Job Problem Advice

[Cynic]

I started my first job after university about 4 years ago and it was ok for a couple of years. Then the made by boss "redundant" and gave me his job. There are only 2 people in the department and the senior role is responsible for everything related to the area we work in for the whole company.

 

If you look at the jobs on recruitment websites the salaries are typically about £17k-£20k for the junior role (with a bit of experience) and about £35k-£50k for the senior role depending on experience and size of company.

 

I had to accept the "promotion" or quit and I was offered 10% higher salary. So that took my wages to not much over half what would be expected for someone experienced in the new role. Nothing was ever officially signed and my job description wasn't officially changed. I took the job on the understanding that they appreciated I was only a couple of years out of uni and had no experience outside of this company. Now 2 years later this all seems to have been forgotten and they are expecting me to be able to the job as well as someone who has the relevant experience and is getting paid the relevant amount (I haven't had a pay rise since the one I got when taking the "promotion").

 

My problem is that I can't do the job very well and it requires skills and knowledge I don't have and that I was told I would be given help with. It isn't really something you can just pick up quickly. The problems that arise require extensive training and experience to be able deal with well. It is also taking my career in a direction I don't really want to go in. I want to become a specialist in a narrow field whereas I am now in a job that requires a general knowledge of the whole area.

 

I expect in the not too distant future they will try get rid of me and find another mug willing to try and to the job for not much money. Does anyone know if there is a minimum amount of redundancy money you have to be given, depending on length of service? Does anyone have any other suggestions other than trying to get them to make me redundant rather than sacking me for not being able to do the job?

 

I've been looking for a new job for a while now but without lying too much on my CV it is impossible to make it seem relevant (because of my current job title) for the type or role I would like.

[denlin]

I started my first job after university about 4 years ago and it was ok for a couple of years. Then the made by boss "redundant" and gave me his job. There are only 2 people in the department and the senior role is responsible for everything related to the area we work in for the whole company.

 

If you look at the jobs on recruitment websites the salaries are typically about £17k-£20k for the junior role (with a bit of experience) and about £35k-£50k for the senior role depending on experience and size of company.

 

I had to accept the "promotion" or quit and I was offered 10% higher salary. So that took my wages to not much over half what would be expected for someone experienced in the new role. Nothing was ever officially signed and my job description wasn't officially changed. I took the job on the understanding that they appreciated I was only a couple of years out of uni and had no experience outside of this company. Now 2 years later this all seems to have been forgotten and they are expecting me to be able to the job as well as someone who has the relevant experience and is getting paid the relevant amount (I haven't had a pay rise since the one I got when taking the "promotion").

 

My problem is that I can't do the job very well and it requires skills and knowledge I don't have and that I was told I would be given help with. It isn't really something you can just pick up quickly. The problems that arise require extensive training and experience to be able deal with well. It is also taking my career in a direction I don't really want to go in. I want to become a specialist in a narrow field whereas I am now in a job that requires a general knowledge of the whole area.

 

I expect in the not too distant future they will try get rid of me and find another mug willing to try and to the job for not much money. Does anyone know if there is a minimum amount of redundancy money you have to be given, depending on length of service? Does anyone have any other suggestions other than trying to get them to make me redundant rather than sacking me for not being able to do the job?

 

I've been looking for a new job for a while now but without lying too much on my CV it is impossible to make it seem relevant (because of my current job title) for the type or role I would like.

 

Call in agencies, they will help with your CV and how to 'plump' yourself up without actually lying, I think you are lacking confidence in yourself.

[Cynic]

Call in agencies, they will help with your CV and how to 'plump' yourself up without actually lying, I think you are lacking confidence in yourself.

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

I've got my CV registered with every relevant agency and my CV is altered a fair bit based on their advice. I don't think I could push it much further as I already have a fair bit of explaining to do should I ever get an interview, if I wan't to avoid getting knocked back when they ask for a reference from my most recent employer.

 

I'm definitely still looking though, it's a difficult time for job hunting and there don't seem to be many suitable jobs appearing. I think I'll ring round the agencies again though as most of them have gone quiet.

[Cynic]

However if they make you redundant then bring someone else in to do the same job, you will be able to sue (and almost certainly win) for wrongful dismissal.

 

They do that a lot and get away with it, I think they get the people who leave to sign an agreement not to sue in exchange for a bigger redundancy package. It doesn't sound very legal and if it happened to me I would be very reluctant to sign anything like that unless it was in exchange for a much much bigger pay off than I would be entitled to.

