This Business and Moment...

I actually go via another company. It's kind of an umbrella company, but here in Swiss you need a company to go via, you can't do limited company as most companies have preferred suppliers list etc. but I am contracting currently.
What's weird here, is that you're actually no better off contracting vs. perm. You can normally negotiate a very good salary, just shy of your contracting rate, which means with holiday, the bonus and very good pension, you're normally better off. Miles different from the UK in that respect.
 
Ah right. I've been contracting for nearly 4 years in the UK, I always try to never get into politics. Just turn up, do my job, go home. That said, I may go permanent in my current post as it's a good job, has a good team, very close to home etc. I'm fed up of commuting and looking for work every x months.
 
FortuitousFluke said:
Revising for my final CIPS exam which is tomorrow afternoon, 15 in total over about 2.5 years. This one however is legal definitions and I've never felt so out of my comfort zone with an exam. Having said that this is the point that I usually start to pull it all together in the old noggin so there's hope yet.

I find I've developed a love hate relationship with working in London. My team's a bit weird, I've got a new manager who is covering maternity leave who is very very into hands on micromanagement of projects, I like to be involved but I take a more organic approach to things, guiding but not taking on work just because I don't trust others to do it, the other guy of my level is bare minimum, do what you want, it's your funeral. It's a weird environment to work in. Then there's the commute which is a killer. Having said all that I cycle over London Bridge about 5 when the lights are all on and I feel like it's the right place to be at the stage in my career, vibrant and exciting with a sense of possibilities. Maybe it's the organisation that's wrong.

Think I'll get this exam out of the way and see what's out there in the new year, there's potential for funding for a leadership qualification thing through ILM following CIPs but it feels internally focused so not worth sticking around for if I can find a better fit.
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I started CIPS in 2005 after doing a degree in engineering in 2004. I've had 2 modules left to so since 2008 and have never got back into it. Starting to see it as a requirement in a lot of junior to mid level purchasing roles now.
 
panthro said:
I started CIPS in 2005 after doing a degree in engineering in 2004. I've had 2 modules left to so since 2008 and have never got back into it. Starting to see it as a requirement in a lot of junior to mid level purchasing roles now.
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It crops up on almost all roles now but how it's viewed depends on your sector. I'm public sector and heads of procurement are starting to rebel against it as they feel cips has left the public and third sectors behind in a shift to a more private sector focus. Having said that I'd recommend it to anyone in the sector provided they can get funding. Maybe even if they can't if they're serious about a career in procurement.

At the very least is shows willing.
 
Skillmister said:
I've been asked to move offices and am unsure what to do about the costs for the extra travel.

My current commute is 10 miles, 5 motorway 5 town. It can take as little as 15 minutes if I go in early or 25-30+ at 9am/5pm. Average is about 20.

The new commute will be 23 miles, 21 motorway 2 town. Shouldn't take any longer than 30 minutes as it isn't particularly congested.

What do people think is a reasonable amount of money to take the extra mileage and other associated car costs into account? Roughly 6000 miles extra a year, my car currently costs me 14p a mile in fuel alone.
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Have confirmed I will be compensated to the tune of fuel costs + 30% which should account for wear and tear :)
 
I had a "pre-screening" HR phone call about the Head Building Capability Digitisation & Analytics role yesterday. HR lady was lovely. Think it went OK. Hoping that I can skip the phone convo with the Hiring manager and go right to a f2f meeting due to the recommendations to speak with me by her peers, but we will see how that goes. Fingers crossed anyway. Seems like a decent position.

I'd love to hear something positive from these other 2 positions, too. But hey, I'll just wait and see... nothing has come about yet.
 
I got a new job today. :) I have been pretty sick of my old one, due to many micro changes building up to an almost unrecognisable role. I have been wanting to move on for a while now and today I was offered a great new role in tech support for a different company. I start at the end of January.
 
howiepoohs said:
I got a new job today. :) I have been pretty sick of my old one, due to many micro changes building up to an almost unrecognisable role. I have been wanting to move on for a while now and today I was offered a great new role in tech support for a different company. I start at the end of January.
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Awesome. Best time of year for get a new job. Something you really look forward to over the Christmas period, and joining during a really busy period is ideal too.
 
Got a new job today. Was fairly happy where I am now, but a former manager convinced me to apply where he works now and I did enough to convince the rest of the interview panel. It's going to be a fairly large step up, but I'll be working for someone who obviously believes I have what it takes which is always nice. Can't wait to hand my notice in now!
 
If a company has a bad year with low sales, redundancies made etc to the point it's obvious even half way through the year that bonuses are not being paid; Is it still ethical/normal to pay out dividends to the shareholders, half of which happen to be the top two employees?
 
In to the final two weeks of winding up my architecture practice. Has been a pretty rubbish time since September when the other director pulled the rug out from under us citing lack of confidence in the sector and had accepted a job with another practice (just as we had landed a great client....).

Making the staff redundant wasn't a particularly enjoyable experience but thankfully we only had one. Was a weird moment because between finding out and making him redundant I was head hunted for a new role starting in January, and was able to offer him a new job, seconds after terminating his employment with us.

Silver linings and all that. Onwards and upwards.
 
Glad some good could come out of the situation.

I have an interview 15th Jan, face to face as got through the HR one on the phone. I met with the guy who recommended me for it, and he knows the hiring manager so said if I want to meet with him in Jan before the interview to get a bit of a heads up, he'd be happy to. Which is very nice of him! Here's hoping... things in my current position are just so badly run at the moment and there is another re-org going on, which will likely make things even more fun.
 
Informed an hour ago that our entire department will be put at risk (as part of a larger scale reduction in numbers) to lose two men out of a team of five and the supervisor as well.

After the initial shock, the reality sets in and, to be honest, little to no chance of me retaining my job short of others voluntarily leaving. Merry Christmas all...
 
Need to get out of my job now, the promotion and pay rise 5 months back was great, but the new role sucks. Because our insurance company is registered in Gibraltar for regulatory reasons everything I do has to go through our local managing agent who maintains the relationship with the regulator.

This structure simply sucks, they're not the most on the ball company I have ever dealt with and queries often fade into the ether, until they rear their heads when we have a deadline 24 hours away. I don't feel like I'm learning much (if anything) anymore - I think its time to cut and run.

I might try and stick it out until bonus season, but then again if a decent role comes up in London then I think I'll be all over it and take the hit on the bonus.
 
Always nice to finish the year on a good note.

I just had our last monthly catch up with my manager. She has given me really excellent feedback on my performance since moving to FTE at Microsoft. She feels that I am both contributing very well to both customers and to the business, which is very important and having a great impact in a very clever way. She says that aside from technical skills, my soft skills are very impressive, particularly with effective communication and its something which a lot of people could benefit from.

She finished off by saying that we have laid great groundwork for a strong start to 2018 and feels that next year is going to be very promising for me. I mentioned this to a colleague and they told me "normally that means you're being lined up for a promotion"

I don't know what to say, I am not getting my hopes up and just glad of the really positive feedback but I can't stop smiling at the same time :D - I had to share!

Going to spend the next couple of months thinking about what I want my career to head so I have some points of discussion when we next sit down and chat. :)
 
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