Should I Accept a Counter-Offer? A PR Recruiter's Honest View
“I've handed my notice in and they've come back with more money. What do I do?”
I have some version of that conversation most weeks. It's usually an Account Manager or Account Director, often calling on the way home after an uncomfortable half hour in their MD's office. They're flattered, a bit guilty, and suddenly unsure about a decision that felt completely clear that morning.
As a recruiter, I'm hardly neutral when someone is weighing up whether to move. Bear that in mind. But after over a decade recruiting in PR and communications, I've watched a lot of people take a counter-offer, and from the conversations I've had since, far fewer of them are glad they did than you'd expect. So here's what I'd say if you were sitting across the table from me, before you say yes.
Should I accept a counter-offer?
In most cases, no. A counter-offer usually fixes your salary and leaves alone whatever made you start looking. Unless money really was the only problem, the same frustrations tend to come back, often within months.
Take one Account Director I spoke to at a financial PR agency. She resigned because she couldn't see a route to the next level, and because she'd stopped trusting her client lead. The counter-offer was generous. Neither of those issues moved, and she was back in touch within the year, by which point the role she'd turned down had gone.
There are rare cases where staying works, usually when someone was simply underpaid and loved everything else about the job. But if that were you, you'd probably have asked for a pay rise rather than gone through a full interview process.
Why do PR agencies make counter-offers?
Mostly because replacing a good person is expensive and risky, particularly when clients like working with them. The offer may be sincere, but the timing is about the agency's problem, not your career.
Look at your resignation from the other side of the desk: a three-month notice period, a recruitment process, a handover, and a client who has to be told their day-to-day contact is changing. Most of the hiring I'm seeing at the moment is at mid-level, and agencies are being very careful about it. They're relying on those people to run accounts day to day, so losing a solid AM or AD hurts.
So ask yourself one plain question: why is this money available now, when it wasn't at your last review? If it took a resignation letter to get it, that tells you how your next pay conversation is likely to go.
Why do counter-offers so often go wrong?
Because the underlying reasons for leaving rarely change, and the relationship does. Once you've resigned, your employer knows you're prepared to go, and that can quietly shape how you're seen.
One version I hear a lot goes like this. In the resignation meeting, the MD mentions a big new piece of work that's just come in, and says you'll be the one to lead it. It's exciting, it's the step up you wanted, so you stay. A few months later the client pulls the budget, the project disappears, and so does the reason you turned the other job down. Nobody lied to you. The promise just depended on something nobody in the room could control.
That's one of three patterns I see again and again:
Promises built on things outside anyone's control. New business, a restructure, someone senior “probably moving on”. Unless it's in writing with a date, treat it as a hope rather than an offer.
The money is borrowed from your future. A counter-offer often brings forward a rise you'd have had anyway, so your next review is thinner, and the extra stops feeling like extra surprisingly quickly.
Trust shifts. Some leaders will say it's forgotten. When the next senior role or big new client comes up, it often isn't.
There's also the agency you said yes to. They'll remember being let down, and the London PR market is a village. That hiring manager may turn up as your boss somewhere else in five years.
How do I turn down a counter-offer politely?
Make your decision before you walk into the room, and say so. A clear, warm resignation that shows your mind is made up usually stops a counter-offer before it's made.
Thank them properly and put it in writing. Keep the conversation on your handover rather than your new salary. If they ask what it would take to keep you, something simple works: “I really appreciate that, and I've enjoyed working here, but I've made my decision.” You don't need to justify it or negotiate.
If they come back a second time, the answer is the same. It's fine to be grateful and firm in the same sentence. Most good MDs respect it, and you'll leave on far better terms than someone who wavers for a week.
How do I make sure I don't regret leaving?
Go back to why you started looking, and keep those reasons in front of you. Ideally, write them down before you resign, because once a number is on the table your memory gets very selective very quickly.
Then think in years, not months. Where does each option put you in three years' time? The moves that shape a PR career are usually about what you'll learn and who you'll learn it from, far more than an extra couple of thousand pounds.
Finally, leave well. Do a proper handover, look after your clients until your last day and stay in touch with the people you rate. Leaving an agency doesn't mean losing the relationships you built there.
A closing thought
A counter-offer is a compliment, and it's fine to enjoy it. It just doesn't change why you decided to go. The best moves I see come from people who knew what they wanted before anyone put a number in front of them, and stuck to it.
If you're thinking about a move, or you've just been handed a counter-offer and want a second opinion, we're always happy to talk it through. PR CROWD is a London-based PR and communications recruitment agency, and you can get in touch or register with us at any time, whether you're actively looking or not.
FAQs
Is it unprofessional to turn down a counter-offer?
Not at all. Declining politely and doing a good handover is the professional thing to do. What damages reputations is wavering for days, or accepting a new job and then backing out.
Should I decline a counter-offer in person or by email?
In person or on a call first, then confirm it in writing. It's a conversation that deserves a human touch, and the written follow-up means there's no ambiguity.
Should I tell my recruiter I've had a counter-offer?
Yes. A good recruiter will help you think it through and remind you why you started looking in the first place.
Get in touch at hello@prcrowd.co.uk or browse current roles at prcrowd.co.uk/jobs
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