The job hunting support thread

[Orang Utan]

Another 12-month contract I'd had an initial discussion about but thought has gone dead has come back to ask for a 1st interview call this week, so that's also good. I figured I must have asked for too much money but now I suspect the recruiter must have just been away or something.

Just writing notes for BSI interview Friday, quite a lot to juggle this week now. Hope I sleep better from tonight - two night ago wasn't great and last night was dreadful.

Were you required to specify your expected salary in your application? Is this normal in the private sphere?

 

[Cloo]

Were you required to specify your expected salary in your application? Is this normal in the private sphere?

Seems to be. Most things I'm applying for are not giving any salary range and I think a majority are asking about expectations at application stage. I'm having to guess if things are worth apply for at all because similar job titles could be anything form about £15k less than I'm looking for on to £10k more - I think ones that have turned me down quick have been ones where I'm asking more than they're offering and they could have saved us both the fucking trouble if they'd just come out with it.

The role I have 2nd round for on Thursday is calling giving a 'circa x amount' which is a bit of an odd one - I guess X is what the person going on leave is on and they haven't asked me yet, so I think when they do, I'm going to name 2k more than that X which is marginally under what I have just been on to the point it wouldn't make much difference, but not cheeky, and I imagine they can cope with paying £2k extra for a year.

 

[Orang Utan]

Salaries should be standardised really, though fuck knows how.
It doesn’t seem fair to me that people can get different salaries for doing the same job. Even if that job requires negotiating skills!

 

[Cloo]

I know - I've seen some jobs advertised with salary and they're offering a span of like £40-70k, which seems mad to me really. Clearly people are hoping they can get away with as little as possible, but it my sphere particularly it's a pain as it is hard to tell. Basically small businesses, charities and actual publishing roles (as opposed to editing/content arm of a business) generally aren't going to pay enough, but it's hard to tell with everyone else.

 

[Winot]

I know - I've seen some jobs advertised with salary and they're offering a span of like £40-70k, which seems mad to me really. Clearly people are hoping they can get away with as little as possible, but it my sphere particularly it's a pain as it is hard to tell. Basically small businesses, charities and actual publishing roles (as opposed to editing/content arm of a business) generally aren't going to pay enough, but it's hard to tell with everyone else.

It might be something else though. When we advertise a role we are genuinely flexible about the level at which the person we are looking for can fit into our small firm.

If we find someone that we think is fantastic with good prospects but has no experience, then they will slot in at a lower level and we will pay them less. We might prefer to go for that person than someone who would slot in at a higher level and be paid more, if we thought the person at a lower level had better prospects in the long term.

 

[Winot]

Basically "the role" isn't one position, it's a range of possible positions.

 

[Cloo]

Basically "the role" isn't one position, it's a range of possible positions.

It's true - there are some roles which might vary a bit depending on the background of who takes them up. I think quite a lot of the things I apply for could be more 'content', more 'comms' or more 'editorial', or more or less digital, depending on who they get.

 

[Cloo]

RIBA interview went well I think - good rapport, very informal. It all hangs on what the other person has to offer - if, say, they have a lot more 'ins' to the architecture than I do, they may be the better candidate, but they're not meeting until Tuesday, so I'll be waiting about a week to hear.

 

[Skim]

Interviewed for an internal secondment today. I’ve either knocked it out of the park or completely blew it with my answer to the last question, which didn’t correspond to anything in the job description. I had to bend one of my pre-prepared STAR stories to respond. Maybe it worked, maybe not.

I was pleased with the interview, though. Gave it my best and will know next week whether that was good enough

 

[Cloo]

Two this morning - one for the two roles at BSI; I expect to be taken forward for one or other as I think I have a good skill set for it that probably not that many people will have.

Second was senior editing 12-month mat cover basically for Zoopla, which would be a good one to get but I think they might want someone with more solid online experience. So I think it's 50:50 on that going forward

Both have another two goddamn stages, so unless RIBA offer I'm going tp have a gap between end of pay for current role and anything else I might start. I will have equivalent of about two month's salary from my payoff, but I was hoping not to have to burn through any of that.

Holiday in Wales next week is well timed as I have hit the wall of applying for shit so I will take my break off such activity and hopefully come back refreshed, if I don't come home with a job offer. I'll take laptop lest anyone really want to interview me online during the week but if anyone asks I'll see if I can push out to the next week, but I suspect with Easter holidays nothing will happen anyway.

 

[newme]

Got a new interview after a few weeks without any. Range is 28-40k, last salary was 43k but that was more than enough despite being sole earner.
Meet everything they wanted easily, only thing I don't know shit about is they want some input to a publication they put out every 2 weeks which seems weird, maybe internal? Otherwise it seems like a standard public procurement specialist role.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

only thing I don't know shit about is they want some input to a publication they put out every 2 weeks which seems weird, maybe internal? Otherwise it seems like a standard public procurement specialist role.

have they said anything about what the publication is, or have you been able to find out anything about it?

only sort of thing i can think of with procurement is putting tenders out and / or publishing award of contracts. and most of that's done online now.

