This Business and Moment...
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One of the harder bits for me is managing people I've been friends with as a regular colleague far longer than I've been in a position of managing people - albeit my role is more of a supervisor than management though it means performing management duties.
In a fit of "if you want something done properly do it yourself" I essentially snookered myself into running out of hours operations some nights a week - I'm not even a people person let alone a people managing person :s
Likewise, but I find myself wondering if I'm cut out for it. I do get on with the staff certainly better than the management do, but that probably comes with the territory.
Like yourself, I took on more work as I couldn't rely on others to get it done.
Least now I have a bit of flexibility to make small changes.
How are the fellow contractors doing?
I've just been given another extension but it's the shortest one yet, keeping me going until the end of January. Job hunting just after Christmas with the market as it is, and the impending IR35 changes in April, going to be a whole load of fun
I've just been given another extension but it's the shortest one yet, keeping me going until the end of January. Job hunting just after Christmas with the market as it is, and the impending IR35 changes in April, going to be a whole load of fun
So out of the blue I was approached by a headhunter for an operational role a little out of my niche. It would be taking ownership of a key company operation, putting out the fire that currently exists and building the process, structure and team in my own vision to meet the objectives.
Informed the headhunter that I'm happy where I am, and that I'm not really looking to move, but its an exciting opportunity - however given it would go back to being London based, the loss of a bonus due to be paid in the next 4 months, and losing my share allocation I'd only be interested if they can adjust the salary banding by about 20% and it wouldn't be worth interviewing unless this was agreed in advance.
Surprisingly they wanted to proceed, had the first stage interview this week which focused on the technical aspects of the role, have the second stage with their HR function to make sure I'm a good fit personality / values wise early next week.
Must admit I did find interviewing via Teams challenging, the conversation doesn't flow as naturally as a face to face. Hoping to do better in the second stage, anybody have any relevant advice they could share?
Informed the headhunter that I'm happy where I am, and that I'm not really looking to move, but its an exciting opportunity - however given it would go back to being London based, the loss of a bonus due to be paid in the next 4 months, and losing my share allocation I'd only be interested if they can adjust the salary banding by about 20% and it wouldn't be worth interviewing unless this was agreed in advance.
Surprisingly they wanted to proceed, had the first stage interview this week which focused on the technical aspects of the role, have the second stage with their HR function to make sure I'm a good fit personality / values wise early next week.
Must admit I did find interviewing via Teams challenging, the conversation doesn't flow as naturally as a face to face. Hoping to do better in the second stage, anybody have any relevant advice they could share?
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Well firstly asking for a raise in your base salary of say 10-20% is totally normal when moving jobs, you should feel free to ask for more on top, especially If you're losing out on a bonus.
Ditto with equity - do they allocate equity to employees? Not all firms do necessarily so if you get an annual allocation currently that's reason for an additional % to be added to the raise or if they have a situation where some (but not all employees) are included in the share scheme (perhaps you usually have to work there for X amount of time or you must be at a certain level etc..) then you perhaps have some leverage to skip the requirement.
So just keep in mind that while this sort of thing is generally one sided, they have a much better idea of what the role is worth etc.. and they (or rather the recruiter) will try to nail you down to a figure early on there is almost always additional money available - majority of hiring managers have the capacity to offer more money etc.. beyond the first offer and the majority of candidates don't ask for it!
Personally I think the 10-20% rise is justified as a general rise when moving jobs anyway (you take on a bit of risk in any move), but in addition to that this is in the middle of a pandemic and you're presumably taking on additional responsibuility relative to your current role ergo a hefty boost to the higher end of that range: 20% is more than justified from that alone.
You have good reasons to ask for more though - can do this at the offer stage now perhaps, they offer you the 20%... bring up the equity, how much will you be allocated? If the answer is they don't allocate equity then you want a higher base to compensate. Ditto to the bonus - you're losing out on a bonus, do they pay a bonus? If so can you get either a sign on bonus pro-rata equivalent of your expected current one (might need evidence of last year's bonus) or when it comes to their bonus payment early next year can they pay you a full year bonus rather than some pro-rata one based on you only having worked there for say 3 months at that point.
tl;dr whatever they offer you, find a reason to ask for more as there is usually scope for a company to increase the first offer despite the fact that nearly all recruiters try to get you nailed down to a price/offer right at the start of the process.
