To consider a role with a starting salary with just a marginal increase?

[Quirkyme]

Good evening,

I'm considering applying for a role within my organisation, my organisation always advertises roles within a £5range, e.g "Job title , salary : £36,989-£40,401".

The starting salary of the role is really just a marginal increase salary increase. I was thinking to apply for the role, and if successful negotiate towards the higher end, as I have experience in the field. I have also worked with the hiring manager and the person leaving the role previously.

However, I spoke to the person whose leaving the role, and I'm not sure.
She said that as she knows me, she struggled herself in the role, and feels I will too, as the team are small and stuck in their ways , and resistant to change which she struggled with and feels I will too. That's actually the reason she's leaving.

She also said that she's the youngest in the team, I'm 30, she's slightly younger at 28/29, and she mentioned that was also an issue. I've been in a similar position before and I understand what she means.

She said that I wouldn't be able to negotiate or that if I chose to it definitely wouldn't be granted.

The plus sides were that the career gave good experience with regards to court and legal processes which she said was useful and that she wouldn't be able to move onto the role she is now without having done the role.

It also has the exact same work/life set up that I have in my current role in that I work from home apart from 1-2 days a month.

I will say in the past I had been warned off a certain role due to the work dynamics of the team etc, decided to apply , got the role and it really was a shitshow...

I'm not sure what to do.

Has anyone been in a similar position before? How did it work out for you?

What would you do if this were you?

Just apply; you don’t even have an offer yet. No point agonising if you could get rejected

A pay rise is a pay rise, you haven’t listed a compelling reason to turn it down. even a pay cut is viable if it offers you further opportunities along the line and a higher salary in x years.

I work in public sector where pay brackets are listed but are essentially decoration as they rarely hire people to start on the higher end of the bracket. There’s no harm in asking but I might be biased when I say set yourself up for disappointment.

with the team culture, your mileage may vary. You might not find the atmosphere to be toxic. You might handle things differently than the person that’s leaving, and may have a different relationship with the colleagues. Unless the person leaving raised extreme concerns, I would still recommend you apply

Just go for it, she may not have negotiated well for the higher salary and she may well have just not gelled well with the team. Her version of events may be true to her but that doesnt mean it was entirely correct, I wouldnt take it as gospel.

I have a couple of questions. What's the reason for applying for a new job? What's the reason for applying for this specific job?

If it's that you want a change and a payrise, there might be a better job.

If it's the specific experience the job would give you, is this the only place that you could get that experience?

If the plan is to take the job, gain skills and experiences, and then move on, having a plan for getting out really helped me. I can put up with 12/18 months of a not great job if I have a plan to take every opportunity offered to maximise my employability and to start looking for a new job at month 9. If the job makes you cry in the toilets and hate your life then it's probably not worth it. It doesn't sound like it was that awful from what the person who is leaving said though.