This Business and Moment...

Yep, just got another rejection from an interview I had on Friday. Told my skillset is too broad, yet I have a number of Microsoft certifications relating to that field :confused:

But yeah, I have been working in IT for 18 years. Of course my skillset is going to be broad :rolleyes:
 
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randomshenans said:
Annoys the **** of me that. I often read it as "you'll get bored of the repetitive work we'll ask you to do in the same area"
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Yeah, I was taken back abit with the response. This role has been on the market for nearly a year.

If you stay in the same role for too long, you get told you dont have enough experience for other areas. You work different roles during a long time then you are told your experience is too broad for a different role.

You just cant win sometimes.
 
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malachi said:
Yep, just got another rejection from an interview I had on Friday. Told my skillset is too broad, yet I have a number of Microsoft certifications relating to that field :confused:

But yeah, I have been working in IT for 18 years. Of course my skillset is going to be broad :rolleyes:
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Could be salary band, company simply not willing to budge on a more experienced candidate?

Broader knowledge of stacks are invaluable.
 
malachi said:
Yep, just got another rejection from an interview I had on Friday. Told my skillset is too broad, yet I have a number of Microsoft certifications relating to that field :confused:

But yeah, I have been working in IT for 18 years. Of course my skillset is going to be broad :rolleyes:
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This is one I've had in general over the years, even with some selective customisation of my CV. Quite a few employers don't think I'll stick around due to having relatively broad experience, or are confused as to what my intentions are i.e. think I actually want a different job in the company and trying to get a foot in the door, etc. etc.
 
LuckyBenski said:
So an interesting one for me... Been offered an interview for a role at my existing company. It's managing a test lab (large range of devices, regular test routines, device certification etc). I'm currently in the software team but prior to that worked under the hiring manager for this role, in the test team.

I'm not 100% sure I want to leave the software team - I like the subject matter and the people, just don't feel super talented as a developer. Whereas I have ideas for how to improve the lab, expand, make it run better etc. So I'm really unsure if I want this shift, it would involve going from mostly home working to full time in office, lots of differences in the work itself and the environment.

The way I see it is, going through the interview process should help me work out if I want to make the move or not.

The question is, if I get offered the role, and I decide not to take it for either personal preference or even something like the pay not meeting my expectations, will this lead to bad feeling from my colleagues? Turning them down for a role they want me for, but remaining in the wider team. We're not a huge company, only about 100 total and 40% of that is the technology department.

Open to people's perspectives on this as I might need to navigate the situation where I say thanks but no thanks, I'd rather stay over here with this other role :D
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What's your current role? I'm assuming software developer? What's your previous experience?

Managing a test lab seems quite niche, so I'd be concerned about career progression.

If pure development isn't your bag, what about a move to testing/QA? You'd still be in the software team (which you like by the sound of it), but it's a bit more of a 'standard' role that has more career options. Having coding skills would certainly help with writing automated tests, but perhaps wouldn't be as 'intense' as a pure dev role.

Moving up to a test lead/manager position would potentially entail managing the the test lab as well if that's the sort of thing that interests you.

Regarding your concern about turning them down, I personally wouldn't worry about it. Just be honest that you're not sure what the job entails so would like to find out more. As long as you've not told the recruiter that you're going all in, or told your current boss to go swivel, then I can't imagine folk would be too upset. If they do get upset, then they're probably not the sort of people that you should worry about anyway!
 
NotAGolf said:
What's your current role? I'm assuming software developer? What's your previous experience?

Managing a test lab seems quite niche, so I'd be concerned about career progression.

If pure development isn't your bag, what about a move to testing/QA? You'd still be in the software team (which you like by the sound of it), but it's a bit more of a 'standard' role that has more career options. Having coding skills would certainly help with writing automated tests, but perhaps wouldn't be as 'intense' as a pure dev role.

Moving up to a test lead/manager position would potentially entail managing the the test lab as well if that's the sort of thing that interests you.

Regarding your concern about turning them down, I personally wouldn't worry about it. Just be honest that you're not sure what the job entails so would like to find out more. As long as you've not told the recruiter that you're going all in, or told your current boss to go swivel, then I can't imagine folk would be too upset. If they do get upset, then they're probably not the sort of people that you should worry about anyway!
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So I'm currently a software developer, managed to move sideways into this role from the test team. I don't think I'd have qualified for a software dev position elsewhere but I was very familiar with the company's niche products (smart TV apps and metadata platform). So it's a bit full circle, I understand testing due to my history and it informs my skills as a developer, and vice versa. In reality I'm not a fantastic dev but I'm very useful as a kind of glue between the development and testing areas.

