How easy is it to get another high paying job?
Discussion
£70k is top end for a PM, unless experienced in a high demand product such as salesforce, or cloud migrations etc.
As far as finding a role if in the unfortunate position of being let go, you could alway contract while you look for a perm role.
Even at a day rate of £350 (which is super low for PM) and in IR35 that would be more than what you earn today.
In the last 7 days they has been 350+ PM roles listed on jobserve paying at least £350 a day
As far as finding a role if in the unfortunate position of being let go, you could alway contract while you look for a perm role.
Even at a day rate of £350 (which is super low for PM) and in IR35 that would be more than what you earn today.
In the last 7 days they has been 350+ PM roles listed on jobserve paying at least £350 a day
That's the thing imo: make hay while the sun shines - stash the cash for a rainy day - enjoy it while it lasts - take what you can from the job in terms of training and experience - etc etc.
You sound similar to me in that I don't count my chickens and know that baldness is only a few hairs away, so I plan and live accordingly. Every car not bought is X months earlier retirement - or so i keep telling myself.
You sound similar to me in that I don't count my chickens and know that baldness is only a few hairs away, so I plan and live accordingly. Every car not bought is X months earlier retirement - or so i keep telling myself.
I don't really know what salaries are common in your world, but if you're earning the very top of what the job pays in the industry I suppose you'll be looking for longer than if in the middle (assuming its a fairly common role/transferable etc)
Anyway, I got to test your question last year, so feel I can answer. Over the course of 3 days last year I lost my role due to covid/startup issues and then my wife was made redundant. Both 6 figure salaries > HHI went to zero in 50 hours, 6 weeks prior had moved into a new house with a mortgage of 2.6k, wife almost 8 months pregnant, and of course covid really had taken hold by this point. On the face of it, things couldn't really have been any worse. Looking back at dates - it happened mid May. I found a new role paying more and started Aug 3rd and when wife started looking for a role in the new year after having our son it took her about 5 weeks to find a similarly paying role also on a 4 day a week contract.
Things we learned - try if you can to have a life you can live on one salary if needs be, even if that means it's fairly basic, its better than chipping away at savings IMO. Have some savings, we had a decent safety net that we used a bit of (kids are more expensive that no kids), and also owing to wife being made redundant we also got all her mat leave/severance etc in one lump, didn't need to touch it = so actually the whole situation was a net win really. But of course it didn't look like that on the week it all went pear shaped
Anyway, I got to test your question last year, so feel I can answer. Over the course of 3 days last year I lost my role due to covid/startup issues and then my wife was made redundant. Both 6 figure salaries > HHI went to zero in 50 hours, 6 weeks prior had moved into a new house with a mortgage of 2.6k, wife almost 8 months pregnant, and of course covid really had taken hold by this point. On the face of it, things couldn't really have been any worse. Looking back at dates - it happened mid May. I found a new role paying more and started Aug 3rd and when wife started looking for a role in the new year after having our son it took her about 5 weeks to find a similarly paying role also on a 4 day a week contract.
Things we learned - try if you can to have a life you can live on one salary if needs be, even if that means it's fairly basic, its better than chipping away at savings IMO. Have some savings, we had a decent safety net that we used a bit of (kids are more expensive that no kids), and also owing to wife being made redundant we also got all her mat leave/severance etc in one lump, didn't need to touch it = so actually the whole situation was a net win really. But of course it didn't look like that on the week it all went pear shaped
Thanks for the replies so far.
I think part of my worry/problem is my ego/pride; as sad as it sounds, I like to think everything I do is improved on what I did the day before. Therefore, if I change jobs, it should be to one with more money and great responsibility.
I’m lucky that I have no debt, no mortgage, and a small FU fund. Definitely not enough to be complacent, but enough that would allow me to chill out a bit and maybe do some travelling for a year.
Should the worse happen, maybe a 6–12-month career break wouldn’t be a bad option, all while keeping an eye on the market.
My employer recognises senior project manager, which is something I am working towards and will involve a pay bump. It will finally be nice to get the title, after a decade of working in project management.
