Jobs how long before you can move on for a pay rise

[Worrywart987]

Been in role 6 months, pay rise that I had moving from job a to b has been completely obliterated by CoL, so basically need to move on but I’m not sure I’ve been in role long enough… realistically how long is it before I can move on before it raises eyebrows?

I do quite a bit of recruitment. I'd be suspicious of someone applying who'd only been in a job 6 months unless a genuine reason like redundancy. I'd give it at least a year.

I'd say a couple of years really.

That’s what I thought too… depressing.

feel like such a failure and trapped

At least a year

I would say a year.

I think it's fine to start looking and applying now. It could easily be a year before you find something.
You could also put a case to your current employer for a pay rise if you're in the private sector.
Job hopping is only an issue if it's constant and looks like you've never been able to keep a job

How much as a % increase or in thousands per annum would an average move up be?

my previous pay rises from moves up have been around 5k a year

I think it’s unlikely for an increase where I am, the annual pay rise date was the end of financial year and due to my being a new joiner I wasn’t entitled to anything

I think it really depends on your work history.

If you have always hopped about that’s going to be a red flag.

But if you had long stints at employers and then a short 6 month job it won’t be a problem. It hasn’t been an issue for me anyway! I just say “it was clear early on that the role wasn’t for me” and it’s met with “yes fair enough I had a similar thing a few years ago” 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think it’s somewhat industry dependant, but generally fine to move on after 6 months as long as you don’t make a habit of it. Make sure your next role is a good fit so that you can definitely stay there for at least a year or two.

You just need to be prepared to explain the short tenure in an interview.

Agree with PP you could easily shrug it off as not the right fit if you've previously stayed in jobs for longer.

Thing is a like my job so it’s unfortunate but it’s the col

There's no harm in applying for new jobs, surely. If the person recruiting doesn't like the fact you have only been in your current role for 6 months you just won't get an interview.
I would just make sure I have an answer ready in any interviews you may get for why you are wanting to change jobs now

Again this is depends on your industry.

My last few moves have been for:

£7k (around a 25% increase)
£6k (around a 18% increase)
£20k (around a 40% increase)

with various promotions/pay rises in between.

The biggest internal pay rise I ever got was £10k as part of a promotion package. Generally my internal pay rises have been 1-4% in line with inflation/performance.

Would CoL be a good enough reason do we think? I’m just concerned that I’ve not necessarily got enough experience to fill competency based questions for a substantial enough pay rise

Ignore those saying a year. I left a job after 3 months for higher pay and wfh. Current role did not ask me any questions about why I was leaving in the interview process even though I had prepared for it in case they did. I‘ve been in this role for nearly 8 months and once I hit a year will be looking to move to increase salary again. I’d say start applying now!

Yeah mine have been around 5k, 25-30, then small step up internally 3k and then external move 7k to 40k

2 years.

I hire. I don't care if a candidate has one short-term job if they have multiple longer stints. Most of us have experienced taking a job that didn't work out and it doesn't reflect negatively unless it's always happening.

I want to see three years plus at most jobs. It takes months to get someone up to speed and training sucks a lot of my time, so I don't want to do it every year or two.

I’ve never done more than 2 years, mostly 18 months at a role. One I hated. One I got made redundant and the other (most recent) couldn’t afford to go back to after mat leave that was the 2 year role.

Interesting. I was going to say 6 months. I know a young woman who tripled her salary from 22k to 66k in four years in her twenties by moving every 6-12 months for an increase in salary and seniority. She was very open about her reasons for moving. They were never shifty. She wanted wider experience and skill development to enable her to become a good manager, and negotiated pay rises each time in line with the extra responsibilities.

’ve never done more than 2 years, mostly 18 months at a role. One I hated. One I got made redundant and the other (most recent) couldn’t afford to go back to after mat leave that was the 2 year role.

Honestly I personally wouldn't employ you because 18 months isn't worth the investment, but it may be normal in your industry? E.g. I know call centres have huge turnover so they probably wouldn't bat an eye.

No definitely not call centre, i loathed my first role out of uni (further ed) so stuck it as long as I could 18 months and then 1 year into other role made redundant and then got a new job in the same company, so was there over 4 years (Mat leave extended time in company) and I just couldn’t afford to go back.