Prepare a Candidate for Their Employer's Counter-Offer
When to use it
Have the counter-offer conversation before it happens, instead of after they've been talked out of resigning.
The prompt
{{Candidate Name}} is about to resign from {{current employer}} to join us as {{Job Title}}. Prepare me for the counter-offer. WHY THEY'RE LEAVING: {{in their own words, from the process}} OUR OFFER VERSUS WHAT THEY EARN NOW: {{...}} HOW VALUABLE THEY ARE WHERE THEY ARE: {{sole owner of a system, mid-project, recently promoted}} THEIR TENURE AND HISTORY: {{how long, and whether they've been through this before}} WHAT THEY'VE ALREADY SAID ABOUT A COUNTER: {{...}} Give me: 1. The likely shape of the counter — money, title, or a promise about scope or a manager change — given what I've told you. 2. A conversation to have before they resign, built around their reasons for leaving rather than around our offer. 3. Three questions that make a counter-offer easier to decline, in their words rather than mine. 4. What I must not do: badmouth their employer, invent statistics about how counter-offer acceptances end, or apply pressure. 5. The signals in the days after resignation that they're wavering, and a proportionate response to each. 6. When to accept that they're staying, and how to close it so I could still hire them in two years. Be honest where taking the counter-offer would genuinely be the better choice for them.
Tip
Have this conversation before they hand in their notice. Once their manager is in the room offering more money and an apology, you're arguing against a relationship you can't compete with.
How to use it
Paste the prompt into ChatGPT, Claude or whichever assistant you use, then replace every {{bracketed}} part with your own detail. The more specific and messier your input, the better the output — a model given raw notes has more to work with than one given a tidy summary you wrote first.
More Offers & Feedback prompts
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