competitive salary?

[newtoallthis101]

I work full time within the nhs and get my monthly salary with a couple of hundred pound extra each month due to shift allowance (nights/bank holidays etc).

I've seen a position outside the nhs which sounds extremely interesting,however all it states on salary is - competitive salary offered.

What does this mean?

Would it be unreasonable to ask for my current salary including my shift allowance which tbh I've become used to as i consistently do they same amount of nights and weekends each month. TIA

they will have an idea of what they want to offer - go for it and see what happens

No advice but i fucking haaaaaate those job ads. Just tell me what you'll pay me, then i'll decide if its worth the ballache of filling in the application form!!!

Average salary for the job. The only way to be sure is apply. You don't have to take the job

I've filled in the application form already but i know in order to attend an interview i'll probably have to beg favours to swap shifts.
I also don't want to attend the interview if they'd be a decrease in my wage as we're hoping to move house in the future and I want my salary to look alright.

In the past I have rang to have a chat with the employer, as some job ads it isn't clear if it's a leadership role or a procedural based role and there's a work of difference in expectation of candidate (and of salary).

It's a good opportunity to then ask if they have a ballpark for the salary (because of course they do).

I've yet to find a role advertised as competative and it not be only slightly over the national minimum wage. When I say slightly its been 2p or 3p per hour over.

See if you can find similar roles online advertising with a salary. Use the lowest as a guideline to what they will be looking to pay. You ask for the highest one you find and hopefully you can meet in the middle if successful.

My policy is never apply for a role not showing the salary. It usually means that they want to pay as little as possible although some companies claim its because they don't want competitors to headhunt their best staff by offering more money. Whatever their reason its not because they want to pay the best salary for the role.

I only know one person who runs a private medical clinic (sad but what can I say it's Britain I guess). He normally bases salary off current salaries. So if he wants to offer a job to a nurse currently earning x amount by he will usually offer slightly more (or significantly better working conditions). It's pretty standard when you interview for a new job to ask for more than you are currently getting if the duties are similar and the company is in the same area.

Salary usually isn't stated because it depends on experience and previous salary.

If the job is comparable or a small step up, you can probably expect a 10% increase on your current salary.

You'd be best asking about this in the employment forum here OP

Plenty of advice with MNers in similar positions

The short answer is: always negotiate, based it on facts

Ask for a fair market rate based on your skills, location - do research, don't just pluck numbers from the air

Unless your current role is identical in duties, forthe dame employer, hours, location, etc what you currently earn is mostly irrelevant. So is what you need (although it may be important to you, no employer will grant more just because you need more Vs other candidates)

Data, data, data!

Dina1234 that works for employer, yes - that's a dream when humble (stupid, naive) employees go along with that.

But the OP should NOT pin her expected salary to current salary when stating expectations! It penalizes loyal, older employees who stay with orgs longer so don't get big salary bumps, and women (who fail to negotiate or base their stated expected salary on factual data).

Kailoer how are you supposed to be able to discuss your worth. I am completely unsure on how to find the data.
MY previous salary has only ever been based on agenda for change payscale. Start at the bottom and each year you move up in your band.
Outside the nhs I can't find any examples on how much more worthy I am for example because i can cannulate.

If you're leaving the NHS, you need to factor the pension in to your negotiations. The new job will need to offer a much higher salary (not just 10% more) to compensate for the lack of final salary pension.

I work in the field of market pay data (very very boring and a definite conversation stopper!) - if you PM me generic details of the role and broad location is be happy to see if I have any data on approximate market rates if that would help.

If you get an interview, just ring them up beforehand and ask them if they can confirm the salary range. They'll either tell you this, or ask you for your salary and then let you know if it's within their range. That saves wasting anyone's time particularly your own. Or you can go for the interview and take the risk that they will meet your salary expectations, but it's a lot of faff to go to all that trouble if they won't offer what you'll take.

I would judge my worth based on what would be worth leaving my current job for, plus a bit.

Either they say no and you negotiate, or they say no and you don't take the job, or they say fine and you know you should have asked for more!

If you are a band 5 nurse the private salary will be circa 35k. Sounds a lot more than NHS, but the pension / sickness / maternity will very probably be shit.

Shit as in non existent sick pay, aside from SSP.

Looks like I have a lot to think about.
I'm currently a band 6 midwife and the job advertised states nurse but on further reading of the person specification it does state registered nurse or midwife. It's an absolute minefield!!

Please consider the impact of leaving your pension scheme and make sure you make full enquiries regarding sickness pay and maternity pay if you plan to have children (or more children).

In my experience 'competitive' means they'll try to find out what you're currently on and then offer a minimal amount on top of that. Try to get a clear number in your head of the minimum it'll take for you to want to leave.

Remember annual leave too. Annual leave in the nhs is generous compared to lots of private companies.

OP- for info r pension, you can have a break of up to 5 years on your NHS pension and stay on the same terms you left on. I've just rejoined the 1995 scheme with a break of 4 years 11 months! So if you can do bank shifts and continue paying your pension, and then go back to the NHS at a later date, you will stay on your original pension scheme if it was 1995/2008.

To add- this is important because the earlier schemes assume a younger leave date I think and also have better terms if I recall correctly. Otherwise you get put on the 2015 scheme automatically when you rejoin.

I hate this. The answer IME is that 'competitive salary' means bog all and that the actual salary could be anywhere between fabulous or insulting. Why companies do it is beyond me.

Retail management is particularly bad for it. Salaries are all over the place and there seems little scale or affinity between what different employers offer. When dh (who has worked at Store Manager level for a number of years) was job hunting recently, nearly all of the SM positions stated 'competitive salary'. Then he'd find out that the SM salary at the local B&Q with 200 staff and multi-million turnover was half that of the Department Manager role at somewhere like Debenhams which had half the hours and a whole heap less of responsibility. It's just such a waste of time - the employers and the possible employees.