 

[newme]

have they said anything about what the publication is, or have you been able to find out anything about it?

only sort of thing i can think of with procurement is putting tenders out and / or publishing award of contracts. and most of that's done online now.

Publication sent out every 2 weeks to a few thousand specifically targeted people apparently. Looking at it they seem to have regular feature people who would be way above my grade, not really sure what this means now lol apparently its under ISSN whatever that means. Just seems a little odd as that's surely someone else's specialty role.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Just seems a little odd as that's surely someone else's specialty role.

hmm

does seem odd.

although particularly with smaller councils, you do occasionally get something that isn't big enough (or not big enough any more) to warrant it being a job on its own getting shoved in to another job. I've encountered a 'random miscelleneous crap officer' sort of post once or twice.

ISSN might be this in the context of a publication. May be worth trying to find out wtf this is all about.

 

[newme]

hmm

does seem odd.

although particularly with smaller councils, you do occasionally get something that isn't big enough (or not big enough any more) to warrant it being a job on its own getting shoved in to another job. I've encountered a 'random miscelleneous crap officer' sort of post once or twice.

ISSN might be this in the context of a publication. May be worth trying to find out wtf this is all about.

Seems like its kind of what I thought, another consultancy/agency but its an IT consultancy lol. Then the procurement role isn't that well defined since it says public but not how and looking at the publication they have people like head of procurement for major UK universities, some TV companies etc etc. Seems unlikely they would expect the same sort of input from me lol.

 

[Cloo]

Got a new interview after a few weeks without any. Range is 28-40k, last salary was 43k but that was more than enough despite being sole earner.
Meet everything they wanted easily, only thing I don't know shit about is they want some input to a publication they put out every 2 weeks which seems weird, maybe internal? Otherwise it seems like a standard public procurement specialist role.

I'm seeing what happens if I drop my ask for jobs that aren't saying anything to a little below what I've been on just now - a few 'nopes' that have come back quickly I think were ones I was asking too much, but I also suspect were never going to offer enough. I've just applied to a role with a place that turned me down for something else a few weeks ago and this time asked next pay band down, so will be interested to see if they ask for an interview this time.

I don't need more money and am OK with a bit less.

 

[newme]

I'm seeing what happens if I drop my ask for jobs that aren't saying anything to a little below what I've been on just now - a few 'nopes' that have come back quickly I think were ones I was asking too much, but I also suspect were never going to offer enough. I've just applied to a role with a place that turned me down for something else a few weeks ago and this time asked next pay band down, so will be interested to see if they ask for an interview this time.

I don't need more money and am OK with a bit less.

Mostly the salary range hasn't been remotely this wide so it never really came up, usually like 5k and I assumed the lowest. Have applied to a bunch that were more than 10k under previous and they seemed all excited about it, got back to me immediately and then just ghosted me without even asking about salary expectations cos mostly it was listed. Do remember having various people in charge of hiring at various workplaces all but reject basically perfect candidates on the basis they thought they would not stay long either moving on for better salary or more 'interesting' roles. Seen plenty I could do in my sleep that would be acceptable and I never seem to get the interview despite being quite happy with what they were offering and would be very pleased to just go work there indefinitely for an easy life. I hate job hunting. edit - just remembered I spoke to this guy before and said I was of course wanting as close to 40 as possible but there was flexibility.

Every interview except this one that I actually got was for higher than I was on before, one I gave my previous salary to and they actually said they were looking significantly above that as a floor to the range, straight to interview. I have absolutely no interest in ladder climbing, this works fine for us and my expenses are likely to go down not up plus I could always job hop in 5 years to another level without much issue. Trying to get into a council job really as I like the pension contributions, extra days off and relative stability but have to wait on that one finishing admissions first, tho I think I maybe the only applicant looking at the rest of them lol.

I know you do something I am probably not very well versed in around editing/comms/etc. The line I saw about contributing to a professional based magazine thing seemed a bit out of place, given they have contributions from like head of procurement for Oxbridge UK universities, a few major TV channels, large charities etc does it seem likely you would expect that sort of thing to have input from someone who is absolutely not a professional writer nor in a very important position? If this is not remotely your area thanks anyway but from your posts you seem more likely to know than anyone else I could think of lol.

 

[Cloo]

The job I could feasibly be offered next week has an unsual approach, which is it said 'c.XXk pa', presumably that figure being what the person who is being mat covered is on and I guess they may be willing to offer more for the right person or less if they feel they're taking a bit of a punt on someone. I am on 3k more than that figure , and they haven't talked numbers at all in the process. They're not an immensely rich org so I might just hedge my bets if I am asked and say 'I'm on 3k more than that, but let's meet in the middle', alternatively they may come to me with a number and I'm prepared to ask up a little if needs be.

 

[Cloo]

So I could hear from today about that job - they said 'latter half' of this week, so it might be they're all busy today. Starting to get nervous - if I don't get this and I don't get offered second stage of BSI there's nothing else out that looks very promising for an interview right now. If I don't get it and do get offered next stage of BSI I might just try and put my energy into making a real effort with that because it's a good solid opportunity.

