10% is only $1000 after taxes. That's .48 cents an hour assuming she's making that huge amount of money. Is it worth risking this job for 48 cents? If her boss makes her miserable and her company may go under?

Secondly, more money is not going to fix her problems with her boss. A few cents more an hour does not make him less of a micromanager, and his maybe promotion 6 months from now is much too vague to hang her hat on (assuming the company is even around by then). It would be a VERY bad move for her to try to get them to match. Even if everything with the boss works out, chances are they'd promise her whatever and then go out and find her replacement and put her out on their own timeline instead of hers. 99% of those situations do not work out to the benefit of the employee.

I know it is always safer to stay in the known (even when the known sucks) than to venture out to something else. In a case like this however, odds are good that if she takes what's on the table and makes the move, she'll ultimately be much better off.

Tess

Career Tips

major decisions HELP