Taking a 4k pay cut
- Thread starter Jonnybmac
- Start date
No. The reason to ask for more money is "I think I present value due to x/y/z reason and interview performance". And also "I currently have a package value of (INFLATED VALUE X) and similar roles I've looked at are around £xk"
Id have a word with your recruiter if they ask for a 2nd interview. Tell them you're willing to go for 24k (/payrise) and see what they say.
Only you can weigh up if a 6k pay drop is reasonable.
Yep, twice. Still don't see any valid reason to drop down in wages. £20k is basically London Living wage of £10/hr. Can get that working in retail.
OP is an engineer and should not be settling for that. No surprise the other candidates dropped out, probably after finding out the salary.
It's simple, create yourself a timeline for each career path plotted against time on the X and salary on the Y.
You may find the current role maybe goes up the cost of living each year meaning you're no better off in 5 years. The other role, after a couple of years can lead to further higher paying roles.
Yes, you'd take the cut now, ultimately, by year 2 or 3 you'd be earning more than staying put.
You may find the current role maybe goes up the cost of living each year meaning you're no better off in 5 years. The other role, after a couple of years can lead to further higher paying roles.
Yes, you'd take the cut now, ultimately, by year 2 or 3 you'd be earning more than staying put.
So I had my second interview yesterday - went well.
Got a tour of the facilities; seems like a relaxed atmosphere throughout all offices. He said they like to operate like google, but not as far as them. There are lots of lounge chairs and meeting rooms, with free tea and coffee available where you can just go off and sit to discuss things and collaborate rather than being sat in an office.
They are prepared to micro-manage me and invest in a lot of training and development. Once I graduate from uni they would put me on a IMechE sponsored graduate scheme which would entail around 4 years of targets to set out and accomplish. They would also support me on a path to become a chartered engineer if that is what I wish to become.
He asked how I manage stress, and that it was his duty to ensure that I am not overloaded too much that I end up stressed. If I was to end up on the sick with stress he would feel he had failed in his role as a manager, and he considers himself a people person. He, and the person I would be under are both chartered engineers and he discussed how he wants to filter down the knowledge they both have and give back into engineering to progress someone forward. I will be taught from the ground up, and they want to introduce standards and proceedures into existing products to try and streamline their workflow as currently a lot of bespoke products are too bespoke, and could be standardised to reduce costs.
We spoke about the benefits of the company, pensions of which if I put in 6% they would take it to 26%. Share scheme where if I buy 1 they give you 2 free, free healthcare and life insurance. He introduced the talk of pay by saying he has advertised and was looking for between 18k-20k. I asked where I would fit into that bracket and he said he would put forward for me to start at the 20k. I mentioned that I was currently on 24k, and although I would not expect him to meet that given the set target, I would struggle to drop 17% to 20k. He understood, was pretty reasonable in understanding I would struggle and the drop in pay, and said he would put a sugestion forward to HR to try and get an increase from 20k, but we also discussed a possibility of starting out on 20k and it being reviewed in 6 months time if I was to reach reasonable targets and prove my worth as an alternative. He said the pay is low but its an entry level pay, and if you develop quickly your pay will relfect that; He couldn't see why in 2 years I would not surpass 25k with the experience I would have and my degree coming to an end, and that I should consider the long game rather than short term as the parent company is huge (14 billion revenue, FTSE 100, 12k employees) with great benefits and development opportunities.
In summary, he probably believed in me more than I did, and he's prerpared to support and walk me through all aspects of design and engineering from the ground up. He feels my past experience will be of advantage in his plans to move his department and projects forard, but understands I would be out of my depth initially but given enough time I should fly. He doesn't want me to go away and buy a solidworks student edition as he will provide training there for me, with an external training course.
Just got to wait now till monday to find out what sort of deal I get sent back, and review the contract to ensure everything is how it was described.
Got a tour of the facilities; seems like a relaxed atmosphere throughout all offices. He said they like to operate like google, but not as far as them. There are lots of lounge chairs and meeting rooms, with free tea and coffee available where you can just go off and sit to discuss things and collaborate rather than being sat in an office.
They are prepared to micro-manage me and invest in a lot of training and development. Once I graduate from uni they would put me on a IMechE sponsored graduate scheme which would entail around 4 years of targets to set out and accomplish. They would also support me on a path to become a chartered engineer if that is what I wish to become.
He asked how I manage stress, and that it was his duty to ensure that I am not overloaded too much that I end up stressed. If I was to end up on the sick with stress he would feel he had failed in his role as a manager, and he considers himself a people person. He, and the person I would be under are both chartered engineers and he discussed how he wants to filter down the knowledge they both have and give back into engineering to progress someone forward. I will be taught from the ground up, and they want to introduce standards and proceedures into existing products to try and streamline their workflow as currently a lot of bespoke products are too bespoke, and could be standardised to reduce costs.