I do agree it's fairly niche - smallish company so progression tends to be when the company grows or someone leaves, you can move up a bit. This new test lab manager role is newly created as the hiring manager has moved up a level for instance. I like the company and if I wanted rapid progression/pay growth I'd look elsewhere, but - for now - I stick around for the people and culture.

General update: Had the interview, felt very natural and we started early and finished late. I think that's a good thing? It descended into a general discussion about how we can improve the team structure and grow in a healthy way. My main takeaway is that I didn't feel awkward leaning on my familiarity with the company and work - when I interviewed in 2020 for the software dev role, I tried to pretend I was an outsider like any other applicant. This time I basically went into the interview saying "Here's what I'd like to change and implement if I get the responsibility.

More interviews next week then will find out if I go to the second round.
 
So 4 days in, I’m getting up to speed. Seems l’ll be the product owner for the group enterprise cloud (my boss is a contractor so there is a vibe of owning the whole shooting match). Still in startup, with all the challenges and stakeholder selling.
 
Screeeech said:
It's hard out there at the moment,

Most jobs have large numbers of people applying for limited positions, you're not alone in struggling,
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Got an offer for a senior management role today, huge weight off my mind.

Considering how hard it's been for me to find staff over the past few years, that was one surprisingly tough job search.... How the market changes so quickly.
 
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Why is it so difficult to find out what a role pays? I find it really frustrating that with most you have to jump through hoops or even in some cases formally apply, to find out they can't even match what you are currently on. I have no interest in wasting anyone's time, just tell me when you're willing to pay from the off before I consider applying.
 
ChrisD. said:
Why is it so difficult to find out what a role pays? I find it really frustrating that with most you have to jump through hoops or even in some cases formally apply, to find out they can't even match what you are currently on. I have no interest in wasting anyone's time, just tell me when you're willing to pay from the off before I consider applying.
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I wish we had a law like Austria they need to state salary in the job description.

Getting fed up of recruiters calling me, spending 30mins to 45mins to discuss a role. Then ask about salary expectations at the end then to be told "oh, sorry this role doesn't match that" wasting both of our time. :mad:
 
shifty_uk said:
Got an offer for a senior management role today, huge weight off my mind.

Considering how hard it's been for me to find staff over the past few years, that was one surprisingly tough job search.... How the market changes so quickly.
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That's good news.

It's funny - nobody to fill the roles, yet there's people out there looking. The issue is perfectionism and most likely the uncertainty of the economy - ie you have an approved budget but magically the HR direct has been told to slow onboarding with exceptions only..
 
So the remote practical experience supervisor signed off all of my objectives yesterday, allowing me to finally apply for my ACCA membership. I thought it would be a much longer drawn out process of talking them through what I've done over the past 4 years for each point of each objective, but it was much simpler thankfully - just a couple of meetings with them and my manager and email exchanges.

Next goal through my new job starting in a couple of months is to get public sector experience and apply for CIPFA membership too. That should allow me to step up into a CFO type role hopefully.
 
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malachi said:
I wish we had a law like Austria they need to state salary in the job description.

Getting fed up of recruiters calling me, spending 30mins to 45mins to discuss a role. Then ask about salary expectations at the end then to be told "oh, sorry this role doesn't match that" wasting both of our time. :mad:
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My first question to any recruiter that calls me is the salary. Not a chance I'm discussing a role for 30-45m of my time without knowing that it aligns with my expected salary.
 
Yes I validate salary up front, no point wasting time discussing stuff that doesn't fit. Get location / working style out of the way early too if that's important to you (again no point discussing specifics of a role if they require you to commute a lot further / more frequently than you are comfortable with.
 
In an interesting spot, 7 weeks after going into a perm role my employer are looking to shuffle things around. Currently I run the projects side of a key function, with the BAU aspects of that function run through a separate team. I'm regularly required to utilise that teams resource to input into project outputs, and I generally keep them pointed in the right direction on BAU tasks. I've been offered the chance to take over the BAU function officially as well as keep my project work. I've done the BAU aspects of this role before and I'll admit that I wasn't enthralled by it, but I'd no longer be hands on as there is a team to support.

