"If an old boss had promised you a 5 per cent raise, the new boss could make it 6, and gain an instant reputation as honest, fair, even generous. But if it's a promotion or change of job you've been promised, that's something else.

It may depend on whether your former boss was fired or left for a promotion of his own. If a boss is let go, then his decisions are not going to be considered brilliant ones and a new boss would be a fool to go out of his or her way to implement a bad decision.

When a boss promises something in a year's time, it's pleasant to think about but not depend on - much changes in a year, including economic and other considerations the boss can't possibly foresee. Go for the short-term, quickly-fulfilled management pledges.