After the Offer Series
A counteroffer rarely fixes what made you look.
Ask one question before you answer: does this counteroffer change the specific thing that made you take the call, or does it only change the number?
If it only changes the number, you are being retained rather than developed. The original reason you started looking is still there. If you later decide to leave, you may face the same choice again, having already turned down a real opportunity and changed how both employers see you.
That does not mean every counteroffer is wrong. Sometimes the problem really is fixable. A documented, time-bound change in scope, ownership, development, or working conditions can make staying the right decision. But reassurance is not a plan, and more money is not automatically a different job.
The test is simple: does the offer change the work, or only the pay?
Before you respond
A counteroffer can make leaving feel more difficult because it arrives with attention, validation, and a larger number. Before you decide that staying is the safer choice, step back from the moment and return to the reason you were prepared to leave.
Ask yourself: if this offer had arrived six months ago, before you started interviewing, accepted another role, or faced the pressure of a resignation conversation, would it have been enough to make you stay? If the answer is no, a higher salary may be changing the emotion of the decision without changing the job itself.
Download: Stay or Go Evaluation for Energy and Commodities Professionals
A practical worksheet to compare what made you consider leaving, what the counteroffer changes, and what your next opportunity offers.
Does it change the job or only the pay?
A counteroffer is worth considering only when it changes the conditions that made you look elsewhere. Use the comparison below to separate a pay response from a credible change in the role.
If the offer resembles the left-hand column, it is likely asking you to stay in the same job for more money. If it resembles the right-hand column, you have a clearer basis for considering whether staying solves the original problem.
| Signs it is primarily a pay response | Signs it is a credible change in the role |
| Higher base pay | Defined new responsibilities |
| Title without authority | Change in functional ownership |
| Retention bonus with a clawback | Named, accountable sponsor |
| “We are working on it” | Written date and review point |
The right-hand column does not guarantee that staying will be the better decision. It gives you something more substantial to assess than a number.
A real counteroffer changes the work in a way you can verify. If your frustration was a stalled system project, a real offer may fund the work, name you as the business lead, and give the project a start date. If you wanted broader commercial exposure, it may put you on a product assignment or give you defined time on the trading-desk. If you wanted more operational ownership, it may move a gas scheduling book into your remit, with a named desk head and a clear handover plan.
The practical test is whether you can write the counteroffer down as a sentence with a date in it.
“Base moves to X” is more money.
“You take responsibility for the gas scheduling book on November 1, report into the desk head for that work, and review the title and scope after six months” is a change you can hold someone to.
Get it in writing. Verbal commitments made during a retention conversation can fade quickly, especially when priorities shift or the manager who made them moves on. That is not cynicism. It is how organizations work under pressure and turnover.
The five-question counteroffer test
Answer these five questions on paper, not in your head.
- What is the one specific reason I started looking?
- Does this offer change that reason, or only my pay?
- What exactly will change in my scope, responsibilities, desk, project ownership, or development?
- Who is accountable for making that change happen?
- What is the written date by which I will know whether it happened?
Writing the answers forces a useful separation between what you were promised, what someone hopes will happen, and what is actually committed. If questions 3 through 5 do not have clear answers, you have reassurance, not a plan.
Use the Stay or Go Evaluation alongside this test. The five questions assess the employer’s offer. The evaluation asks you to compare that offer with what you were trying to change and with the opportunity you were prepared to take.
Why the counteroffer is coming
In a specialist role, a counteroffer is common because replacing you can cost far more than your salary suggests. Your employer is weighing the cost of running short-handed while they search, the ramp time for whoever they hire, and the risk of losing knowledge that exists mainly in your head.
That may be about protecting a trading desk, keeping a process stable, avoiding disruption during month-end, or preventing a delayed project from losing the person who understands the business requirements.
The offer can be genuine. The motive can still be operational. Neither fact tells you whether staying is right for you.
If you stay: make the change real
Treat a decision to stay as a new arrangement, not a return to normal. Confirm what will change, who owns it, and when you will review progress.
- Send your manager a concise written recap of the agreed scope, project, development opportunity, or working-condition change.
- Set a personal review date. Ninety days is a useful starting point; six months may be more realistic for a scope or title change tied to a project or organizational cycle.
- Look for evidence early. Has the project been approved? Has the new assignment begun? Has the desk actually transferred the responsibility that was promised?
- Pay attention to how the working relationship changes. You signaled that you were prepared to leave, and your manager may plan around you differently afterward. Watch what happens.
If the agreed change has not become visible by the review date, you have useful evidence for your next decision.
If you accept the counteroffer: how to withdraw professionally
If you decide to stay after accepting another offer, close the loop with the hiring firm and recruiter as quickly as possible. They may have paused other candidates, held a vacancy open, or begun preparing for your onboarding.
In specialist corners of energy and commodities, career moves are rarely anonymous. Hiring managers, recruiters, former colleagues, and counterparties move between firms, desks, and projects. The firm you turn down after accepting an offer will remember the change of course. The recruiter who put time into the process will remember it too.
