Idiot? Genius? Maybe both. Likely neither.

(leaving out details because, anonymity)

I'm a field rep, AE, AM. Whatever you know it as. I turned down a poach from another top 10 tech company. The job would be in overlay sales, but the pay is substantially more than what I'm making now. 

I've had a few poach attempts that I quickly turned down, but this is the first time I spoke with the hiring manager to learn about the role. 

My reasoning? I really like my job. I'm building experience with a more lucrative title. I have more autonomy. It's customer facing. The money is more than I'd imagined for myself a few years ago. I have enough time to pad my resume even more.

Am I an idiot? Yes. But I'm playing the long game. 

The more I'm in the role, the more leverage I'll have with salary negation. The more willing my company would will be to match (if I wanted to stay). More poaches will come. 

And now, the hiring manager has my resume. He knows there's no way I make as much as they're offering. But he knows I'm not interested in regression. He knows I'm interested if they have more openings. And you know what? I told him I might regret this. Because company X is the leader in XYZ. But he knows, we're at their tail. And I'm leading that effort. From the front. Taking his role, I'd be one of many enabling his AE. 

Moral of the story? Fuck if I know. Just need some praise and haze.