Ditto with equity - do they allocate equity to employees? Not all firms do necessarily so if you get an annual allocation currently that's reason for an additional % to be added to the raise or if they have a situation where some (but not all employees) are included in the share scheme (perhaps you usually have to work there for X amount of time or you must be at a certain level etc..) then you perhaps have some leverage to skip the requirement.
So just keep in mind that while this sort of thing is generally one sided, they have a much better idea of what the role is worth etc.. and they (or rather the recruiter) will try to nail you down to a figure early on there is almost always additional money available - majority of hiring managers have the capacity to offer more money etc.. beyond the first offer and the majority of candidates don't ask for it!
Personally I think the 10-20% rise is justified as a general rise when moving jobs anyway (you take on a bit of risk in any move), but in addition to that this is in the middle of a pandemic and you're presumably taking on additional responsibuility relative to your current role ergo a hefty boost to the higher end of that range: 20% is more than justified from that alone.
You have good reasons to ask for more though - can do this at the offer stage now perhaps, they offer you the 20%... bring up the equity, how much will you be allocated? If the answer is they don't allocate equity then you want a higher base to compensate. Ditto to the bonus - you're losing out on a bonus, do they pay a bonus? If so can you get either a sign on bonus pro-rata equivalent of your expected current one (might need evidence of last year's bonus) or when it comes to their bonus payment early next year can they pay you a full year bonus rather than some pro-rata one based on you only having worked there for say 3 months at that point.
tl;dr whatever they offer you, find a reason to ask for more as there is usually scope for a company to increase the first offer despite the fact that nearly all recruiters try to get you nailed down to a price/offer right at the start of the process.
Yeah, the new salary banding would be a c40% increase on my basic. 10% to cover the commuting costs of a London based role, 15% to cover the risk associated with a new role, new challenge, etc and then another 15% for the lost bonus / equity stake. I don't yet know what their overall package will be in regards to bonus or pension contribution. New company is owned by private equity so doubt there is much wiggle room on a share allocation, but like you've suggested if I make it through to the point where there is a firm offer made then I'll assess the whole package and run the numbers. They've been trying to fill this role for the last 8 months (and its pitched at a salary level that would be attracting a lot of interest) so I think I have some room for negotiation if the numbers don't stack up.
Its the Teams thing that has me concerned, I'd say I'm usually a 9/10 interviewer, my last interview was at best a 6.5. Was enough to get me to a second stage so I couldn't have performed too poorly but next interview is with the MD / Head of HR so conscious I'm going to need to up my game.
Its the Teams thing that has me concerned, I'd say I'm usually a 9/10 interviewer, my last interview was at best a 6.5. Was enough to get me to a second stage so I couldn't have performed too poorly but next interview is with the MD / Head of HR so conscious I'm going to need to up my game.
Just had an extension through until end of the year, I'm fairly sure another one will come after at the start of 2021 but we've been getting short extensions for a while now so not too concerned! Don't think IR35 will impact us, it's when I eventually move on and look for another role that it may be an issue.How are the fellow contractors doing?
I've just been given another extension but it's the shortest one yet, keeping me going until the end of January. Job hunting just after Christmas with the market as it is, and the impending IR35 changes in April, going to be a whole load of fun
Enjoying myself so much more now. When I first started in March I found the adjustment to be really difficult going from somewhere where I knew everyone and how everything worked, to knowing no-one and learning new things. It almost felt like grief when I first started. Then Covid hit and it was WFH from mid-March until August. Now we're in October and I'm much happier. The probationary period is done and I've got a little pay rise too so all good! Really supportive team too which is nice. Definitely the right move.
I was made redundant last , luckily I found something the same day but it has made me think about how my future has been in other peoples hands so am working towards being self employed again. Ive already started as a sideline but my issue is getting exposure if anyone has suggestion.
I make personalised clocks and my Facebook page is designs in time.
Some kind of ecommerce and an etsy shop are coming soon
I make personalised clocks and my Facebook page is designs in time.