This is a significant shift in workload and I'm going to be spread thin. The BAU function needs some work, there are no immediate fires that need putting out but the quality / speed of work is not up to my standards and if its going to be my reputation on the line I've got a great deal I need to work on. On top of that I've got 3 pretty major projects on the go so having the capacity to do everythng is going to be challenging.

In an ideal world, I don't think its a role I'd want, but I'm aware that if I don't take they'll have to go external. If they go external they'll either bring in somebody that is really strong who will be encroaching on what I do, or it'll be somebody who isn't up to standard and it'll be more frustration. I've indicated that to take it we will need a serious chat about pay and rations, I'm already at the top end of the salary banding for my grade and we'd be looking at ploughing through that ceiling for it to be worth my while. I've also suggested that to ease my concerns about capacity I'll want to bring another body into the team to be my right hand, again they've suggested this won't be a problem.

Pros
- Chance to build the entire function in my vision and the budget to do so
- Signifcant pay bump
- Fix all the minor annoyances that exist in the current structure
- Chance to add real value across the entire group, not just on projects
- Puts me firmly on the director track
- Job security significantly increased

Cons
- BAU aspects of the role are pretty dull
- Work / Life balance will worsen in the short-mid term
- Inheriting a team that is going to need a lot of coaching to become what it needs to be
- Reputational risk in the short term regarding the quality of outputs produced

What would you do?
 
Throrik said:
My first question to any recruiter that calls me is the salary. Not a chance I'm discussing a role for 30-45m of my time without knowing that it aligns with my expected salary.
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I have said many times, never fear the question and never waste time discussing any role without clarity on this point.

Recruiters who won't give you a solid steer on this are not worth your time and my advice is tell them what you need to make you interested, not answer the question "what do you earn now".

This applies to every single job out there too.
 
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Rids said:
In an interesting spot, 7 weeks after going into a perm role my employer are looking to shuffle things around. Currently I run the projects side of a key function, with the BAU aspects of that function run through a separate team. I'm regularly required to utilise that teams resource to input into project outputs, and I generally keep them pointed in the right direction on BAU tasks. I've been offered the chance to take over the BAU function officially as well as keep my project work. I've done the BAU aspects of this role before and I'll admit that I wasn't enthralled by it, but I'd no longer be hands on as there is a team to support.

This is a significant shift in workload and I'm going to be spread thin. The BAU function needs some work, there are no immediate fires that need putting out but the quality / speed of work is not up to my standards and if its going to be my reputation on the line I've got a great deal I need to work on. On top of that I've got 3 pretty major projects on the go so having the capacity to do everythng is going to be challenging.

In an ideal world, I don't think its a role I'd want, but I'm aware that if I don't take they'll have to go external. If they go external they'll either bring in somebody that is really strong who will be encroaching on what I do, or it'll be somebody who isn't up to standard and it'll be more frustration. I've indicated that to take it we will need a serious chat about pay and rations, I'm already at the top end of the salary banding for my grade and we'd be looking at ploughing through that ceiling for it to be worth my while. I've also suggested that to ease my concerns about capacity I'll want to bring another body into the team to be my right hand, again they've suggested this won't be a problem.

Pros
- Chance to build the entire function in my vision and the budget to do so
- Signifcant pay bump
- Fix all the minor annoyances that exist in the current structure
- Chance to add real value across the entire group, not just on projects
- Puts me firmly on the director track
- Job security significantly increased

Cons
- BAU aspects of the role are pretty dull
- Work / Life balance will worsen in the short-mid term
- Inheriting a team that is going to need a lot of coaching to become what it needs to be
- Reputational risk in the short term regarding the quality of outputs produced

What would you do?
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I'd have a few questions like are they trying to roll two jobs into one to eliminate one and solve an immediate gap they have.

Are you talking on too much. Is this an issue of trying to do everything. Because you could train someone else into the role.

Is it an opportunity to break through a salary/grade cap and expand your role to encompass others.

If you are young with no other commitments then a year or two of utterly focused on career is not a problem. If you have other commitments out of work that might interfer with that focus then I might need thinking its too much.

You can always take it on and then if it becomes too much then fall back to taking someone on.
 
I once got a dev role that after getting interview they wanted to change to combining two roles into one. I passed to take up a single role. But that over time that role changed into a dual role and eventually that secondary role became the primary one. So it's easily to be deflected away from what you want to do into convenient role filler that suits the employer but the not the employee.
 
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