Getting another job offer solely to frighten your employer into paying you more is risky. Getting another offer because you are genuinely willing to discover whether a better opportunity exists is entirely different.gettyImagine you want a pay raise.You believe you are underpaid, your responsibilities have expanded and colleagues doing similar work elsewhere appear to earn considerably more. You raise the issue with your manager, but nothing much happens. Budgets are tight. The timing isn’t right. Perhaps it can be revisited next year.Then another company offers you a job. Suddenly, the conversation changes.Money that apparently wasn’t available can sometimes be found. A promotion that seemed months away becomes possible. Your manager wants to know what it would take to keep you.It creates an obvious temptation: if an external offer gives employees leverage, should you deliberately get one even when you would prefer to stay?It can work. But there is a difference between having leverage and using leverage well.An external offer may improve your negotiating position. It can also permanently change the relationship with your employer.A Job Offer Tells You Something Your Salary Review CannotEmployees often struggle to determine what they are actually worth.Salary surveys provide ranges. Colleagues rarely discuss compensation openly. Employers naturally have more information about internal pay than individual employees do.An external offer changes that.Instead of estimating what another organization might pay for your skills, somebody has actually offered to pay it.Research on salary negotiation suggests that employees with credible alternatives generally have greater bargaining power. An external offer provides something particularly useful because it establishes a real alternative to your current employment rather than a hypothetical one.That information can be valuable even if you ultimately stay.Suppose you earn $100,000 and believe your market value is closer to $120,000. Telling your employer that competitors appear to pay more may produce a discussion. Receiving an actual $120,000 offer produces evidence.But there is an important distinction between discovering your market value and manufacturing leverage.Applying for jobs you would never accept simply to pressure your current employer means entering a negotiation in which your strongest argument is something you don’t actually intend to do.That is a fragile position.Never Make A Threat You Aren’t Prepared To Carry OutThe moment you present an external offer, the conversation changes.Until then, you are an employee asking for something.Now you are an employee who might leave.That may strengthen your position, but it also gives your employer new information. Your manager knows you have interviewed elsewhere, another organization wants you and departure is at least conceivable.Research into negotiation consistently shows that alternatives strengthen bargaining positions. But leverage works because the alternative is credible. If the other party believes you won’t actually walk away, much of that power disappears.Imagine telling your manager that another company has offered you substantially more money. Your manager congratulates you and says they cannot match it.What happens next?If your answer is that you would immediately turn down the other job and remain where you are, you never had much leverage in the first place.A Counteroffer Solves The Salary Problem, Not Necessarily The Career ProblemThere is another question employees often overlook.Why did you start looking elsewhere?Sometimes the answer really is money. You love the work, trust your manager, see a future in the organization and simply believe your compensation has fallen behind the market. In that situation, an external offer can trigger a useful conversation that should perhaps have happened earlier.But people rarely leave jobs for one reason.Perhaps progression has stalled. Perhaps the relationship with your manager has deteriorated. Maybe the work no longer interests you, flexibility has disappeared or you simply want something different.A counteroffer can increase your salary surprisingly quickly.It cannot repair every reason you considered leaving.Research into employee turnover has repeatedly found that decisions to leave are influenced by a combination of pay, progression, relationships, job satisfaction and perceived alternatives. Focusing exclusively on compensation can therefore treat the most visible symptom while leaving the underlying problem untouched.Before accepting a counteroffer, ask a slightly uncomfortable question: if both jobs paid exactly the same amount, which one would you choose?The answer tells you considerably more than the salary difference.The Best Time To Negotiate May Be Before You Have Another OfferThere is something slightly dysfunctional about an organization discovering someone’s value only when they threaten to leave.If your responsibilities have grown, your performance is strong and your compensation is materially below market, you shouldn’t necessarily need another employer to prove it.Research on proactive career behavior suggests employees who actively seek feedback, initiate career conversations and advocate for opportunities are more likely to shape their career progression than those who wait for organizations to notice.That makes an external offer potentially useful, but it shouldn’t always be the opening move.Start with evidence. Explain how your responsibilities have changed, what you have achieved and what comparable roles appear to pay. Ask what would need to happen for your compensation or position to change. More importantly, listen carefully to the answer.If your employer responds constructively, you may be able to negotiate without creating an artificial exit.If nothing happens, the situation becomes more interesting.At that point, applying elsewhere isn’t merely a negotiating tactic. It is a genuine test of whether another organization values your contribution differently.And that is the distinction that matters.Getting another job offer solely to frighten your employer into paying you more is risky. Getting another offer because you are genuinely willing to discover whether a better opportunity exists is entirely different.Sometimes your current employer will respond and give you a compelling reason to stay.Sometimes they won’t.Either outcome gives you valuable information.The purpose of another job offer shouldn’t be to create a threat.It should be to create a choice.