Am I mad for considering a £25k pay cut for essentially the same job but different Company?

[JennyBeez]

Hi there,

So I've been unemployed for 7 months now, my job was made redundant in February. I had a few interviews but no job offer because I do not have any Cloud system experience. Most Companies are now using Workday, SuccessFactor or Oracle, in my last job of 6 years they were using Peoplesoft.

I've been advised to take a pay cut by recruitment agencies which I'm totally open to especially during these tough times but I'm worried this might work against me in the future. I have an interview for a 12 month FTC job that is paying £25k less than my last job next week. It is essentially the same job but they are using a different system.

What would you do if you were in my situation? Hold out and possibly have a bigger gap on your CV or take a significantly lower salary? I'm worried that this would be a red flag for any future hiring managers. I know I'm getting ahead of myself as I've not been offered the job yet.

I don’t think taking a cut will work against you. Companies benchmark for a role rather than a person, and what you are earning in one job has no bearing on what you should be paid for another. Most companies use this to negotiate you down, but you don’t have to tell them, just state what your expectations are.

I’d take the job if you can afford the cut. You can always get another one once you’ve got the experience you need.

Better than no salary at all, which is your current alternative.

I think this is a tough time when salary expectations might not be what they were. Agree that it is better to have a job than no job.

I think if you don't have a job now then you don't have the luxury to insist on the salary you were on before but then it depends on whether you want to take the risk. I also don't know how Covid will affect salaries.

However I do not agree with PP who says it will not have bearing on future salaries. Almost all jobs I have taken (professional) the salary has been at least partly dependent on my previous salary. At least in my experience, jobs don't come with set salaries but then you are already in that position as your salary is currently 0.

It is a risk assessment that you need to take.

I understand why you'd be reticent about the salary drop but it does sound like it's worth more to you in terms of updating your systems knowledge. Is it strictly a 12 month contract or would there be any opportunity for an extension and then possibly a salary increase?

I know there are a lot of unknowns but if you do get the role you can still continue to look for others.

Good luck with whatever you decide

I work in HR and very very rarely do employers check a previous salary. I have never seen it happen to be fair. So if you go for a job in the future and are asked previous salary you can fudge it by saying my salary expectations are x based on previous experience. It wont' be a lie.. you were on a higher salary previously, just not your most recent one.

Only you know if you can afford to wait it out for something better or take this job. Will it eat into you each day knowing you are not being paid what you are worth, or will you be glad of the job after quite a few months unemployed.

In normal times, I'd say to hold out but these are not normal times and they are only getting worse. If you don't take this job, could it be another 6-8 months before you get an offer? In which case the low salary of the job now does not seem like such a bad deal if it is offsetting months of unemployment.

Thank you all, your responses have been very helpful.

It will be a stretch with the 25k pay cut but luckily I still have some money left from the redundancy so that should tie me over to the new year. After that I would definitely need to be looking again for something that pays more which is why I'm worried I might find it difficult to get something more in line with what I was earning before.

@QueenieMum thanks I need all the luck I can get The job is a maternity cover so not sure at this point, they might extend it but if they do it will probably be on the same salary.

@CloudsCanLookLikeSheep That's a great idea, thanks! When I'm applying directly online most of the time there is a mandatory question 'what was your last or current salary?', what would you suggest I put when I apply in the new year? Is it better to be honest and state I took a lower salary because there were no other jobs or just say something like negotiable?

@JennyBeez

Thank you all, your responses have been very helpful.

It will be a stretch with the 25k pay cut but luckily I still have some money left from the redundancy so that should tie me over to the new year. After that I would definitely need to be looking again for something that pays more which is why I'm worried I might find it difficult to get something more in line with what I was earning before.

@QueenieMum thanks I need all the luck I can get The job is a maternity cover so not sure at this point, they might extend it but if they do it will probably be on the same salary.

@CloudsCanLookLikeSheep That's a great idea, thanks! When I'm applying directly online most of the time there is a mandatory question 'what was your last or current salary?', what would you suggest I put when I apply in the new year? Is it better to be honest and state I took a lower salary because there were no other jobs or just say something like negotiable?

I'd just put your salary expectations and if it comes up at interview you can explain. I wouldn't explain in the application. You could put a salary range and put neg depending on what you are prepared to accept.

@CloudsCanLookLikeSheep Great thanks again for all your help