[bleucamaro]

Hi PPOT Brain-trust. I have a bit of a dilemma, a good one, but a tough situation for me. I’d like your opinions and takes on how to handle it.

TLDR: When I went to quit my job they offered me a promotion to stay. Should I take it? If I do, what’s the best way to get more money?

Background: I’ve been at my job since out of college (15yrs) and have grown within it. I’m a Senior Manufacturing Engineer in a fairly niche industry, Aerospace Structures. I’ve been looking to grow towards management and the path I’d plotted was through project/program management, then up from there to a director position (programs / operations / engineering).

About 8 months ago, I approached management with the goals I had regarding the change in path and they basically said it was their goal for me to fill my current boss’s shoes when he retires in approximately 4-5 years. That was too far down the road for my taste and I started looking at other options. I enrolled in a Project Management Certification course at the local state college and will be taking the PMP exam late this year.

A couple months ago I started talking to another company (a global corporation with household name recognition). They offered me an Industrial Engineering position (broader scope, bigger projects than currently working) with the impression that moving around within the company was easy and opportunities come up often. With this impression and a significant pay increase, I accepted their offer.

When I received a start date, I planned to give my employer notice that I’ll be resigning. The day before I planned to do so, I was pulled into my boss’s office for my annual performance review, and it was very positive. He told me was my raise was (better than last years), and we talked a bit about future work and goals for the following year. I decided against telling him right then because I wanted to think an afternoon on it, and didn’t want it to seem reactionary. The following day, I’d planned to tell my boss I was leaving in the afternoon. Just before lunch, he and his boss called me into his office and gave me a letter that included a plan outlining a promotion path in one year to Associate Program Manager. This was really good news! Except it still felt a little wishy-washy and with fluff.

I decided to think on this over the weekend and during that contemplation I decided to move forward with the resignation. A bird in one hand was worth 2 in the bush, is the way I felt. On Monday I gave my notice and Tuesday had a meeting with the HR manager, asking why I’m leaving, asking if there was anything they could do, etc. I said this looked to be a better opportunity and it was current and not a maybe a year down the road.

The next day I was called into a meeting with our CEO, Director of Programs, and the HR manager. They offered me the Associate Program Manager title starting immediately, along with a pay increase plus management bonus structure (better).

Based on salary websites, their offer is low for the market average, between $5k and $20k depending on how the inputs are manipulated. Also, staying at my current job has a higher commute expense, a delta of approx. $9500/yr.

The Questions:
1 – Should I stay at all?
2 – If I stay, how should I best use this to negotiate a better salary without them just thinking I’m messing with them/being a jerk?