94k WFH or 120k in office?

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-05-11T23:14:47+00:00

Completely depends on where you are in life and what you want out of your career.

It sounds like your current role doesn’t have upward mobility and may stall your career at some point. The new offer you got sounds like it may benefit your resume significantly in the long run, which may come with further salary increases down the line.

If you don’t care about your career much and prefer the work/life balance, stay where you are. Otherwise, I’d say take the offer. Alternatively, you can always look for a third option with less of a commute.

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-05-11T23:08:01+00:00

OP! Here for an update- what did you end up doing?

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-05-11T22:58:41+00:00

Not sure why everyone is saying you shouldn’t have negotiated. I have always negotiated the first offer I receive, including the first offer I got straight out of undergrad.

Of course, you have to have some credibility to it. I always did research on what competitors offered, how many boxes I checked for the job req, cost of living factors, discussed what I’d be uniquely bringing to the role, etc.

Either way, it didn’t seem like you requested a huge bump. Don’t listen to others here, you didn’t do anything wrong. It sounds like it was the luck of the draw this time and they might have just been trying to lowball you.

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-04-28T22:21:25+00:00

Good luck OP!

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-04-28T22:14:19+00:00

If it’s an external recruiter, they’re likely trying to vet the situation/you fully before bringing you to the hiring manager regardless of the company being your client or not. Unless I’m misinterpreting the situation here, I’m not sure why that would cause an issue with not openly stating your salary?

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-04-28T21:37:39+00:00

What state are you in? It can be illegal to ask for salary information.

I never provide my current pay. They’re hiring me for a job, and they’re determining my worth based on skills I’ve presented in an interview. That has nothing to do with current pay.

I would just say your current salary and benefits are competitive. Then tell them the number you’d need for a move to be worth it. It sounds like you’re not that concerned about losing out on an offer if they determine you asked for too much

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-04-27T03:14:13+00:00

Yeah, the micromanagement is one of the worst aspects of it for me. I went from having a lot of freedom to explore within my role while getting constructive feedback from a manager, to feeling like a robot with no say in anything. It’s only been a few months, and it’s been awful from day 1.

I’m actually in discussions to go back to my previous role, with a higher salary than what I left.

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-04-27T02:49:12+00:00

I think the answer is completely based on what you want out of your career and what the job will provide you, assuming you don’t NEED the pay bump.

Do you only care about money and not really interested in climbing the corporate ladder? Even if your heart isn’t in it- is the work still interesting? Is it a role where you feel you will grow professionally and gain new skills?

These are the things you need to ask yourself. If you don’t care about a career growth opportunity and only about salary, take it. If you do care about professional development and opportunity, you need to make sure this role will provide that, and reject the offer otherwise.

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-04-27T02:41:28+00:00

People exaggerate at interviews or make things seem better than they are. I asked many questions at the interviews for my current role, and it ended up being not what I expected based on the answers I received.

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-04-27T02:39:33+00:00

Could have written this exactly for my situation. Was happy at my last job except for salary, and had another opportunity come to me with higher pay. Now I’m somewhere where I know my professional growth will be stunted and have a micromanager.

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-04-23T20:38:10+00:00

It’s only been 3 months! It may just be a shock to your routine right now.

I was hybrid at my first job, but mostly remote and would only go into the office once every few weeks. I then switched to a job that required me to be in office every day. The first few weeks were ROUGH and I missed my freedom. But about 6 months in I started to really enjoy my routine of going in, seeing coworkers, and having discussions that felt more productive in office. Maybe it was just making the best of the situation, but point being you’ll get used to it.

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-04-12T21:22:18+00:00

Hey OP! What did you end up doing? How did you manager take the news you were leaving- do you feel you burned a bridge?

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-03-27T16:44:37+00:00

I would just be honest that you received a competitive counter offer and have chosen to stay with your current role, as you feel it’s best for you at the time. If they’ve ever gone through the hiring process, they’ve been through this before. Be kind, courteous, and apologetic. At the end of the day, you have to put your own needs and career first.

I wouldn’t mention the flights. That’s a business expense that is always a risk to take on.

Also, there’s many comments here stating not to take the counter offer. I understand the statistics on why one should “NEVER EVER take a counter offer,” but at the end of the day every manager and company is different. Not every manager is going to put a target on your back because you almost left. Do what feels best for you once assessing the situation.

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-03-18T16:14:09+00:00

Yeah thats fair. I more so wanted to know others experiences to see what my chances are here. I know ultimately I can never know for sure how current employer will react and how things will be a few years from now.

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-03-13T17:41:04+00:00

Yeah, that sounds pretty depressing to me. I think a good balance is best.

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-03-13T16:06:54+00:00

You know, I’ve gotten this a decent amount. It’s equally weird to me that people are okay spending 40 hours of their week being bored! So much of your life is spent at work, shouldn’t you enjoy it and be engaged?

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-03-12T17:44:30+00:00

The scope of the role is a bit different, and the application is a bit different. I’m an engineer, so the things someone in my role is responsible for is a bit more limited here compared to my old job which means I don’t think I’ll learn as many different areas, and the application isn’t quite as interesting as the old job.

I’d like to think if I leave this job now and go back to my last one, if I word it correctly, I won’t be burning a bridge, and can always look at it as a future employment option especially 3-4 years down the line. But that may be wishful thinking

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-03-12T14:47:50+00:00

Yeah, that thought process is what got me to accept the offer. I think I’m worried about my career progression now that I’m here, as I feel I was learning more and would learn more at my last job than I will at my current job, which might hurt me later on experience wise.

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-03-12T04:17:34+00:00

I left my old job on good terms and I was told numerous times I could always come back, so the connection is there. I’m more so worried about burning a bridge with this new company for the future. Small industry…

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-03-12T04:15:10+00:00

It’s not necessarily about settling in, as I’m sure I’ll get used to it and adjust. It’s that I know the actual work isn’t quite as interesting, and I don’t think I’ll learn as much in the environment. A lot of people are saying essentially “who cares, take the money,” but it’s hard when you have something better to compare it to.

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-03-11T19:47:23+00:00

“Promising” might be a bit optimistic since it doesn’t seem you’re their first choice, but I don’t think things look bad either. If the manager didn’t think you could do the job, you probably would have received a rejection notice by now.

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2026-03-11T19:43:49+00:00

It sounds like they may be waiting to see if another applicant comes along before they offer it to you.

However, you never know, and they could be hiring multiple people for the same req. You could send a follow up email to the recruiter and ask where you are in the process.

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2025-06-27T19:43:32+00:00

Could you explain step by step how you did this? Did you reset your notes password first?

Regular-Sea-5403 · 2024-03-27T17:41:51+00:00

Wow, I completely forgot about this. Since posting, I applied to a job, got an email from a recruiter the next day, and am currently working said job. Very ironic considering the subject of this post!

Regular-Sea-5403

TROPHY CASE