Asking other people around before would have been another great negotiating point. I actually asked around the next morning to see how it went. I appeared that I was not the only one that wasn’t happy about the raise. But I preferred to push on my achievements instead of “the other got this or is not happy as me”.

When I told them about the other job, I said that I didn’t go for 2 reasons:
#1 I was happy where I work
#2 I was confident to get a good raise this year

The fact that I am doing my MBA is putting extra pressure on them as I already have 3 managers from other institutions that are very interested in my “situation”

Still negotiating, I will hopefully have an answer by next Monday ;-0

Just curious why you turned down the other offer without first confirming your raise amount with your current employer? It’s true, you might not want to tip them off that you’re looking, but it seems to me that this would have been a tremendous bargaining tool for you at the time.

Letting your current employer know you turned down another job because you’re happy where you are sends a strong message and I’m sure indicates your loyalty. But if you truly turned down the job and are now hoping they’ll increase your salary out of kindness, you may have missed an opportunity.

I agree that your approach of negotiating for a raise based on your contributions and merit is the right approach. Good luck!

Stephen