Feel undervalued and powerless; need some general advice and encouragement

bristol_pilot

BellBoy2 wrote: »

do I approach my boss and chat about my future,

No, because no company is going to double your wage. They still think of you as the keen student who works for peanuts. You should apply for jobs elsewhere. The going rate for a graduate engineer with some experience (but not much) is £25k or so depending on location.

BellBoy2

bristol_pilot wrote: »

No, because no company is going to double your wage. They still think of you as the keen student who works for peanuts. You should apply for jobs elsewhere. The going rate for a graduate engineer with some experience (but not much) is £25k or so depending on location.

I really hope that isn't the case. How do I juggle a full time job and job interviews? How do I explain myself to shocked / disappointed bosses? Surely I should take up the issue first and then - if I don't get the rise I need - look else where. At least then they'll subconsciously know my resignation is not so far away.

bristol_pilot

How do I juggle a full time job and job interviews? You take a day's annual leave - DON'T tell your current employer what the day off is for!

How do I explain myself to shocked / disappointed bosses? 1. It's not your problem and 2. they may not be as shocked as you imagine - employees leaving is just part of normal business.

Surely I should take up the issue first and then - if I don't get the rise I need - look else where. At least then they'll subconsciously know my resignation is not so far away. No. Threatening to leave unless you get a payrise will not go down too well and they could just sack you. They have to take account of ideas it might give to the rest of the staff.


You come across as a bit naive. I can assure you you are not as valued as you seem to think you are.

jessicamb

agree with above OP - if your wage is so far below what you should be expecting then you owe them no loyalty as they have been ripping you off. If you think you are worth more money then go and get a job offer that is for more money. Then you can choose whether to take it or not - perhaps your employer will try and match the offer. When I have been in that scenario in the past though I always think if you can offer that sort of money now why couldnt you before... (and leave!)

Savvy_Sue

Why would managers be shocked and disappointed that someone they've been underpaying for years has decided to look for another job? And, as b_p says, it's not your problem!

jessicamb wrote: »

agree with above OP - if your wage is so far below what you should be expecting then you owe them no loyalty as they have been ripping you off. If you think you are worth more money then go and get a job offer that is for more money. Then you can choose whether to take it or not - perhaps your employer will try and match the offer. When I have been in that scenario in the past though I always think if you can offer that sort of money now why couldnt you before... (and leave!)

There's been research to show that even when someone stays because of a matched offer, they tend not to stay long. Once you've started looking, you subconsciously want to go.

Sambucus_Nigra

No business expects someone to stay in a job for life.

Apart from those who think they are indispensable but are on a cheap rate.

'Of course I'll be disappointed if you leave sonny, I'll have to pay the going rate' *chuckles

ceridwen

Sorry to hear this OP.

You are clearly being taken advantage of - so you owe them nothing. I'm surprised to hear that you are doing unpaid overtime as well for them - in a job that only pays 10p per hour more than NMW:eek:.

Actually - you are working for less than NMW in fact - because of those extra unpaid hours you are doing. I expect you are dividing the salary you receive by the paid hours you do only? If you divided it by ALL the hours you do (both paid and unpaid) then I bet that would bring you to LESS than NMW..

I think you need to study the job market and see what else is out there. Anyway - with the amount they are paying you - then you might as well be doing an unskilled job. At least if you were doing an unskilled job you would probably be being paid more than you are at present by the sound of it AND you wouldnt be "cheap labour" for your employer any more - as NMW WOULD be what was due for the job you would be doing IYSWIM.

Personally - given the choice between earning NMW and knowing it was a "fair" rate for the job (ie because it was only an unskilled job anyway) or earning NMW (but knowing I was being underpaid for the type of job I was doing) then I think I might choose the NMW job personally. That way I'd still be on the same money - but at least I wouldnt be underpaid IYSWIM.

So - my advice is to get looking for another job - preferably in your own "line of trade". Set yourself a time limit for this. At the end of that timespan - if I still hadnt been able to swop to another job in my own "line of trade" - then I would swop to an unskilled one (so that at least I wouldnt be underpaid any more).

Once you have been searching a while for a job in your own "line of trade" - then ask them to raise the money to the proper rate for the job. They may - they may not. I expect they would have to give you at least partway towards your proper rate of pay for the job - but if they refused to give you any increase well:
- at least you wouldnt have lost anything by asking - ie you might as well do so
- your self-respect would be helped by the fact that you HAD asked and had let them know that you DO know your worth (even if they wont pay it..).

heretolearn_2

You need to toughen up a bit. Loyalty is a great attribute to have, but not naievely.

The deal is: you do a job. They pay you for it. That's it. You aren't friends with your employer. You don't owe them anything more than than doing your job well. They don't owe you anything more than paying you for it. People leave jobs for better ones all the time. Do you want to be there on the same wage until you retire? It's not an easy conversation to have, when you leave, but it's all part of being at work.

kwaks

Ok I can understand you are reluctant to take this directly to your boss, so why not take an indirect route?

Approach your boss and explain that you are sorry, but you may be unable to continue doing unpaid overtime, as you will have to take a second job in the evenings to supplement your income, and can you use him as a referance for that?

In addition clarify your holiday entitlement, start taking a few days off here and there for interviews, he will be unsure whether this is for a second job or to replace the one you have.

After a couple of weeks then it will be time to approach him for a discussion on your career path/renumeration, if he hasn't come to you first.

Taking this route should make it easier for you, and lets the company evaluate how important you are without being put on the spot with a wage demand out of the blue.

DKLS

Wow that is a crappy rate, My FIL does contract 3D Cad work, he is on £600 per day.