Work dilemma

gwen80

I wondered what people thought of this little work situation I've got. I've recently started a new job, been there since 1st July. I relocated for the job. It's a years fixed term contract currently, but I was told by the agency that recruited me that there would be good potential to go permanent. Fine. I expected a discussion regarding this sort of situation to come up at some point after Christmas...

So today my boss starts talking to me about what my long term plans are?! She wants to know what my long term plans are and whether I might want to be made permanent or not. She basically spelled it out that if I remain temporary they won't invest so much in my training and development and they'll give me short term projects. Now I have absolutely no idea what my long term plans are...I may stay there for a long time, I may decide to emigrate (I have dual citizenship, so it's a possibility that I am contemplating), I may meet an amazing man and move to be with him...I have no idea what might happen in the future?!

Now I feel under a lot of pressure because if I say temporary, I have no commitment from the company after this year. I'm fortunate that I work in an area that is in demand at the moment (albeit mainly in the South East), so I'd probably be able to get another job without too much bother after a year, but I won't have the training I would have had otherwise, but at what point have they recouped their investment in me?? If I say permanent, how long am I really tied in for? I know the real answer is I'm not, without some sort of clause in the contract, but if I say permanent and then leave after Christmas or next year, she'll hate me. I'm really stumped.

Thanks

Gwen

Jamie_Carter

If you like the job, and you would like to stay there for the foreseeable future, then stay. And tell them that you want a permanent contract. They obviously like you, and you never know, it could lead to promotion.

If in a couple of years something better comes up then leave then.

gwen80

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

If you like the job, and you would like to stay there for the foreseeable future, then stay. And tell them that you want a permanent contract. They obviously like you, and you never know, it could lead to promotion.

If in a couple of years something better comes up then leave then.

And what if I want to leave before a couple of years??

gwen80

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

If you like the job, and you would like to stay there for the foreseeable future, then stay. And tell them that you want a permanent contract. They obviously like you, and you never know, it could lead to promotion.

If in a couple of years something better comes up then leave then.

The other thing is I'm not sure I do like the job. It's nice hours, very little stress (they think it's stressful though!) and is filling some of the gaps I had in my knowledge of the field from my previous role, but I find the place rather 'backwards' in a lot of ways. Having only been there for less than 2 months and with only a years contract I was happy to see how things went for now, but now it seems my hand is being forced.

AP007

gwen80 wrote: »

And what if I want to leave before a couple of years??

erm you put in your notice.

gwen80

AP007 wrote: »

erm you put in your notice.

She'll be really hacked off. I worked for some utter nightmare bosses, but this one is one I really wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of.

john539

You haven't had time to think about this.

You've only been there 1.5 months & boss has just asked you today.

AP007

gwen80 wrote: »

She'll be really hacked off. I worked for some utter nightmare bosses, but this one is one I really wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of.

So leave now then? A contact allows both parties notice and you think any employer thinks of the employee when they say make them redundant?

You are allowed to leave you know.

gwen80

AP007 wrote: »

erm you put in your notice.

Maybe I've not explained myself very well. What I'm saying is my take on the conversation we had was that she was looking to see if I wanted to make a commitment to the company (by being made permanent) and she doesn't want to waste time and money on someone who doesn't want to stay in the long term. The problem is that when you make a commitment you normally understand a little more about what you're getting yourself in to and how long it's for...

The other thing that slightly annoys me is that they recruited another girl at the same time as me and she's permanent, but I bet they never said to her 'Do you want to be temporary or permanent? Because we only want to invest in people that are permanent, so we want to know your long term plans...' She could leave at any point and presumably that would be ok?

AP007

gwen80 wrote: »

Maybe I've not explained myself very well. What I'm saying is my take on the conversation we had was that she was looking to see if I wanted to make a commitment to the company (by being made permanent) and she doesn't want to waste time and money on someone who doesn't want to stay in the long term. The problem is that when you make a commitment you normally understand a little more about what you're getting yourself in to and how long it's for...

The other thing that slightly annoys me is that they recruited another girl at the same time as me and she's permanent, but I bet they never said to her 'Do you want to be temporary or permanent? Because we only want to invest in people that are permanent, so we want to know your long term plans...' She could leave at any point and presumably that would be ok?

That's like you asking the MD what are his or hers long term plans with the company and you can only invest working for a company who wont let you go in the next say 3 or 5 years!

You say what you say to keep the job if you want it.

gwen80

john539 wrote: »

You haven't had time to think about this.

You've only been there 1.5 months & boss has just asked you today.

I know. And the fact that I've relocated for the job...at the moment there's all sorts of things going through my head...like I'm further away from my family and friends and is this job worth it? Is the distance for the career worthwhile in the longer term.

She seems to want an answer reasonably quickly. In the next few weeks I think as it's going to affect her planning for training and projects etc. I was taken on to cover someone off long term sick and now I wonder if they've heard she's not coming back, therefore they've lost an employee from the books.