Thanks Killy!
As you know I lack a bit of confidence at times but the willingness is there and nothing is too much.
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- Thread starter armyash
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Thanks Killy!
As you know I lack a bit of confidence at times but the willingness is there and nothing is too much.
Do you pay all your own fuel and van etc etc Ash?
if you do then they are taking the **** to be honest, a year down the line you should be taking home a lot more than that.
As as a self employed engineer, you need to be taking home more than direct labour engineers due to the cost involved and the risk you may not have a job tomorrow.
I had my hours cut at BG and only work 3 days a week now, and I earn just under £700 a week for three days.
I work monday to wednesday and on Thursday and Friday I go out with one of their direct labour engineers and learn more about the repair side of the job.
I dont get paid for this, but as I don't do any private work, I'd only be say at home doing nothing if I wasn't out learning, and you can't really put a price on what I've learnt in the last few weeks. I'm using what I've learnt already and have earned more on the days I'd do work, so it's working out well for me.
BG are not everyone's cup of tea, but it may be worth you having a look at what they could offer you if they take on more contractors in the future.
if you do then they are taking the **** to be honest, a year down the line you should be taking home a lot more than that.
As as a self employed engineer, you need to be taking home more than direct labour engineers due to the cost involved and the risk you may not have a job tomorrow.
I had my hours cut at BG and only work 3 days a week now, and I earn just under £700 a week for three days.
I work monday to wednesday and on Thursday and Friday I go out with one of their direct labour engineers and learn more about the repair side of the job.
I dont get paid for this, but as I don't do any private work, I'd only be say at home doing nothing if I wasn't out learning, and you can't really put a price on what I've learnt in the last few weeks. I'm using what I've learnt already and have earned more on the days I'd do work, so it's working out well for me.
BG are not everyone's cup of tea, but it may be worth you having a look at what they could offer you if they take on more contractors in the future.
Sounds like a good set up you have there. Earning good money on the days you work and learning on the days you dont get paid. What work are you doing when they are paying you?
They do provide van and pay fuel etc but thats the same for the other guys too - painter, labourer etc. If i was paying all that myself i'd have left long after 3 months.
I used to do serving five days a week.
Now i do a mixture of servicing and repairs and some upgrade work now, I much prefer the variety now 🙂
They're not quiet, they're just not a busy as they thought it would be, mainly because we didn't have a cold winter really.
Most of the cuts are down to the fact that their direct labour engineers only work 3 days a week in the summer and they legally, because of the union, have to offer them the chance to work their days off in the summer. If they kept all the contractors doing their service programme then they wouldn't be able to offer the legal overtime.
It suits me at the minute, ive worked like a dog the past 18 months getting my house deposit together and working 3 days a week is like a mini rest for me 🙂
i have it on good authority that I'll be back on 5 days in September. Otherwise I'd have left when the cuts happened 🙂
It sounds like you suffer from nice guy syndrome. Willing, understanding and not a money grabber, that's perfect for an employer who won't offer you more money when he thinks you won't bring it up either and cost himself more.
I've been there myself and judging by your previous posts you suffer a little from low self confidence in some areas of the job. (No offence)
You need to value yourself so that you can sell that value to your employer. Once you've realised you are good at what you do ( and I would say you sound like you are from the posts and very interested in doing it right) you'll have the confidence to open up the conversation.
I think the wage was fair but the hours aren't, so suggest invoice him for your extra hours, or agree a higher basic. Nothing to stop you looking for other work in the mean time.
good luck with it, sounds like your worth employing so if he's sensible he will be wiling to negotiate, if he's looking at the short term pound signs he won't budge on your wage and you'll know its time to move on.
I've been there myself and judging by your previous posts you suffer a little from low self confidence in some areas of the job. (No offence)
You need to value yourself so that you can sell that value to your employer. Once you've realised you are good at what you do ( and I would say you sound like you are from the posts and very interested in doing it right) you'll have the confidence to open up the conversation.
I think the wage was fair but the hours aren't, so suggest invoice him for your extra hours, or agree a higher basic. Nothing to stop you looking for other work in the mean time.
good luck with it, sounds like your worth employing so if he's sensible he will be wiling to negotiate, if he's looking at the short term pound signs he won't budge on your wage and you'll know its time to move on.
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Spot on really. I'm fairly new to this type of work and it's the first time I have worked on a self employed basis so I kind of feel like I have let them dictate terms to me without questioning anything and have accepted it all.