I love the idea of contracting, and although I feel I have the experience for the job itself, I’m unsure about developing my brand as a contractor or even how to get started. You might have just encouraged me to do some research.
I think part of my worry/problem is my ego/pride; as sad as it sounds, I like to think everything I do is improved on what I did the day before. Therefore, if I change jobs, it should be to one with more money and great responsibility.
I’m lucky that I have no debt, no mortgage, and a small FU fund. Definitely not enough to be complacent, but enough that would allow me to chill out a bit and maybe do some travelling for a year.
Should the worse happen, maybe a 6–12-month career break wouldn’t be a bad option, all while keeping an eye on the market.
Wilmslowboy said:
£70k is top end for a PM, unless experienced in a high demand product such as salesforce, or cloud migrations etc.
As far as finding a role if in the unfortunate position of being let go, you could alway contract while you look for a perm role.
Even at a day rate of £350 (which is super low for PM) and in IR35 that would be more than what you earn today.
In the last 7 days they has been 350+ PM roles listed on jobserve paying at least £350 a day
I think there is room over £70k, but like you say it is towards the top end. As far as finding a role if in the unfortunate position of being let go, you could alway contract while you look for a perm role.
Even at a day rate of £350 (which is super low for PM) and in IR35 that would be more than what you earn today.
In the last 7 days they has been 350+ PM roles listed on jobserve paying at least £350 a day
My employer recognises senior project manager, which is something I am working towards and will involve a pay bump. It will finally be nice to get the title, after a decade of working in project management.
I love the idea of contracting, and although I feel I have the experience for the job itself, I’m unsure about developing my brand as a contractor or even how to get started. You might have just encouraged me to do some research.
clio007 said:
randlemarcus said:
Never mind senior Project Manager, start working towards Programme Management - less grind, more money
Project managers have a grind?OP you appear to have a level head on your shoulders, that basically means two things...........
1) You're aware that you are always disposable, and you spend accordingly.
2) You're not really suited to management or working corporate
It is not easy to get such roles, it appears to be more luck than judgement, you're up against the worlds best BSers, there are less of these roles by a factor of 10 and they usually involve relocation.
You also have the problem that whilst roles are difficult to find, you could end up doing lesser roles in between, which seems to ring alarm bells for the agencies, for two reasons:
1) It looks like there is something wrong with you if you can't get an equal role, or if you have CV gaps.
2) It looks like you're not committed to your career path and might leave a new role quickly, costing the agent their commission.
Your absolute best bet is to network with management at companies you deal with already, and get yourself well known. Things I as a bench engineer have been prevented from doing because not allowed to speak to suppliers or customers or anyone.
£70k plus a decent pension and bonus can sometimes be better than the lower rate contracts.
£350 a day is around the same as £70k, if outside IR35. Inside then £70k perm will be better financially.
Throw in some time on the bench and holidays and the perm role is usually the better option at the lower end rates.
£350 a day is around the same as £70k, if outside IR35. Inside then £70k perm will be better financially.
Throw in some time on the bench and holidays and the perm role is usually the better option at the lower end rates.
I have worked for a number of companies in my life and in increasing levels of responsibility. I never worried about being fired, but about how to get to the next level .Do more than my job, understand what is really important to the company, volunteer for special projects, be helpful to others, make a name as being super competent.
I was always clear that everyone is disposable so having a track record of being promoted is really good for the CV. Staying in the same job and doing the same thing for decades is a sure way to eventually being disposable in my view.
I was always clear that everyone is disposable so having a track record of being promoted is really good for the CV. Staying in the same job and doing the same thing for decades is a sure way to eventually being disposable in my view.
Ive been.contracting for 12 years and have averaged a turnover between £65k and £85k over the last 5 years. I have invested Everything above £35k a year in property.
Just been contacted by an ex boss about a senior role paying £75k.
If I get it my plan is to salary sacrifice an extra £25k into my pension. Given that I'm 54.
There's a car with it. Im going EV purely for the BIK rate.
If I get it.
