If you respect your boss, take the counter-offer (Score 1)

Don't make a habit of looking for another job every time you want a raise, though, that'll breed bad blood pretty quickly. Here are a couple of relevant tidbits: 1) My personal feeling--and I've heard this echoed by several of my own bosses--is that what a good employer wants most from a good employee is to know what's wrong before it gets bad enough to make them leave, and a chance to fix it. Of course, the strongest place to negotiate this is from the door on your way out, but you should be willing to consider coming back in if the new job isn't clearly superior in pay and type of work to the old. 2) As for why you were paid so much less before, it looks like you haven't been at your current job long enough to get a regular raise (several months), so this is your boss's opportunity to tell you what your current value to the company is. The reason you were making 2/3 of the new salary before is that they didn't know you as well when they hired you as they do now. If your boss isn't an asshole, you should be in a good place now. 3) Never forget that the employer's *job* is to hire you for as little as you'll happily take (though some go for "as little as you'll bitterly take"), and your job is to get them to pay as much as they happily will. Of course they'll pay you less if you'll take it, just as you wouldn't say now if they offered you a million a year. Don't rag on employers for doing their job--as long as they aren't blood-thirsty about it. From personal experience: 1) At my first job I managed to double my salary in 5 years. I started entry level and left as one of the more senior folks. That company did value my skills, and one big raise came when I had a very serious offer from another company. I'd had several sizable raises before that, and several after. I didn't see anything different in the way I was treated after the counter-offer was made and accepted. Actually, the only one who seemed to get mad was the recruiter for the other company who lost a commision. 2) When I left the company above, a year and a few months later, I told my boss that I had another offer, and I was leaving. The immediate response was "Is this going to be an annual affair?" So, as I said, don't go looking for counter offers on a regular basis. Actually, things were quite cordial after I explained I was leaving for personal reasons, and planning to move across the country. 3) At another job, a friend was looking to quit to get a little more money and more interesting work. I only knew because of our friendship. My friend never even considered looking for a counter offer. I suggested stating to the boss exactly what it would take to make it worth staying. My friend thought it seemed extravagant--more money, more flexibility, better schedule--but it was accepted in *minutes* because my friend is a very valuable employee! In short, if you don't think your employer will dick you around or resent you for it, take the counter offer and embrace the devil you know over the devil you don't.