The Work Thread

Rhubarb wrote:

Rocsteady wrote:Now I'm beginning to wonder if I went in too low - not sure how acceptable it'd be to say, actually, I want 30k +, and I'm also wondering about that salary range. It's incredibly wide, isn't it? Seems slightly ludicrous to me that the same role could pay double depending on how hard you haggle.

I meet all the job specifications but my experience doesn't go way beyond them so doubt I'll realistically be troubling the upper reaches of that range to start with, am also wondering if 25k's even enough to live fairly comfortably in London.

What industry is it? What level is the role? For IT 25k would be complete entry level in London - a lot of grad roles would offer more than that also. I'd say crank your ask up to 30+ and if you're in any way competent you'll be fine.

In terms of living comfortably in London on 25k, that depends on where you want to live and how much socialising you do. After paying rent and train tickets I would probably struggle to afford my social life at that salary.

Depends what you're doing in IT as well.

When I was job searching entry level IT Support in London was 15-24k for first line support. I joined my current company on 18, went up to 20 within 3 weeks and since then my money has gone up twice again to 24k. Next step up for me will be when I hit second line.

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I officially hate and love having time off. Love it, because I can relax. Hate it, because the first day back is always hell. Came in straight to our big client in London with 30 tickets, no idea what's been going on and I've only been off two days. v_v

I am a senior at the moment and have zero desire to move any further up and start having to deal with managing teams and all that bollocks. More money would be nice (and I have no idea what this “bonus” thing you are talking about is) but it is not worth the added stress and the additional hours that would be required.

Rhubarb wrote:

Rocsteady wrote:Now I'm beginning to wonder if I went in too low - not sure how acceptable it'd be to say, actually, I want 30k +, and I'm also wondering about that salary range. It's incredibly wide, isn't it? Seems slightly ludicrous to me that the same role could pay double depending on how hard you haggle.

I meet all the job specifications but my experience doesn't go way beyond them so doubt I'll realistically be troubling the upper reaches of that range to start with, am also wondering if 25k's even enough to live fairly comfortably in London.

What industry is it? What level is the role? For IT 25k would be complete entry level in London - a lot of grad roles would offer more than that also. I'd say crank your ask up to 30+ and if you're in any way competent you'll be fine.

In terms of living comfortably in London on 25k, that depends on where you want to live and how much socialising you do. After paying rent and train tickets I would probably struggle to afford my social life at that salary.

I work in marketing, got a relevant degree and couple of years of good experience so will probably try push for more. Think living in Eastern Europe's skewed my perspective somewhat since if I was on over 25k here I'd be in the top 1%.

I don't mind living in a sub-par area, within reason, often quite like living in slightly grittier places. I do tend to socialise often though so did think I might struggle to maintain that lifestyle on 25 grand.

Moggy wrote:I am a senior at the moment and have zero desire to move any further up and start having to deal with managing teams and all that bollocks. More money would be nice (and I have no idea what this “bonus” thing you are talking about is) but it is not worth the added stress and the additional hours that would be required.

A senior what? Normally I'd assume senior manager but the rest of your post would appear to contradict that.

Drumstick wrote:

Moggy wrote:I am a senior at the moment and have zero desire to move any further up and start having to deal with managing teams and all that bollocks. More money would be nice (and I have no idea what this “bonus” thing you are talking about is) but it is not worth the added stress and the additional hours that would be required.

A senior what? Normally I'd assume senior manager but the rest of your post would appear to contradict that.

I feel like a senior citizen.

We don't have many titles here, but they go:

Administrator
Senior
Team Leader
Department Manager
King Emperor God

An administrator does the work, a senior checks the work and plans future work, a team leader runs the teams, a department manager runs the department and nobody knows what the strawberry float anybody higher up does.

Rocsteady wrote:

Rhubarb wrote:

Rocsteady wrote:Now I'm beginning to wonder if I went in too low - not sure how acceptable it'd be to say, actually, I want 30k +, and I'm also wondering about that salary range. It's incredibly wide, isn't it? Seems slightly ludicrous to me that the same role could pay double depending on how hard you haggle.

I meet all the job specifications but my experience doesn't go way beyond them so doubt I'll realistically be troubling the upper reaches of that range to start with, am also wondering if 25k's even enough to live fairly comfortably in London.