Just been contacted by an ex boss about a senior role paying £75k.
If I get it my plan is to salary sacrifice an extra £25k into my pension. Given that I'm 54.
There's a car with it. Im going EV purely for the BIK rate.
If I get it.
A job may be advertised by a parsimonious employer just to see if some mug will do it for less than the going rate.
Not all jobs, whether permie or contract, get advertised. Some roles are filled from those already on agencies' books, whilst in other generally more senior cases a headhunter is engaged to finding the right person.
The long and the short of it is that what you see in job adverts is far from the whole story.
Not all jobs, whether permie or contract, get advertised. Some roles are filled from those already on agencies' books, whilst in other generally more senior cases a headhunter is engaged to finding the right person.
The long and the short of it is that what you see in job adverts is far from the whole story.
rustyuk said:
£70k plus a decent pension and bonus can sometimes be better than the lower rate contracts.
£350 a day is around the same as £70k, if outside IR35. Inside then £70k perm will be better financially.
Throw in some time on the bench and holidays and the perm role is usually the better option at the lower end rates.
I did some sums. Outside IR35, on £40 an hour. Factoring in pension and business costs, results in a value to me after tax of about £55k. £350 a day is around the same as £70k, if outside IR35. Inside then £70k perm will be better financially.
Throw in some time on the bench and holidays and the perm role is usually the better option at the lower end rates.
The problem I have is that the £40 an hour contract or the £75k job is not local. Once you factor in travel it's a different calculation.
Plus £40 an hour is easy work, whereas I suspect £75k senior role will be a challenge. My wife reckons that I've become lazy, and it's affecting my mood. She suggests that working at a higher level will be good for me.
Also can't believe that people I've met or worked with or worked for, ring me out of the blue. Its happened 7 times in 20 years. 3 permie jobs 4 contract jobs. Reckons I must be a different person at work.
It took me a nearly year to land a role with similar salary and seniority to the role I was made redundant from last summer.
I was deliberately fussy - as I wanted a like for like role in a company I wanted to work for, with similar opportunities and salary. Plus I had the luxury of a decent redundancy package, a couple of nice tax rebates and my wife also works full time so we could afford for me to take a break.
However, competition for roles is very high at the moment (or was, it's much better than earlier in the year - especially for technical roles) so I was prepared to take a hit just to get some income, and until I received the offer on this current role I (IT Programme manager), I was getting a bit nervous as I've never really been out of work for more than 6 weeks before.
So - I guess from my experience, it's worth waiting for the right role to come along, but it depends how quickly you need to get back to work. I've gone in at a lower level and worked my way back up before now, so its worth checking out the roles and seeing who may have that sort of opportunity.
At least you don't need to worry too much about work location right now as everyone is working remotely and in IT is likely to for the forseeable. However this opens opportunities to everyone so is a bit of a double edged sword.
I was deliberately fussy - as I wanted a like for like role in a company I wanted to work for, with similar opportunities and salary. Plus I had the luxury of a decent redundancy package, a couple of nice tax rebates and my wife also works full time so we could afford for me to take a break.
However, competition for roles is very high at the moment (or was, it's much better than earlier in the year - especially for technical roles) so I was prepared to take a hit just to get some income, and until I received the offer on this current role I (IT Programme manager), I was getting a bit nervous as I've never really been out of work for more than 6 weeks before.
So - I guess from my experience, it's worth waiting for the right role to come along, but it depends how quickly you need to get back to work. I've gone in at a lower level and worked my way back up before now, so its worth checking out the roles and seeing who may have that sort of opportunity.
At least you don't need to worry too much about work location right now as everyone is working remotely and in IT is likely to for the forseeable. However this opens opportunities to everyone so is a bit of a double edged sword.
I would like to think it would be quite easy for myself as I'm always in-demand and have been for several years, have too much work, I work in a niche area that doesn't seem to have too many experts, and sometimes I do wonder if I should go at it alone since I was told what I'm charged out at for day rates by my company. My usual charge out is £900-1600 a day depending on who the client is and the terms of the contract.
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