Interesting situation at work, what to do?

[Du1point8]

Im coming up to 2 year contact end a week on wednesday and am currently looking for a new job and have several interviews sorted and have only been looking for 2 weeks so far... got called into the office today and big boss has asked if I would be interested in a contract extension for 6-8 weeks.

Reason being the 2 people that are replacing me are good programmers but have no business knowledge and are not getting the system even after 6 weeks tutoring and me not touching code in this time whilst undertaking the knowledge transfer.

The Big Boss will have more details tomorrow once he has talked to contracting desk as I have hit 2 years.

I am thinking of saying yes but under a few provisos...

1) I will still keep looking for a job and if I get one soon they can have 1 weeks notice but Im happy to stay the distance if the market has cooled down.

2) I will stay hands off the code so the other 2 gain more knowledge and I have my name on nothing, so I will go so far as code reviewing their code and suggesting where they need to improve.

3) If the other 2 still dont get it Im not to be held accountable as Im a consultant on advising role only to make sure they complete the task.

Im doing them a favour and so Im not bothered if they wont accept the terms and conditions and will happily walk away but Im not wanting to burn bridges.

Am I being unreasonable?

At the moment I have 2 2nd stage interviews and 2 interviews this week.

Im looking out for my long term employment rather than dropping everything for 2 months and starting again later.

[davepoth]

Ask for more money. Lie to them if you like and tell them you had something lined up, and you need "something" to make it worth your while.

[Du1point8]

davepoth said:

Ask for more money. Lie to them if you like and tell them you had something lined up, and you need "something" to make it worth your while.

But the bluff would be if I had something lined up why would I not go for it for the sake of up to 2 months extra wage.

the wage increase might come they might offer it but the wage is above average anyway that means 2 months is worth the price of a nice car

[ColinM50]

Tell him it's not worth your while putting your job hunting on hold just for 6-8 weeks extension, however if they extend your contract for 6 months then you'd be happy to stay on if the new pay rate's OK. 10% raise?

[Du1point8]

ColinM50 said:

Tell him it's not worth your while putting your job hunting on hold just for 6-8 weeks extension, however if they extend your contract for 6 months then you'd be happy to stay on if the new pay rate's OK. 10% raise?

But that is clause 1 that I would ask them to abide by, keep looking and if something comes up then Im gone with a weeks notice and I still get to work in the mean time.

[amir_j]

Is it the company enforcing a 2 year rule or you fancy a change?


I'd take the extension but with no more than 1 weeks notice, not sure why you are bothering with the extra clauses- don't see you being accountable if they screw up after you leave.

[Murray993]

Option 1 should be fine. In terms of the other you can only lead a horse to water most people know that about that.

[Jasandjules]

Your other interviews, they might still be happy with a 4 week notice period? Or are they contract start tomorrow type roles?

If they would accept a notice period, then you can lock that in with your current employer with a golden handshake......

[Du1point8]

amir_j said:

Is it the company enforcing a 2 year rule or you fancy a change?


I'd take the extension but with no more than 1 weeks notice, not sure why you are bothering with the extra clauses- don't see you being accountable if they screw up after you leave.

Company enforce a 2 year contractor rule so I have no option to stay on except for now as they are saying they need me.

[Du1point8]

Jasandjules said:

Your other interviews, they might still be happy with a 4 week notice period? Or are they contract start tomorrow type roles?

If they would accept a notice period, then you can lock that in with your current employer with a golden handshake......

Interviews are for permanent roles which are a little more flexible but I have said Im available immediately to the contracting roles so thats why I have to and dont want to lock in more than a weeks notice.

With the golden handshake... Im not wanting to take the piss so thought I would keep it to just the minimum.

With regards to anyone asking why dont I stay there, they only have one position open as a perm and the current perm in another team got it due to company rulings so that is not an option and there is no head count till next year... Boss is pulling some favours to find out if he can keep me so the project doesnt go tits up and I dont want it too as its my project and if I was still there full time it wouldnt and would be fully working, just the 2 he has taking over have made some/major mistakes in not understanding the business logic and screwed it up and I have had to fire fight it all from leaving it stable 6 weeks ago to the mess they have created which I thought was funny... But I would still like to see it go live and with me assisting short term it will.