đ Hiya, job sneaker!
How did I get here? I was stuck in a never-ending cycle, training a revolving door of new hires while my growth sat impatiently in the waiting room. I was too early in my career to coast.
Maybe it was time to be selfish for once? That agency down the road, promising an endless flow of cool clients and even cooler colleagues, sounded like exactly what I needed.
A few rounds of interviews later: Challenging work? Check. Smart colleagues? Check. Chilling on a downtown rooftop in flip-flops instead of being stuck in an interior cubicle attached to a warehouse? Check, check, check. I could totally picture myself enjoying every minute at that place.
âThey love me, they really love me!â At least thatâs how it felt when the offer letter arrived. It was time to put in my notice. Hold upâcounteroffer. More money, too much to turn down. So, I apologized and did my best to say goodbye on good terms. They couldnât match the offer but were very understanding and even said theyâd stay in touch.
Chained to my cubicle once more, my golden handcuffs felt a little shinier.
At first, I convinced myself I had made the right call. Whatâs wrong with more money, right? But every morning, I felt it. That nagging question: Did I just sell my future for a little extra on my paycheck? The weeks stretched into months, and the feeling didnât go away. I coasted, doing the same work, feeling like I had hit pause on my career.
Months later, a new LinkedIn notification popped up. âRemember me from the agency? You gotta check out my new place. Want to come in for lunch?â Come in for lunch? Like, you donât have to pack it or pay for it? I had heard rumors of that new place where all the devs around town were flocking. Why not at least check it out?
If I thought wearing flip-flops was cool, this place was next level. They basically treated their engineers like royalty. This was it. The kind of environment I had been craving. The kind of energy I thought Iâd missed out on when I signed that counteroffer.
Another push to get through the gauntlet of interviews. Another offer letter in hand that matched my current salary. Time to put in my notice. But waitâanother counteroffer with a higher salary and a $20K retention bonus.
I wonât lie. I hesitated. A lot. It was tempting. That kind of money was no joke. But then I thought about where I was a year agoâmaking the same decision. Did I really want to go through this cycle one more time? Another year of feeling like I was just trading time for money instead of building something bigger for myself?
Nope. Not this time. I shut my eyes, took a deep breath, and said, âThanks, but no thanks.â Then I signed the offer letter.
Best. Decision. Ever. Every skill, every connection, every opportunity I have today? These were all seeds that I planted the day I said yes to that job.
The door prize? Growth isnât optional. If youâre stagnating, youâre actually moving backward. Counteroffers are just handcuffs in disguise, keeping you from real progress. Never underestimate first impressions because the most unexpected connections can open the right doors. And above all, the path to your next opportunity probably wonât look the way you imagined. The universe has a weird way of working things out if you let it.
Stay open to the strangeness,
âď¸ Kirby