Accepting a job where the pay is far from perfect

[UK345]

Bit of a sticky situation here but i have been offered a job which sounds okay but the pay is absolutely horrendous. The job is a full time permanent position working 40 hours a week for a local company. They are paying a smidgen under £16000 per year which in all honestly is making me think twice. The reality is there are not alot of jobs out there - i currently work but only have a zero hour contract. I have been actively looking and applying but i barely hear anything back. I personally think i can get a better paid role but there is nothing on the horizon at the moment.

Any advice would be much appreciated guys. What would you do ?

[UK345]

Went for the interview today and it went quite well. One of the interviewers also said I done well. They have some more to interview but should know by Wednesday. If I get offered it I will be accepting.

[UK345]

Well looks like they don't like getting back to candidates. I chased them up on Thursday and was told they would phone me later that day - they never. I went down yesterday to ask and they said they would phone me today which has not happened. Really annoys me when company's make promises and don't deliver them. Needless to say i am putting this experience behind me and moving on. All i will say is thank god i never bought a car off of them .

[UK345]

I have taken the advice given to me in this thread and have been opening up my job search to positions which don't really pay well. I have stopped working at the car auction company due to the work drying up and have accepted a job with a big trade warehouse company which sells everything from tyres to cakes. It is only 24 hours a week which pays £7 per hour but I can kind of tolerate it until I get something better. Basically I will be based at the till area serving and helping customers pack their bags. It is not really the position I seen myself in at this age but going to need to go with the flow and take it on since I have nothing else.

I am adamant to get better employment and have not given up applying to other roles. I had two other interviews and I am continuing to put in many application forms. I suppose in a way I am relieved to have a source of income again but I really want to improve my situation and gain better employment.

[UK345]

Foliage said:

How old are you?
What are your outgoings like?

Think of your life like a business, your goal is profit (amongst all the intangible stuff but spare money pays for fun stuff)

So will 10k a year pay (after tax), pay your bills? will the job after a short time lead to a better paid role? will the role give you skills and knowledge that can then be used to get a higher paid position?

Be realistic, don't work out your finances too tightly, better under estimate your pay and over estimate your out goings and have a little left over.

Thanks for the guidance that is a good way to look at things. I am 24 years old and still live at home. Have no financial commitments other than a phone bill which is £25 a month and petrol for my car £60 a month (this varies on how much I use it). I am fortunate enough to have no debt (I am Scottish and we get university free). The role I have accepted is an entry level role. They have said to me I could grow in the company and they recruit internally so it may well be a stepping stone into a promising career. I have realised that I am very lucky to be offered this so I see it as a step in the correct direction. I will still be looking out for new opportunities but I suppose if things went really well in this new place I would stay. A good thing with this job is I am paid every 2 weeks so that is a good selling point for me. Most companies I have worked for in the past haven't been like that.

[UK345]

MrHargreaves said:

OP what has raised your expectations about the level of remuneration you think you deserve?

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Some good advice from others on this thread

Thanks for the reply. I base my pay expectations through looking at a variety of jobs that interest me and work out from there. I also draw on my previous work experience. All i want is a job that interests me and provides me with scope for career development but then again so does everyone.

I am beginning to get with reality now hence why i have chosen to accept a lower paid job and bide my time.

[UK345]

Just to update this

Three months since i opened this thread and my working life has changed. I was able to land myself a decent job with plenty of perks and i am really enjoying it. I have been given a company car and i am out and about all the time. I am a Business Development Executive for a large food and beverage company. Luckily, i was able to reject the other job i had lined up so that was a relief. I started with this job two months ago now and have been making excellent progress. I no longer have any financial worries and as far as im concerned i have started to finally build the foundations to my career. There is excellent scope for development in my role and i have the option of working on different accounts (the company have contracts many big companies).

What i have learned from my experience is that you should never give up on finding the ideal job and that you should carry out extensive research before taking interviews. One of the reasons i was offered the job was because i carried out primary and secondary research on the company and their activities. The interviewer on the phone actually thought i already worked with them since i knew that much. I had applied for a 3 months temporary role but they liked me that much that they gave me a permanent position.

So yeah all is going well for me now and i thought i would update this thread to let you guys know. I would also like to thank those who contributed to my thread.