The Work Thread

On the pay rise subject, I go through this hell every year, but on the other side of the table. This may work differently in smaller companies but where I work, I have a 2.5% budget and this needs to cover merit increases and promotions so if I need to promote someone, someone else (normally more than one) cannot get the budgeted 2.5%. You also need to justify larger increases and when someone has a low salary for historical reasons, you can't just move them up the salary scale, you need to give them a more than average increase over years.

If there is a flight risk you can request an out of cycle increase but there are two problems with this. The first is that this comes from a separate budget which I found out when I tried to use it that this year's budget had already been spent and the second problem is that it requires the most senior person in the region's approval to spend any of it.

But the good news is that people don't really want more money, just more interesting work and responsibility (so HR tell me in their yearly BS presentation before I start the merit process).

Death's Head wrote:But the good news is that people don't really want more money, just more interesting work and responsibility (so HR tell me in their yearly BS presentation before I start the merit process).

If someone is given more work then they either expect more money, or are using the experience to build up their CV so they can move somewhere which will give them more money.

There's no way they can actually believe what they're sprouting.

That's not a growth wrote:

Death's Head wrote:But the good news is that people don't really want more money, just more interesting work and responsibility (so HR tell me in their yearly BS presentation before I start the merit process).

[emoji38] If someone is given more work then they either expect more money, or are using the experience to build up their CV so they can move somewhere which will give them more money.

There's no way they can actually believe what they're sprouting.

I don't believe that anyone believes it but it is just BS they don't actually have to tell the people who are getting a gooseberry fool salary increase. I don't tell people this either because I know what my reaction would be if someone tried to use this as a reason why I only need a small increase. My point is that your manager has fairly limited increase options so don't take it too badly if you can't get the increase you want, it just isn't as simple to get an increase as you might think.

Quitting my job tomorrow. How should I walk out?

K wrote:Quitting my job tomorrow. How should I walk out?

Ask for a raise and when they say "no", say "fine, I'm going". If they say yes then say they should have given it to you without asking and still leave.

That sounds like a very short version of what I'd do following my own input earlier, if I had totally lost my nut and couldn't stand it anymore.

I've left positions sincerely but never properly said strawberry float this, hopefully I won't have to.

But now I just worked like 24hrs over a bank holiday Friday to catch up on self-imposed deadlines after customer and supplier delays so when it comes to a lack of incentives I clearly don't need any because that's cray cray.

All about winning those customers for the long haul eh.

To be honest I haven't worked that hard in weeks, there tends to be one really demanding job crop up every now and then, you just hope it impresses some prospective customer to hire you and the whole thing goes on and on like that. Don't start a business if you give up easily. The people doing (obviously a lot of a startup biz is just spent on sales trying to win new customers and build up the reputation) tough jobs day in day out (I particularly respect some tradesmen, they really do work their tits off under their own steam) must have immense stamina. I suppose it's easy enough to give yourself a raise - just ask for 10% more next time or 100% or whatever you think you can get, but the risk is like 100x higher as I've gone months with no money at all.

It can be very hard because more often than not to save money (and sometimes time but not always - outsourcing is good in principle) the answer is to do sodding everything yourself to make a little % more profit to spend on baked beans and council tax.

If anyone wants to find it what it's like managing or budgeting or doing all the other "stuff" nameless people in a company do, just quit your job and do it all yourself. Fun stuff.

Which reminds me my accounts were last updated in April

First day in our new office, or at least our new temporary office while the real new office is finished. The whole place smells of paint and the wifi is pretty slow, but we have a proper break room now and beanbags so its a net win!

Bean bags, strawberry floating hipster companies.

God I know what you mean by that fresh paint smell and it usually comes with some form of brightly coloured sofa, silver coated metal furnishings and beanbags as well.

Sent from my 70s reclaimed black powder-coated tubular steel frame and polished dark green hardtop.

I keep nearly falling asleep in meetings because of sitting in a beanbag.

All the business wankers got moved to another floor today so now I'll no longer have to overhear discussion about touching base and other such verbal excrement. Thank strawberry float.

Good lord. We had a super hot Portuguese girl start at work a while ago, and she takes inappropriate flirting to a whole new level (no, I'm not posting pics). She can touch base with me any day.

Anyway, has anybody ever taken a 'career break'? Or generally have any experience of people taking them? I know it's down to an employee to discuss with their employer, but I'm thinking more about doing it between jobs (if I was to do it). I'm particularly interested in the 'coming back and finding work' part.

I've got this week off work and today was a nice start. I feel so relaxed.

Over a year, built up relationships with three of the top IT guys at my company. They all finally started to work on my projects.

However come this month:
1st guy is booted out
2nd guy is going back to his old job
3rd guy is going to the UK

Jesus christ.

Biting the bullet and going to see two agencies next week. Joy.

Although one of them has said my CV is great so I'm even more confused.

Sometimes you just need someone else to sell for you, it might help. Agents do that over the phone which is a lot better than writing covering letters.

Green Gecko wrote:Sometimes you just need someone else to sell for you, it might help. Agents do that over the phone which is a lot better than writing covering letters.

Having said that, some websites used for applications don't allow a covering letter. Or maybe that is just the mobile version.

Ad7 wrote:

K wrote:Quitting my job tomorrow. How should I walk out?

Death's Head wrote:

Green Gecko wrote:Sometimes you just need someone else to sell for you, it might help. Agents do that over the phone which is a lot better than writing covering letters.

Having said that, some websites used for applications don't allow a covering letter. Or maybe that is just the mobile version.

That's bad recruitment, the covering letter is far more important than anything in the CV in my view, unless it's a smashing one that outlines and quantifies achievements and includes a short and effective personal statement (and I mean a statement, not a small biography). In which case it's worth doing that in the CV if they're going to not bother with reading x words.