Some kind of ecommerce and an etsy shop are coming soon
So I got the promotion I went for, however a lot of messing around, the head of the department didn't want me to go, because of internal political reasons, they waited over 2 months to offer it to me, and then caveated it with a 6 months transition plan with zero details planned so would be more like 9-12 months, so I found another job. Moving back to internal instead of Service Provider, but also waiting to hear off a few over roles as I have a three month notice so not starting until 2021. Expecting a counter, but it would have to be seriously good and I wouldn't work for the head of that department now he's shown his true colours, whereas my current manager is amazing.
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You can link up your FB and instagram pages and create a shop on there as well which allows you to link products to posts which might be useful to you.
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Funny thing with counter offers is that statistically 75% (made that up but it's high like that) of people who accept a counter, end up leaving within 12 months anyway as the money isn't the main motivator in the first place.
I've just booked my first work holiday in over 10yrs. Being internal and not a contractor it's the first time I get a paid holiday, and as I've been so busy since I started I've built up some decent overtime/ flexi time too. Just booked off 2 fridays in November and the 1st Dec through to the 11th Jan... if you're taking holiday for the first time may as well take the whole of december off!
Completely agree, and every-time I have accepted one in the past I have left within the year haha. I'll only consider it because of the fact that I have a stable role at the moment.
Yeah, if you feel it's time to move on then... Thing is staying then moving later can be financially motivated too - given offers are often based on current comp. Like if you're really unhappy with your current pay then rather than move right away and get your 10-20%... get your 10-20% counter offer, stay for 6 months on that higher salary and then get yourself a new offer elsewhere for another 10-20% on top of that!
It earns you the same as two job moves but with only one job move on the CV... if you don't want to risk being looked at as a job hopper but want to financially benefit from job hopping twice then, assuming you're very employable, accepting a counter offer is a good move.
In fact if you're fairly confident that you'll get a counter offer then it can be worth going to interviews and getting an offer in order to just get a pay rise - one guy at a place I worked at actually didn't leave after 12 months, he'd just entertained an interview to see what he was worth elsewhere then asked for a meeting and a pay rise to match it. Amusingly he was miffed after not getting much of a pay rise in his later annual review (on the basis that he'd already had a boost earlier in the year from the counter offer) so he just made up a second new job offer to get another pay rise/second counter offer!
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This is very true and could be a really good move if you're confident you can go out in another 6-12 and get another offer, I'd consider it. Like dowie says, it's a potential 40% hike in salary if you do it well! I suppose it also depends on what you're paid vs. market value.
Didn't make it past the second stage, annoyed as its the first time I've interviewed and not been offered in 10+ years.
Feedback was confusing, annoying and has annoyed my recruitment consultant so much he is told the company he wont be working with them in future. Glowing feedback about my track record, they liked me, but they honed in one comment I made and made a mountain out of a molehill about it. Question came up about experience working with intermediaries and making sure they meet their SLA's. Gave the standard response, engagement, pro actively manage, leverage relationship, etc, blah blah blah, and then said something like 'and if necessary I'll pick up the phone and give the broker a little kick' - which is standard London Market terminology, people all the way up to CFO level always talk about picking up the phone and shouting at the broker if you need to. At no point does anybody ever, EVER, shout at a broker. 99% of the time you've been working with the same brokers for years, they're a key stakeholder to your business being successful and you'll have a great working relationship with them. They honed in on the 'little kick' aspect of my comment and took it to mean that I'd literally be shouting at a broker and jeapoardising a key business relationship.
If the company is getting hung up on that I'm actually glad I didn't progress further, as if a company is as uptight about terminology like that then it wouldn't have been a good fit for me.
Sometimes the feedback is pointless ass covering and the real reason can't be said for fear of discrimination cases. Its very hard to put into feedback when you just don't click or don't think the person will be a good team fit so they pick a very minor flaw and run with that
Also could be a bit of internal politics at play maybe someone doesn't want to hire external and they are going through the process or they are just being super picky
So what started out as 'do a few certs in 2020 to stay fresh' has gone well. Completed and successfully passed:
Certified Scrum Product Owner - CSPO
Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner - A-CSPO
Certified Scrum Master - CSM
Leading SAFe - SAFe Agilist
ITIL V3 Expert to ITIL V4 Managing Professional
DevOps Leader
.... and half way through my Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner... hope to have that done by Christmas.
Importantly I feel like I've learned loads and doing one a month has really helped mould my perspectives and approaches to challenges I'm supporting clients with. Good news all round really.