I agree the wage is not totally unfair IF i'm working to my set hours and like you say i'm not a money grabber but now I know everybody is earning more for doing less it's got to the point where something needs to be said.
If they are not prepared to budge it will definitely be time to move on.
Thanks for your response.
I love it mate.
I still reckon 60/70% of my work is servicing! which I don't mind as I find it quite relaxing.
The other 30/40% will be anything from breakdowns, which I'm slowly getting the hang of and some pipework jobs and rad installs, which is what I did most of my apprenticeship in so I'm pretty good on that already.
I can't complain really 🙂
Nice guy syndrome 🙂
sounds like what I used to have, when I first started out I used to say yes to any extra job or awkward job, mainly because I was young and too scared to say no.
It was only when I called the office one day and was taking to the chap on the phone, when overheard another girl in the office say "don't give that job to Colin, he will only moan, give it tom, he takes anything"
i got got off the phone and completed my next job and sent the next job back, as that would have taken me into overtime, which I never wanted anyway 🙂
from then on, I never took any **** off anyone and if anyone questioned anything, I would just let my safety record and my completed work quality do the taking 🙂
I've known some pretty crap engineers get decent well paid jobs and wing it because they talk the talk, and the flip side is being good but not having confidence in yourself which immediately de-values yourself. The ideal combination is somewhere in between I guess??!
I did three years on installs, then fell out a loft and battered my shoulder (it's ok now) and as I couldn't lift properly I went into serving and repairs. I did that for about a year then was made redundant.
After that I went to BG as a contractor and have been there nearly 4 years 🙂
i never worked for CHN mate, I don't know who they are 🙂
Which is perfectly acceptable and I hope that it hasn't come across that i'm turning my nose up at the 340 a week that i get, it's doing how much i do while the others do less work but earn more that i have the biggest problem with along with the extra hours.
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Hi Ash
A couple of suggestions if I may?
Firstly, ask your boss for an appointment to discuss it. Explain that you know how busy he is, but that you would value 30 minutes of undisturbed time to discuss this important matter.
Secondly, completely forget what other people earn. This is all about you and the value that you bring to the firm.
Speaking as an employer, the moment any employee starts to talk to me about what their colleagues earn, I turn off completely. The prime reason is that I can't discuss it - what another employee earns is confidential to him/her, and I can't say things like "yep - you're right, it was a mistake to give Joe that payrise last year, because he really doesn't deserve it." When employees discuss pay they often don't differentiate between before/after tax, the effect of Working family tax credits, overtime and all sorts of other things so their beliefs are often wrong. But I can't break confidenitiality to put that error straight. I have employees that I think are over paid. We all make wrong judgements sometimes, and when an employer does that, since it is almost impossible to cut someones pay, the result is an overpaid employee. Assuming that they aren't terrible (just over paid) often the best solution is just to let inflation eat away at it over a few years.
Over paying an employee is an expensive mistake. But overpaying an entire workforce in order to maintain what people think are "correct" differentials in comparison to that overpaid employee is the road to bankrupcy.
In my experience, employees get very uptight if they think that something is "unfair". But I run a business to be profitable, not to conform to a third party's idea of what "fair".
Just my 2 pennoth.
A couple of suggestions if I may?
Firstly, ask your boss for an appointment to discuss it. Explain that you know how busy he is, but that you would value 30 minutes of undisturbed time to discuss this important matter.
Secondly, completely forget what other people earn. This is all about you and the value that you bring to the firm.
Speaking as an employer, the moment any employee starts to talk to me about what their colleagues earn, I turn off completely. The prime reason is that I can't discuss it - what another employee earns is confidential to him/her, and I can't say things like "yep - you're right, it was a mistake to give Joe that payrise last year, because he really doesn't deserve it." When employees discuss pay they often don't differentiate between before/after tax, the effect of Working family tax credits, overtime and all sorts of other things so their beliefs are often wrong. But I can't break confidenitiality to put that error straight. I have employees that I think are over paid. We all make wrong judgements sometimes, and when an employer does that, since it is almost impossible to cut someones pay, the result is an overpaid employee. Assuming that they aren't terrible (just over paid) often the best solution is just to let inflation eat away at it over a few years.
Over paying an employee is an expensive mistake. But overpaying an entire workforce in order to maintain what people think are "correct" differentials in comparison to that overpaid employee is the road to bankrupcy.
In my experience, employees get very uptight if they think that something is "unfair". But I run a business to be profitable, not to conform to a third party's idea of what "fair".
Just my 2 pennoth.
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