Two new opportunities

Invertigo

Invertigo

Invertigo

Associate
Joined
19 Sep 2010
Posts
2,343
Location
The North
I've been feeling very restless and generally undervalued by my current employer now for a few months so I've started to investigate my options to move. My current work is with a specialist construction subcontractor.

Now I've got a couple of options following interviews and I'm feeling a bit lost as to which would suit best.

Option 1
Identical segment of the industry - direct competitor to my current employer
Offering a significant pay rise (nearly 70%)
Commute would be a 15 minute walk each way
Modern city centre office with plenty of space, communal areas etc (obviously not a big deal currently but construction seems hugely resistant to adopting remote working as a permanent thing)
Use same software, methodologies etc as my current employer

Option 2
Main contractor based in Civils - significant more variation in projects
Lesser pay rise (25%) but a more rounded package i.e. gym membership, health/dental insurances etc
Flexible working a given, commute is a 45 minute drive each way but this would be 2-3 times a week at most. Typical out-of-town business park offices so nothing around.
Same software again, but different processes and more levels of approval being part of a national group vs current and opt1 employers both being family owned.

Now, in terms of financial situation I'm currently in the mid 30s salary wise, so opt1 is a huge boost to our household income and one that I'd be amazed if my current employer even contemplated matching (and regardless, I doubt I'd accept anyway) and will go a long way towards setting us up financially i.e. buying a house. It's also a job I know I can do well, albeit I'd expect to be busier than current. Option 2 has much less financial gain, but arguably could be a better long-term bet due to being a much more varied role at a significantly larger company, thus offering more in the way of future progression. That being said, there's nothing to stop me going for something like this again in the future anyway.

So basically, I'd be happy to work for either. Both are small teams within the department that seem to have a good dynamic and the ethos of being given a job and left to get on with it without being micromanaged. Any opinions from anyone on which way is a better consideration?
 
Option 1 sounds far better if you view it as an 'in' with - hopefully - more options later. Damn good pay rise too. Option 2 seems to give you more variety now at the expense of a longer commute and more bureaucracy / less responsibility. How much of the pay rise of option 2 will be eaten up by commuting costs? I'd be very wary about progression / promotion prospects: as you've just found, you really have to move to better yourself.

I'd go with option 1. The combination of 70% more pay and a short walk to work in Manchester city centre is just too tempting. Just plan to move onwards and upwards in 3 - 5 years.
 
Financial gap between Option 1 and Option 2 is too big to ignore, better commute too, stands out to me as the clear winner.

Understand the whole 'bigger company, more opportunities for progression' thinking but often doesn't pan out that way and I'd rather do a few years on 55k+ than 42k+ in the mean time.
 
I think I'm agreeing with the above, it's too big of a step up financially to ignore in any situation, gets me on the property ladder significantly faster/easier and gives me more scope to save and go after something else in the future if I need to.
 
Another consideration; if I leave before September I have a financial commitment to repay to the current employers and my official notice period is 4 weeks. If I were to say hand in a 10 week notice letter, I'm assuming there's no way they could force me to leave earlier to try and claim this back? It's a bit tricky to understand.
 
Invertigo said:
my official notice period is 4 weeks. If I were to say hand in a 10 week notice letter,
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I think you need to read your contract of employment carefully, figure out how much you have to repay, and possibly take professional advice. IMHO if you have under £1000 - maybe even £2500 - to repay just bite the bullet and pay it. You're going to be earning over £1000 a week (gross) so you'll make it back very quickly.
 
Quartz said:
I think you need to read your contract of employment carefully, figure out how much you have to repay, and possibly take professional advice. IMHO if you have under £1000 - maybe even £2500 - to repay just bite the bullet and pay it. You're going to be earning over £1000 a week (gross) so you'll make it back very quickly.
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Also depending on how much it is, and how much the new employer wants you, ask them to pay whatever is owed to you as a joining bonus.
 
Option A sounds like the most suitable option. Shorter commute, no fuel use unless it's ****ing it down, you get your exercise in too. Excellent pay rise, you can hit the ground running. You haven't mentioned how old you are OP? I'm guessing late 20's early 30's? If so this move is unlikely to be your last even if you stay for 5-10 years. Option A sounds like the best bet for me.

Also if the competitor to your current employer is offering you a 75% pay rise it sounds like you're being massively underpaid where you are now and have been for a long time. You said mid 30's so a 75% raise is going to be mid 20's so you're looking at a raise to £50k a year or thereabouts. That's a HUGE jump.
 
Option 1 sounds much better to me due to pay and commute, ESPECIALLY in an industry that is frowning upon remote working. 15 min walk is fantastic because you have no commuting costs, very reliable travel time etc compared to 3-4.5hrs of driving per week and the associated costs.