What industry is it? What level is the role? For IT 25k would be complete entry level in London - a lot of grad roles would offer more than that also. I'd say crank your ask up to 30+ and if you're in any way competent you'll be fine.

In terms of living comfortably in London on 25k, that depends on where you want to live and how much socialising you do. After paying rent and train tickets I would probably struggle to afford my social life at that salary.

I work in marketing, got a relevant degree and couple of years of good experience so will probably try push for more. Think living in Eastern Europe's skewed my perspective somewhat since if I was on over 25k here I'd be in the top 1%.

I don't mind living in a sub-par area, within reason, often quite like living in slightly grittier places. I do tend to socialise often though so did think I might struggle to maintain that lifestyle on 25 grand.

The answer to "should I ask for more" in the creative/marketing sector is always yes.

It was contracting but the last creative role I did I got £50k FTE with a few years experience / degree for a conglomerate so yes £25k is low. If it's corporate you should always get as much as you can. Generally asking for more money says more good about you than bad as long as you're qualified.

Regarding office views, the worst place I worked in was a bloody panopticon so your view was of everybody else and them of you .

I've had a £30 cash bonus once for working my tits off and not getting paid enough, which isn't legal.

Wow, that was scary as hell.

PC here got infected by ransomware, user says he has no idea how, but I managed to cut off the network access before it could start encrypting the file server.

That could've been really bad.

You're a hero! Well done.

I take back all I said about them never giving us a bonus. We all just got £5 gift cards for Greggs.

Moggy wrote:I take back all I said about them never giving us a bonus. We all just got £5 gift cards for Greggs.

Can maybe get a couple of steak bakes and a sausage roll for that.

Cheeky Devlin wrote:

Moggy wrote:I take back all I said about them never giving us a bonus. We all just got £5 gift cards for Greggs.

Can maybe get a couple of steak bakes and a sausage roll for that.

A lady just came back and said there was £10 on her Greggs card not £5 as we were told. Just think of how many sausage rolls I can get if I have £10 on mine!

If only it was peter's bakery, 4 sausage rolls for a pound

Moggy wrote:

Cheeky Devlin wrote:

Moggy wrote:I take back all I said about them never giving us a bonus. We all just got £5 gift cards for Greggs.

Can maybe get a couple of steak bakes and a sausage roll for that.

A lady just came back and said there was £10 on her Greggs card not £5 as we were told. Just think of how many sausage rolls I can get if I have £10 on mine!

Youre not good enough for £10 at Greggs

Qikz wrote:

Moggy wrote:

Cheeky Devlin wrote:

Moggy wrote:I take back all I said about them never giving us a bonus. We all just got £5 gift cards for Greggs.

Can maybe get a couple of steak bakes and a sausage roll for that.

A lady just came back and said there was £10 on her Greggs card not £5 as we were told. Just think of how many sausage rolls I can get if I have £10 on mine!

Youre not good enough for £10 at Greggs

Yes I am, I am a good boy, I deserve treats. Damn you.

So, how do you go about asking to see your work contract without it effectively screaming out 'I'm thinking of leaving'. Asking for a friend.

Most people have one from the employer when they started, they should have kept it in a safe place.

I checked on mine this morning to see my sick leave entitlement incase I need treatment so you could pull that one.

Errkal wrote:Most people have one from the employer when they started, they should have kept it in a safe place.

But if your title/role has changed can it be inferred you've signed a new/different contract without putting pen to paper but by accepting the position?

Rex Kramer wrote:

Errkal wrote:Most people have one from the employer when they started, they should have kept it in a safe place.

But if your title/role has changed can it be inferred you've signed a new/different contract without putting pen to paper but by accepting the position?

From my previous roles when ever a role or title was changed I got a new contract so I would assume you should get one to sign, at the very least they should send you the updated one for your records.

Errkal wrote:

Rex Kramer wrote:

Errkal wrote:Most people have one from the employer when they started, they should have kept it in a safe place.

But if your title/role has changed can it be inferred you've signed a new/different contract without putting pen to paper but by accepting the position?

From my previous roles when ever a role or title was changed I got a new contract so I would assume you should get one to sign, at the very least they should send you the updated one for your records.

Agreed. When I've had a promotion in the past I've signed something that stated my new title and salary and that my conditions remained unchanged. A contract cannot change without you signing it.