AIBU to think this is too much to ask?

[Nubnut]

My former employer (I resigned in 2021 due to moving far away, on good terms) contacted me in October to ask for an up to date CV. They were negotiating some deal and they wanted to include the CVs of the team who had been involved in building the product. I thought it was a bit weird but I needed to update it anyway so I used it as a push to get it done, and I sent it.

I was pregnant and already on maternity leave during this exchange, and told them
do.

Now they've contacted me again saying hello, hope you and the baby are well, and to ask if I'd be happy to do a phone call with some new members of staff to share my insights about the product. They're trying to do a new deal similar to one I pulled off when working there.

I feel it's a bit too much to ask?

The woman asking isn't junior but she's in her twenties and doesn't have kids, and I feel like saying, "when you're looking after a baby, I find that there is one slot in your day, maximum, where you can find time to do a task, like call your bank, do an exercise video or something. That's a very precious chunk of time I have per day, and if feels too much to use that to give professional advice for free."

I bet they're asking partly because they think I'm on maternity leave so I must have loads of time

I'm due to move back to this town soon and I will need these contacts to find a new job, so I don't want to burn bridges. It's also a quite informal company (start up, 10 employees) so it wouldn't be appropriate to send something really huffy.

What would you do?

Thanks

I wouldn’t have given them my CV for this purpose and I would say no to the session as well.

The OP started off saying 'is this too much' intimating that she wanted a good excuse to not do this as she is too busy.

So if she does, 'not being able to work' is one.

Now it appears she is fine with it, she just wants to be paid for it. Which then puts her into the 'Self-Employment' category and really means she should then register as self employed and then do a tax return and declare her earnings as below SE tax threshold. A completely different issue.

She isn't likely to do that so will probably do it and then get paid and never declare it. Again, a different issue.

So it depends on what the OP's actual angle is here.

I would declare it, actually, as a grown up responsible member of society! But thank you for the good faith

Are they trying to win a new project for an inexperienced team and they want to use your experience to win the project??

I think they used the contents of your CV to mould their own CV’s to try to strike this new deal. Cheeky as.

They are cheeky aren't they? Reminds me of another post when someone was unsuccessful at a job interview but they asked for a copy of his presentation as they thought they could use it again!

I reckon say you are willing to consider it at an appropriate consultant rate. That doesn't commit you to anything and even if you decide not to anyway it will pull them up on their cheekiness in future.

Ok, so I didn't get around to sending the email yesterday.
But now she has just emailed again asking me to send copies of my degree certificates!!
Obviously I'm not going to.
But what on earth could they be up to?

That is extremely weird and makes no sense. Why would they need them? Are they pretending you are still leading their team or something!?

have you responded to ask why they are requesting the degree information? this is strange

They are completely crazy 😂

Can't help but feel like the degree certs are a massive step too far.

No I haven't replied at all yet. If baby gives me a moment tomorrow I'm going to try and give her a ring so I can make her quake with my most serious and terrifying tone.

I would reply to her and include HR basically stating that given you left the organisation in 2021 you are understandly concerned as to why you are being contacted re a CV, certificates and training and that a full explanation is required.

I wouldn't appreciate what she is doing at all.

What are they up to? They are trying to make it look like you still work for them, and are using 'you' as a bargaining tool in this new deal.

Yep they are saying you are on the team and including you in the bid for the project!

The reply I might send to that would be an innocent "Why? What do you need them for?". If this person is as daft as I think she is, she might spill out the real reason without meaning to.

glad to see I’m not thr only one thinking they are either pretending you are still on/leading the team or just cutting and pasting into their own info.

Perhaps she's stealing your identity

I was going to suggest similar. They are a business. They don;t get your expertise for free.

Just say if they want you to discuss this, you half day consultancy rate would be £250 plus travel and child care costs. A Zoom would be £50ph plus child care costs.

I would reply saying, ‘Sorry, why would you need my degree certificates-I’m not an employee!? What did you have in mind regarding me speaking to your staff? Do you mean you need some paid training?’

And see what they say.

If you left on good terms, I really don't see the problem with what they are asking, so long as it's not going to take ages, and on the understanding that you may have a grizzling baby in the background. Why wouldn't you be prepared to help out your former employer a bit?

There's no point in asking about the exam certificates as it's unlikely you'd get an honest answer.

I would shut them down now if you're not interested in going back. Just tell them you have other projects on the go at the moment (a baby perhaps?!) and don't have sufficient time to help them. I would request them not to use my updated CV for selling purposes and ask them to delete it from their systems. It comes under GDPR so they have to comply.

Who's requesting all this information anyway? Is it someone young and inexperienced trying to make their mark?

If you decide to help then don't do it for free!

If my previous employer-but-one approached me and asked if I would help them out for free, I'd tell them where to get off that regretfully I'm unable to do that. Unless they are prepared to pay a £££ consultancy fee of course.

It sounds like an awful lot of info they want, with little explanation.
Suss