Risky to stay or not? Jobs

[DancingTommy]

Advice gratefully received pls.
Started first job since being a sahm and finishing my Masters week before lockdown.
I love it - it’s very niche -an area of massive potential, it’s public sector, Ive got nothing but really positive praise since I started as I threw my self into Covid response and I’m a hard worker anyway.
BUT it’s a temporary contract due to run out in March. As it’s in health role I can assume it would likely be extended but no guarantees.
There are other jobs around I could try for but I feel if I can hang on where I am because I’m getting a good name for being capable of more something might come up?
Dh thinks I should be earning more anyway and doing more hours (I’m on 25k fte but less than 30 hours).
My gut is saying stick it out and it will come right but Dh is worried I could be out of work in March.
I’ve applied for another job which is likely I’ll be shortlisted for but I want to be able to stay where I am Aibu?

So I suppose am I taking too much of a risk hoping to keep the job I love

In case I don’t get contract extended and end up out of work inmarch

You need to talk to your colleagues / manager. Haven’t worked in health but I did spend a lot of time in public sector and jobs were often created specifically for certain people (despite then being advertised, the job requirements made it clear who would get the role). I can’t believe that none of your colleagues have a clue whether or not you will get extended in March. You need to find out who is making decisions etc.

Yanbu to want to stay in your role and build on your reputation; but yabu to wait and see if it is given to you, you need to be networking and lobbying (and manipulating/backstabbing/sucking up as necessary - that’s just the world of work).

Can you test the waters in a chat with your boss? Let them know you love the job, and would love to stay, but you wonder whether you should start applying for something else as March is coming round.

Good luck to you, OP - having a job you love doing is a fantastic thing x

What SpudsandGravy said...

You have to look to what you're going to do at the end of the contract, but letting your current boss know that you'd like to stay may prompt them to see what they can do about it, if they want to keep you.

Thanks both- I’ve spoken to my line manager and she is really trying her best to reassure me and has used a lot of the training budget added to my skill set so that I can be ticking other boxes now. She has said this will make it much more likely I will be kept on.
She’s raised it as an issue with her boss and the ‘big’ boss (one under CEO) that I need to be kept on and given more hours.
Dh is pushing to get something more secure and for more money he’s really worried all this nice talk won’t equate to an permanent job.
In the new year I may ask to speak to my boss’s boss again? Is there anything else I can do? I’m already leading on 2 big pieces of work above my pay scale but will lead more recognition hopefully.

I’m in a job that started off 7.5hrs pw in 2019 and the temp contract was only for a few months and I wasn’t expecting it to go beyond Spring 2020. It was extended (which was a miracle due to covid-19) and in September 2020 the hours jumped up to 23.5hrs pw.
The contract is due to end in April 2021 and my husband and some other family members have mentioned that I could look for a full time role now that I’ve got the experience box ticked, and they’re right; I could look for a new job in advance but actually I think it’ll look better if I stay, and I reckon my contract will be extended. Even if it isn’t I’ll have the extra months on my CV and that’ll look good when going for the next role.

I forgot to add:

My workplace doesn’t currently have the budget to put me forward for training (and it’s close to 2800 if I want to pay for it myself) so I’m doing some specific short courses which will look proactive.

If you love it there then take the risk. Spend every opportunity upskilling yourself, doing extra CPD, showing management how much of an asset you are. At the end of January, test the waters again with line manager and have more of a "I need to know asap to apply for other jobs" conversation which could give you a more definitive answer

I think all you can do is keep an eye out for other jobs, and apply for the good ones just in case. I had a similar situation, and happily all worked out for me. It'll prolly work out for you too (fingers crossed) but in case it doesn't it's definitely the smart thing to apply for other things.