[Tomataheeed]

They do that a lot and get away with it, I think they get the people who leave to sign an agreement not to sue in exchange for a bigger redundancy package. It doesn't sound very legal and if it happened to me I would be very reluctant to sign anything like that unless it was in exchange for a much much bigger pay off than I would be entitled to.

 

What you describe is a "compromise agreement" and are legally dubious at best. Some are of the opinion that they are illegal as you are asked to sign away your right to speak to a union rep for instance.

[harvey19]

Do not reduce the hours you work if you think redundancies are a possibility in the future.

When you reduce your hours you will be employed under a new contract and this is what your redundancy pay will be based on, any previous service will not count.

Your redundancy pay can be enhanced but it must be remembered this is entirely at the discretion of the employer.

[harvey19]

What you describe is a "compromise agreement" and are legally dubious at best. Some are of the opinion that they are illegal as you are asked to sign away your right to speak to a union rep for instance.

I seem to remember that I had to sign to say that I agreed to the amount paid and would not pursue any further claims when I took voluntary redundancy.

[Cyclone]

I started my first job after university about 4 years ago and it was ok for a couple of years. Then the made by boss "redundant" and gave me his job. There are only 2 people in the department and the senior role is responsible for everything related to the area we work in for the whole company.

 

If you look at the jobs on recruitment websites the salaries are typically about £17k-£20k for the junior role (with a bit of experience) and about £35k-£50k for the senior role depending on experience and size of company.

 

I had to accept the "promotion" or quit and I was offered 10% higher salary. So that took my wages to not much over half what would be expected for someone experienced in the new role. Nothing was ever officially signed and my job description wasn't officially changed. I took the job on the understanding that they appreciated I was only a couple of years out of uni and had no experience outside of this company. Now 2 years later this all seems to have been forgotten and they are expecting me to be able to the job as well as someone who has the relevant experience and is getting paid the relevant amount (I haven't had a pay rise since the one I got when taking the "promotion").

 

My problem is that I can't do the job very well and it requires skills and knowledge I don't have and that I was told I would be given help with. It isn't really something you can just pick up quickly. The problems that arise require extensive training and experience to be able deal with well. It is also taking my career in a direction I don't really want to go in. I want to become a specialist in a narrow field whereas I am now in a job that requires a general knowledge of the whole area.

 

I expect in the not too distant future they will try get rid of me and find another mug willing to try and to the job for not much money. Does anyone know if there is a minimum amount of redundancy money you have to be given, depending on length of service? Does anyone have any other suggestions other than trying to get them to make me redundant rather than sacking me for not being able to do the job?

 

I've been looking for a new job for a while now but without lying too much on my CV it is impossible to make it seem relevant (because of my current job title) for the type or role I would like.

 

By the sounds of it you'd be better of leaving before you are pushed. They acted illegally by making your old manager redundant and then giving you the job (jobs get made redundant, not people).

If they do make you redundant, with 4 years service you'll be due a minimum of 4 weeks pay, which isn't really very much, especially since you're underpaid.

I wouldn't worry about your job title on your CV, change it if you like, just make sure you're honest about the actual experience and skills you have, they matter much more than the title.

 

How have you managed for two years in the role though without picking up the required skills, has something changed recently to highlight your lack of experience acting in this role?

[Cyclone]

What you describe is a "compromise agreement" and are legally dubious at best. Some are of the opinion that they are illegal as you are asked to sign away your right to speak to a union rep for instance.

 

It depends on how it's put together. You have a contract with mutual obligations and defined ways of terminating it. A compromise agreement is just to agree to mutually terminate that contract outside of any of the defined ways of terminating it. So it's not redundancy, it's an agreement to stop working for them in exchange for a chunk of cash.

[Cynic]

How have you managed for two years in the role though without picking up the required skills, has something changed recently to highlight your lack of experience acting in this role?

 

A key part of the role is project work but they have been on hold for a while. A massive project is about to start and I am to run it. The project is in something I have no experience in and if it isn't successful the best case scenario is the company has wasted more money than they can afford to. The worst case scenario is they can't actually get product out the door any more and as they keep reminding me, companies have gone out of business for projects of this nature failing. You would think they would want someone who has at least worked on similar projects before and has experience in the relevant area, apparently not though.

 

I've hated it for the last 2 years as I have only been getting by, not actually doing a good job. It is coming to head as for the next year I am meant to be working just on this project. Their confidence in me comes from the fact I was very good at my old job, and is helped by the fact I'm not on much money compared to someone more suited to the role. Most of the time I am left to get on with running the department the best I can so small problems go unnoticed.