We spoke about the benefits of the company, pensions of which if I put in 6% they would take it to 26%. Share scheme where if I buy 1 they give you 2 free, free healthcare and life insurance. He introduced the talk of pay by saying he has advertised and was looking for between 18k-20k. I asked where I would fit into that bracket and he said he would put forward for me to start at the 20k. I mentioned that I was currently on 24k, and although I would not expect him to meet that given the set target, I would struggle to drop 17% to 20k. He understood, was pretty reasonable in understanding I would struggle and the drop in pay, and said he would put a sugestion forward to HR to try and get an increase from 20k, but we also discussed a possibility of starting out on 20k and it being reviewed in 6 months time if I was to reach reasonable targets and prove my worth as an alternative. He said the pay is low but its an entry level pay, and if you develop quickly your pay will relfect that; He couldn't see why in 2 years I would not surpass 25k with the experience I would have and my degree coming to an end, and that I should consider the long game rather than short term as the parent company is huge (14 billion revenue, FTSE 100, 12k employees) with great benefits and development opportunities.
In summary, he probably believed in me more than I did, and he's prerpared to support and walk me through all aspects of design and engineering from the ground up. He feels my past experience will be of advantage in his plans to move his department and projects forard, but understands I would be out of my depth initially but given enough time I should fly. He doesn't want me to go away and buy a solidworks student edition as he will provide training there for me, with an external training course.
Just got to wait now till monday to find out what sort of deal I get sent back, and review the contract to ensure everything is how it was described.
I have been a mech eng for 20+ years.
Free tea and coffee.... WTF SNAP THEIR HAND OFF my good man !! The only time you get free tea and coffee is at a customer premises or your in the board room with the coffee machine
Honestly though, no wonder people struggle to recruit into mech eng in this day and age with such low salaries, shocking what employers can get away with, especially with a HNC (would take that over a degree bod anyday of the week)
P.s
Do not be afraid of calcs 9/10 you will spend 2 weeks making a almighty excel spreadsheet that does it all for you even then i am betting someone will already have one as a starting block you could half hinch
Free tea and coffee.... WTF SNAP THEIR HAND OFF my good man !! The only time you get free tea and coffee is at a customer premises or your in the board room with the coffee machine
Honestly though, no wonder people struggle to recruit into mech eng in this day and age with such low salaries, shocking what employers can get away with, especially with a HNC (would take that over a degree bod anyday of the week)
P.s
Do not be afraid of calcs 9/10 you will spend 2 weeks making a almighty excel spreadsheet that does it all for you even then i am betting someone will already have one as a starting block you could half hinch
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that does it all for you even then i am betting someone will already have one as a starting block you could half hinch
And if someone shares a sheet like that with you, take a copy and tear it apart.. Understand both how and why every part does what it does. You may find a mistake, but at the very least you can add notes to it and be confident that you HAVE checked how it works.
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Have read through the thread and there are lots of good advice here. Jonnybmac. Taking a pay cut of 4k to pursue your preferred choice is commendable and something I have also done previously, you have to think of the end goal and what you are hoping to achieve both educationally, financially and as a sense of personal achievement being in a position/job you like doing. Your never too old to learn something new and something I distill into my children that education is the key to success. Get your Degree completed and lots of doors will open for you, I can speak from personal experience.
Hope everything works out for you in the near future.
Hope everything works out for you in the near future.
If the new job offers better long term prospects I would take the £4k pay cut with barely a second thought. In fact I took a £6k pay cut when I was at similar earning levels to go into a job that had an actual long term career path and I am now significantly better off than I would have been if I stayed in the "higher" paying role. I won't lie, the first couple of years were hard, in fact the first year there were choices between paying for food and paying for petrol so I could do the job, but ultimately it was worth it.
My experience was an actual change in job/career so may be different, I couldn't really tell from the OP how different the new job would be (and clearly I didn't read any further!!!
)
My experience was an actual change in job/career so may be different, I couldn't really tell from the OP how different the new job would be (and clearly I didn't read any further!!!
)Just over 10 years ago I moved from one company where I was earning £25k to a competitor who only paid me £20k (£22k after 6 months probation). I moved to go from a big company to a smaller company as I felt I would have more chance of progression etc. Now my salary is more than double what I originally started on and I am an integral part of the company rather than just being another employee.
Edit - oh and PS I was 31 at the time as well.
Edit - oh and PS I was 31 at the time as well.
That seems reasonable, I'd definitely push to try and get some confirmation of that. To be honest those benefits (especially pension and share scheme) mean you're not losing out overall anyway, albeit you don't have the short term cash.
I'd certainly hope you surpass 25k in 2 years.. you'll be a graduate by then and frankly could easily look elsewhere for more if you haven't hit your target at this place.
Still awaiting the details to be sent, was told it would be end of today at the latest. I have provisionally said yes to the agency but requested written details of the contract before i make any major decision as i would like confirmation on everything. Also waiting to see if he honours the increase in pay.