Oooh help me! Resigned and now employer is fighting to keep me?

Question

Right then. Back again with more work/career related drama. Please help, kind, insightful answerers...

For the last 7 months I have worked in a sales support/office admin role for an IT for a small company. Directors are lovely, hours good and location great but v boring and very average salary (16K). Some telesales involved (yuck!!). I work entirely alone, and live alone too so I am very isolated.

Offered another job by large local (real) estate agents. Role includes office admin and sales admin, meeting and greeting vendors and sellers and database management. Much less responsiblitly but more money (20K) and work in lively busy office.

Current employer (IT company) accepted my resignation last week but now say they want to match the money (20K +), employ another member of staff to share my workload and keep me company, change role to suit me better and move to a nicer office.
I am SO confused. What would you do?

Answer 1

i would go with the bigger company, they probably have better insurance and a good retirement plan. PLUS you would not be isolated, good luck withyour decision, i hope you make the right one for you.

Answer 2

I am in a really similar situation at the moment in the sense that i work alone in an office full of very unfriendly men (i think they dont like having a young woman in their office!) I have been offered a place at another company and am thinking about taking it just so i work alongside some other people (fingers crossed my own age etc) but will need to take a pay cut (due to travelling costs) and a massive increase in my commute.

I think working environment is really important - being stuck on your own is no fun also what if the new person they hire is horrible and you dont get on!!

I say go for the new job - new challenges and they may have career progression within if they are a big company!! I would go for the new one because thats what im doing!! Go for it and good luck!!

Answer 3

This situation is tricky. You should quit this job and take the new offer. You said your current job is VERY boring and yuck to telesales (100% with you on that one!). The new job offers LESS responsibility, more $$$$$, and a LIVELY environment. With these perks alone, that's enough for you to say ACCEPT new job & bye-bye to old!

If you're still not convinced, sure, at your current job, the people are lovely, but it's still the same BORING environment, even if you stay and get the higher wage. Remember, sound business sense is to NEVER (except on some very RARE occassions) be bought by your current employer to stay for higher pay. Once you accept, like others have commented, who knows if they will keep their promise, and it will always be in their head that I was able to buy you into staying. Not good!

Go for the new job! It sounds like what you have been waiting for!

Answer 4

I suppose the crux is which job do you feel would give you most satisfaction!
Is the estate agency work definitely £20K. Is any of this sales related?
It must drive you round the twist working on your own all the time - is employing one more person going to make a difference? What if you don't get on? When is this going to happen? It all seems a little bit 'pie in the sky' to me/
Can't really tell you what to do. I agree with the first answerer though - if you do decide to stay - get the pay rise in writing first! It is nice to get a pay rise - although a part of me would feel a bit aggrieved that they've actually been under-paying me £4K a year for the last 7 months. (Promises about recruiting more staff and new offices are easily broken - they won't put that in writing, and even if they did, it would be easy to duck out of on financial grounds).

Answer 5

Before you tendered your resignation you should have told them the truth and that you were unhappy. Then maybe they would have come up with this offer to begin with. Since you're pretty much halfway out the door already you should tell them that you appreciate the offer, but are already committed to the new position [which you are] and that you would really like to keep the lines of communication open, etc etc. Perhaps in the future if a higher level position comes along they would still consider taking you back into the company, or if you're moving somewhere else they would be willing to give you a reference.

All that of course, is contingent upon how badly you REALLY want to leave. If they're willing to fight to keep you, then maybe your resignation was an eye-opener that they need to treat their employees better, or they walk.

Good luck, follow your gut feeling - it usualy serves you right.

Answer 6

If that was me I would stay with my current employer and reap all the benefits unless you hated the job. who's to say that you'll like the new job any better. Also with your nice pay rise you can afford to go out more often and meet new people that way. Good luck whatever you decide to do.
Seri. x

Answer 7

Being loved is worth a lot. If the job is still going to bore you rigid, then leave. But otherwise they are showing they really value you. Bear in mind, it will likely take you 1.5-2 years to be as appreciated in the new job, and the quality of the people you work with is very important, after all we spend half our life with them!
Good luck.

Answer 8

I think you should quit your present job. What is the guarantee that the present employer would keep their word after your having declined the offer by new prospective employer. It is in your own interest to move out to new environment, where you find working conditions satisfactorily.

Answer 9

go with your heart. Your job with the new employer sounds just want ou need. however leave on the good side of your old employer, as you never know what is around the corner

Answer 10

i´d stick to old job.new is not necessarily more exciting.but do have them sign the raise NOW .no a we will see thing !!!
tons of good luck.
as for being isolated ,go to a gym,a coffee -bookstore to meet people,join a class of...something u enjoy...maybe join a cyber group.i just got invited to have pizza on friday by a group of italians(unfortunately they thought i was in rome like the rest of them!)someone posted a question: what kind of pizza would you like to have? i´m, buying?!.got so many answers that it is now an open invitation for those of us who answered-but we each will pay!
good luck