That does not mean a late change will define your professional reputation forever. It does mean the way you handle it matters. Be direct, thank them for the opportunity, and explain that you have decided to remain with your current employer. You do not need to share the details of the counteroffer.
If the counteroffer is larger than the offer you accepted
That number is real information about your market value, and it belonged in the negotiation with your new employer while both sides still expected terms to move. Going back afterward converts a settled agreement into a live negotiation and puts a relationship you have not yet started at risk. Treat it as a lesson for the next negotiation.
If you have not yet accepted, resolve the number now, while it is still a negotiation.
Once you have decided to stay, communicate the change promptly and conclusively. Do not leave the external firm or recruiter waiting while you continue to negotiate.
If you decide to leave: protect your relationships
If you decide to leave, the goal is to make a professional exit. State your decision, confirm your last day, and focus on a useful handover. Do not frame your resignation as a negotiation unless you are genuinely prepared to stay if the job changes in a specific and meaningful way.
How you leave becomes part of your professional reputation, particularly in a close-knit industry. Teams are interconnected, and people move between firms, desks, and projects over time.
Protect those relationships by leaving the work in a usable state. Document recurring responsibilities, timing-sensitive tasks, key contacts, open issues, and the context behind any manual workaround or exception that a successor will need to understand. For a scheduler, that may mean nomination timing and counterparty contacts. For an ETRM, risk, or trading-support professional, it may mean report dependencies, reconciliations, system access, and the points where a spreadsheet bridges a process the platform does not fully handle.
You do not need to make the departure painless for everyone. You do need to make it clear, respectful, and professionally complete.
Resignation letter wording
Dear [Manager],
Please accept this letter as formal notice of my resignation from my role as [Job Title]. My final working day will be [Date].
This was a considered decision to pursue the next step in my career. I am grateful for the opportunities and support I have received here, and I will do everything I can during my notice period to document my work and support a smooth handover.
Sincerely,
[Name]
Use clear, professional language that signals your decision is made without turning the letter into an argument. Describing it as a “considered decision” communicates that you have weighed the move carefully. If a counteroffer follows, saying the decision is “final” gives your manager a respectful boundary. Use that language when you have already decided to leave and want the conversation to stay focused on a proper handover rather than a negotiation.
If a counteroffer follows
Thank them, be direct, and do not turn the conversation into a long negotiation if your decision is made.
“I appreciate the offer and the confidence behind it. I have given this careful thought, and my decision to leave is final. I want to focus on making the handover as useful as possible.”
If pressed, repeat the decision rather than adding new reasons that invite another round of negotiation. You do not need to name your new employer, disclose compensation, or persuade anyone that your decision is correct.
Do not decide in the moment
If you are weighing a counteroffer, write the comparison down before you respond. The Stay or Go Evaluation helps you assess what has changed, what remains unresolved, and which path better fits the priorities that made you consider leaving.
Frequently asked questions
Can a counteroffer ever be worth accepting?
Yes. A counteroffer can be worth accepting when it changes the work in a meaningful way: defined scope, a real project or product assignment, accountable sponsorship, and a written timeline. More money may be part of a legitimate offer, but it should not be the only change if pay was not the reason you started looking.
The counteroffer is higher than my new offer. Can I go back and ask for more?
Generally, no. Once you have accepted a new position, the terms are settled, and reopening them signals that your commitment depends on the next number rather than on the role. The narrow exception is when the employer changes the deal after you accepted, such as a shift in scope, reporting line, location, or start date. Then you are responding to a change they made. If the counteroffer only tells you that you priced yourself low, hold to what you agreed and carry the lesson into your next negotiation.
Is it bad to accept a counteroffer after you have already signed elsewhere?
It can carry a relationship cost, particularly in specialist and relationship-driven markets. The prospective employer and recruiter will need to re-plan, and they may remember the late change. That does not make staying automatically wrong, but it makes prompt, clear communication essential. If you are seriously considering staying, have that conversation before signing elsewhere whenever possible.
How do you decline a counteroffer professionally?
Thank your employer for the offer, state that your decision is final, confirm your final working day, and focus on the handover. Keep the explanation brief. Avoid turning the conversation into a negotiation if you have already decided to leave.
Continue the series
After the Offer: What to Do Once You’ve Accepted a Job in Energy and Commodities
The broader guide to leaving well, preparing before day one, and navigating the first months in a new role.
First 90 Day Checklist for ETRM & Trading Professionals
A structured checklist for learning the desk’s operating rhythm, building credibility, and becoming productive without rushing to change what you do not yet understand.
Get the First 90 Day Checklist for ETRM & Trading Professionals
Technical Professionals Checklist
Use this resource to evaluate the systems, processes, stakeholders, and technical expectations that will shape the role you are considering.
Get the First 90 Day Checklist for Technical Professionals
Stay or Go Evaluation