 

[newme]

Well I have managed to find a whole load of jobs and can apply to none of then. Came up on LinkedIn, applied, org messages me saying we don't accept cv's apply on our website. Goto the website. Broken link. Find what the link should have been, great, now I have a list of exactly the same jobs and still no possible way to apply is shown.....

Also the council website decided it doesn't know me. Despite having to register with it in the last month as they switched systems since I last used it and having all the confirmation crap in my email still. Won't accept password, won't send me a link for a new one, or at least nothing turns up.

Both of these were remote jobs that also had offices less than 20 miles away and various options on both would be good. Interestingly neither are hiring for anyone in IT. Can't help thinking maybe they should.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

or at least nothing turns up.

at the risk of stating the obvious, have you checked your e-mail spam / junk folder? BT routes some things to my 'spam' folder, which is more complicated to get at. I did miss out on a job interview invitation once that way (something I wasn't that excited about, but they will have thought I was a twunt for just not replying)

 

[newme]

at the risk of stating the obvious, have you checked your e-mail spam / junk folder? BT routes some things to my 'spam' folder, which is more complicated to get at. I did miss out on a job interview invitation once that way (something I wasn't that excited about, but they will have thought I was a twunt for just not replying)

Yeh lots unfortunately as it's unreliable, it blocked a legitimate email from a gov.uk site yesterday. I lost a job before on the same basis. They apparently emailed me. I didn't reply to the email I didn't get. They moved on, two weeks later I figure well they didn't contact and logged the website for another look (council one) to see it said I was invited to interview.. got in contact using 2 email addresses. One got a reply the other didn't, the one I applied with.

It was 2 weeks after my interview and the hiring manager was on holiday. The head of the whole department arranged one for the week after. Presumably for compliance reasons looking back as I assume they already extended an offer. Got a no despite working in the same team and higher grade role the year before for 6 months with positive reviews as a consultancy placement...

Ah well, interview tomorrow anyway so hopefully that goes well. Salary range is very wide with a 12k range around the middle for the UK but I said weeks ago I'd want the upper range and they seemed fine with that. At this point I would take the lower one just to get some income but no need to shoot myself in the foot.

Meanwhile I'll make new accounts and just curse having to put all my work history into silly boxes instead of having it prefilled or someone actually reading a CV. Despite me now registering with them now twice. Who doesn't love oracle!

 

[a_chap]

I handed my notice in and, after nearly two weeks, I get an email from my manager's manager saying:

"I'm sorry to read this and had hoped that the work you were doing on the roadmap and future vision for [xxxxxxxxxx] would have been an exciting reset.

I replied saying:

"I think that eloquently sums up the reason I’m leaving."

 

[newme]

I hate interviews, it seemed to go fine, I actually bothered researching the company and it seems they actually have a decent platform to work on. Employee turnover seems to be low and they are looking at expanding. Also the recruiter completely screwed the advert and instead of the range being 12k wide it was 2k wide at the high end. Which is fine but makes a lot of sense why it looked weird to begin with. Not finding out who it was with until the last minute was not ideal however I was not aware this was a through an agency...

 

[Cloo]

No word from last week's interview yet - BSI have invited me to next stage, which is good, although not for fortnight. May need tips on acing management competency questions as someone with relatively little management experience and zero management training, as it is for the management role. But glad I'm not looking at an empty horizon if other job doesn't come through.

 

[hash tag]

I have just applied for a new job. They asked for name address Etc. and a few multi answer questions.
No questions about current role or qualifications, no CV or why I would be a good fit and I got rejected.
It's a role I know I would be a good fit for

 

[RubyToogood]

I have just applied for a new job. They asked for name address Etc. and a few multi answer questions.
No questions about current role or qualifications, no CV or why I would be a good fit and I got rejected.
It's a role I know I would be a good fit for

What sort of questions?

 

[hash tag]

What I would do in given circumstances.
Ans ask boss or ask staff or would definitely do or definitely not do. and I could only use each option once
to each question. I suspect I was declined to to either age or serious medical condition. It would have been
my third change of career since leaving school and first new jib for about 20 years.

 

[hash tag]

I've now gone off at a total tangent looking for new employment. Every cloud and all that.

 

[Cloo]

No word from RIBA, so I'm presuming it's a no. Guessing they've offered to other person and not had a firm 'yes' in which case I'm hoping the other person has just got offered a permanent job they're going to take instead

Only other application I had out that I thought might go to interview has said 'no'. I reckoned I'd be a good fit but I did also suspect it was not offering what I need money wise because, yet again, they didn't fucking say in the the advert.

I've been mostly ignoring job stuff while away this week but I know one or two promising looking things popped up in my inbox that I'll apply to on Monday. I'll be in touch with HR lass at previous employer to say I won't be giving notice before my gardening leave ends now; I'll contact the person who was interested in me for a role she was trying to get permission to hire to say I am still available and if she gets the go ahead any time in the next 2-3 months to let me know on my personal email, and I will take one last look at internal vacancies because a few people had mentioned the new hires being frozen until this month so if a bunch of possibles have come online in the last week or so, it might be worth applying in that scenario.

And otherwise will throw myself into the process for this BSI role because sometimes just gritting your teeth and going the extra mile does work with landing something.