Invertigo said:
Another consideration; if I leave before September I have a financial commitment to repay to the current employers and my official notice period is 4 weeks. If I were to say hand in a 10 week notice letter, I'm assuming there's no way they could force me to leave earlier to try and claim this back? It's a bit tricky to understand.
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I would double check the wording on this agreement. When you say "leave before September" are you 100% sure it's driven by leaving date and not based on resignation, entering a notice period or similar? A lot of financial handcuffs tend to be driven by when you declare you are leaving, not when you actually leave. But in any case it depends how much you have to repay, you could earn back that money pretty quickly in the new job anyway. You are bascially getting a £2k/month gross pay rise with option 1 so if the repayment is small you might find you are better off leaving sooner and paying it off that trying to delay your departure.

MissChief said:
mid 30's so a 75% raise is going to be mid 20's so you're looking at a raise to £50k a year or thereabouts. That's a HUGE jump.
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It's ~£60k not ~£50k. Teaching you to suck eggs here OP but do consider that once you go past £50k you pay more marginal income tax and start losing child benefit etc (if you claim that). So whilst it would indeed be a big boost to your household income, +70% gross will impact net income a fair bit less.
 
HangTime said:
Option 1 sounds much better to me due to pay and commute, ESPECIALLY in an industry that is frowning upon remote working. 15 min walk is fantastic because you have no commuting costs, very reliable travel time etc compared to 3-4.5hrs of driving per week and the associated costs.


I would double check the wording on this agreement. When you say "leave before September" are you 100% sure it's driven by leaving date and not based on resignation, entering a notice period or similar? A lot of financial handcuffs tend to be driven by when you declare you are leaving, not when you actually leave. But in any case it depends how much you have to repay, you could earn back that money pretty quickly in the new job anyway. You are bascially getting a £2k/month gross pay rise with option 1 so if the repayment is small you might find you are better off leaving sooner and paying it off that trying to delay your departure.


It's ~£60k not ~£50k. Teaching you to suck eggs here OP but do consider that once you go past £50k you pay more marginal income tax and start losing child benefit etc (if you claim that). So whilst it would indeed be a big boost to your household income, +70% gross will impact net income a fair bit less.
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A lot of valid points in this, I've read and reread the agreement re education costs and the wording is clear, in my eyes anyway. It states 'if you leave the business for whatever reason we would expect recovery of costs in the order of below .... ". Now, I'm no lawyer but that seems pretty clear its relying on date of leaving rather than date of notice? The agreement was then signed 30/08 so would cease to have any bearing on me if I leave 31/08 or later. It's 3k of additional costs and my monthly take home would be just over 1k up so certainly worth trying to avoid for the sake of a few weeks.

I suppose the potential issue I might run into is if they choose to utilise payment in lieu of notice, would this stand up to any sort of scrutiny in regards me 'leaving' earlier than the notice I've given, and if so I may as well just bike the bullet and hand it in now.
 
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A 15 minute walk (or short drive) is so invaluable. I've gone from a 3 minute walk to work to a 45 minute bus ride (25 minutes in the car on a good day) and 5 minute walk each way. I don't mind as I read a book, but I do miss the 3 minute walk.
 
Quartz said:
Definitely a topic to include in your letter of resignation. Make sure you get any waiving of that in writing.
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So, worth stating that my proposed resignation date is after all my liabilities clear, effectively? And perhaps a comment that I'd be agreeable to leaving earlier if the business would like, but on condition of these liabilties being waived?
 
Invertigo said:
So, worth stating that my proposed resignation date is after all my liabilities clear, effectively? And perhaps a comment that I'd be agreeable to leaving earlier if the business would like, but on condition of these liabilties being waived?
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Or ‘happy to train my replacement on all aspects of the role subject to waiving of all liabilities’?
 
Invertigo said:
So, worth stating that my proposed resignation date is after all my liabilities clear, effectively? And perhaps a comment that I'd be agreeable to leaving earlier if the business would like, but on condition of these liabilties being waived?
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What is your job out of interest?
 
So, having spoken to Citizens Advice, it seems their take on it is that payment in lieu of notice is fine to take and doesn't have any impact on my effective leaving date in respect to any financial agreement with the business. So lets say I issue 4 weeks notice and they give me payment in lieu, it would be treated as leaving in September in terms of my liabilities even though my employment would end in August.
 
I’d go for option 1 at least for a couple of years. Then use it to fund yourself a similar role to option 2, albeit at a significantly higher salary. Companies often price people largely based on what they’re currently earning so a 75% pay rise is not to be sniffed at. Can always get yourself a more modest 20% or so rise on top of that in a year or two.
 
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