Should i stay or should i go?

adrian_bond

hi everyone, heres my problem;

im currentlyemployed as a design engineer (im 28) earning a mediocre wage of £22282 per annum with no benefits or pension. In my office there are currently 10 engineers who all design products for the marine industry. ive been there since i graduated from uni in 2006 (so over three years now) and have grown increasingly disalusioned with the place. ive been looking to leave if i can find a job thats worth going to for a while now (well speculatively), well since xmas anyway when there were mass redundancies. Our office was largely unaffected (only lost 1 guy) during this time whereas the shop floor lost over 40%!

however, my work load is always fairly full (space for more if the pressure is really on) so never stupidly busy or challenged (this is sometimes half the problem). i feel that i have learnt some things from this role, but no where near as much as i have learned bad habits from this place! my missus is looking to go back to uni for two years in february so ive got to be able to supoort our mortgage and the big bills on my own so more pressure to come!

thats the backround, now here is my problem;

a guy who has been part of the design team for the last 20 years retires in october and ive been asked to pick up his work. this work involves alot of drawings , tooling and suport time so will make my current workload far harder and will most porbably take over my role into something im not entirely interested in.

this opportunity can be looked at in two ways;

1. this is a great oportunity to do some large scale long term high production run design (everything i currently do is bespoke or very low production run stuff), and i could have the opportunity to design the units in 3d and make them parametric so they are far quicker to draw than normal (this will take lots of patience and practise to set up) which is a great skill to posses.

2. this is a massive amount (an entire other persons worth) of extra work dumped on my shoulders without warning with absolutly no insentive other than "just do it". there has been no mention of extra pay or what is going ot happen to my current projects and workload when this gets transferred over. the products dont interestr me in the slightest but should be failry easy to cope with once ive learnt the ropes.

so everyone, what should i do?

i know the job market is totally knackered at the mo so there isnt much avialiable but there are always opportunitues available (there are two great ones open to me if i want to apply from a breif look), but im not willing to accept that the compnay will be saving an entire persons wage every year while im being stamped into the ground under a collosal workload. the posiitve aspect of this is that if there are anymore redundancies then i would hope to be safe by having so many responsibilites. should i ask for a 10% pay rise or so (considering the company will be saving approx £25000 - £30000 per year), or should i just count myself lucky that i have a job and can managae from one month to the next. i know i can get paid more and get looked after better (pension, benfits etc) by moving to pretty much any other engineering company ( if i can get a job!) buts its having the faith and courage to leap thats holding me back.

please let me know your thoughts and opinions as im in a conundrum and really value other peoples opinion on things ( i cant exactly talk about this to my peers as its unproffesional and could lead to serious problems!).

thanks everyone

Adrian

purplepardalis

Hi Adrian,

3 years is a decent amount of time to have spent in one job so a move now would be a good idea especially as you're not looking forward to taking on the new work.

I think if you stayed you'd end up resenting it even more than you do now and it's no fun going to work each day when you hate it.

The best way to get a decent pay rise is to move on in some cases.

Obviously, if you do decide to move on make sure you secure a new position before resigning!

Get your CV written and register with the job sites and see what reaction you get. When a position comes available the first thing recruiters do is search the site databases for applicants - they do this before they post the job on line. Often, candidates have already been selected by the time a job makes it onto the job board.

Hope that helps!

Good Luck

PP

pinkshoes

I'm also a design engineer, and if it's money you're after then experience followed by a change of company is the way to do it!

I would take over this guy's work, and ask for a pay rise up to £25k. When you feel you've mastered this roll in a year or so time, then your CV will be sparkling, and hopefully the recession will have eased, so there will be far more relevant jobs on the market for you to jump into, and you'll then be looking at a £5k jump at least.

There really are b*gger all jobs out there at the moment, so if your current one is secure, I think you'd be daft to let go of it.

DKLS

pinkshoes wrote: »

I'm also a design engineer, and if it's money you're after then experience followed by a change of company is the way to do it!

I would take over this guy's work, and ask for a pay rise up to £25k. When you feel you've mastered this roll in a year or so time, then your CV will be sparkling, and hopefully the recession will have eased, so there will be far more relevant jobs on the market for you to jump into, and you'll then be looking at a £5k jump at least.

There really are b*gger all jobs out there at the moment, so if your current one is secure, I think you'd be daft to let go of it.

Great advice, my only change would be to ask for 28K, but be willing to come down to 25K. Justifying your increased salary for the reasons you have given.

getmore4less

I agree the new skills are worth capturing while you have the chance.

I would make it clear that some of your existing work will have to be prioritized and handed off if your workload is too high.

Now is the time to negotiate for pay, benifits, overtime payments or time off in lieu if you end up working longer hours.

Might be worth asking for proper training by the design software suppliers, good on a CV with experience.

adrian_bond

thanks everyone for your very useful replies. its given me alot to think about and discuss.

does anyone have any tips on how to ask for a pay rise and not get laughed at or sacked? i would love to get about £25000 as that would help me save more towards my mortgage and pension as well as helping to put my missus through uni! its got to be a pretty convincing argument though cos the company is ridiculously tight! it would help me to put my career back into perspective as well because its going no where fast at the mo and bills are mounting!

thanks everyone!

adrian

pinkshoes

One of the best ways to negotiate a pay rise is to get offered a job elsewhere, then ask your boss to match it! Not easy in this market though...

Just ask for a meeting, highlight the extra responsibilities you'll be taking on, point out what current guy gets, and say that although you realise you don't have the same experience as him, you feel that if you're going to be taking on his work, then you ought to get a pay rise.

Your boss will either suggest an amount, or ask you how much you think. Perhaps go in at £26k, then if he says no, try and negotiate £25k.

Just make sure you're armed with information when you go in!

ilikedrawing

If i were you i would be writing speculative letters along with a CV to other companys you think you might like to work for. You never know who's just handed their notice in or retired.

DVardysShadow

pinkshoes wrote: »

One of the best ways to negotiate a pay rise is to get offered a job elsewhere, then ask your boss to match it! Not easy in this market though...

It's logical, but I don't believe it. If the company don't see your potential value without having another job offer thrust in front of them, they might just pay up to keep you for the moment, and once the job offer has gone, they would then start to take it all away again - stisfied that you had scuppered yourself with a competitor. Better to get another job, not tell the employer until you have made up your mind and then stick with the decision.

DCFC79

Id find another job if your heart isnt in it

pinkshoes

DVardysShadow wrote: »

It's logical, but I don't believe it. If the company don't see your potential value without having another job offer thrust in front of them, they might just pay up to keep you for the moment, and once the job offer has gone, they would then start to take it all away again - stisfied that you had scuppered yourself with a competitor. Better to get another job, not tell the employer until you have made up your mind and then stick with the decision.

Well it's worked for 3 people in my office (2 of which stayed after salary was matched, the 3rd left even though they offered to match the salary), so it's a tried and tested method!

I guess it depends on the job, with with design engineers, it can take a LONG time for a newbie to learn the background of the product and the technology, so it's often beneficial for a company to keep someone (if they like them) rather than let them go over a few ££££s.