salary/part time question!

[yellowhoover]

Having a chat with a recruitment consultant about a role later this afternoon. My experience matches what looking for exactly which is great - if anything I am slightly over-qualified.

They are advertising for someone full-time, but the salary is a bit on the low side for similar roles which are usually about 5-10K a year more.

My preference would be to do 4 days a week. Do you think it's worth asking if they would offer the same salary on the 4 day basis, or am I likely to be laughed out of the room?!

If it helps with calculation, salary offered is 40k....thoughts?

Most employers in the current climate wouldn’t entertain paying the same wage for 80% of the work, so I’m not sure you’re going to get anywhere here.

@Mrsttcno1 - hmmm I do hear you. But the experience required is pretty specialist, and most equivalent roles are offered around the 45-50k mark, so...

Wonder if they might consider 38k for those four days? I couldn't really go below that.

You can ask, they can say no. I’d assume though if they are already advertising at below average then they are in a position where they really need the hours for that price, so they’re not going to be particularly flexible on paying the same for less.

It doesn’t sound like you want the role or that it is right for you, so maybe look to apply for others.

@Mrsttcno1 - I am definitely interested in the role - it's a great organisation - but I also know my worth and how the salary compares to others 😊

Would you maybe consider 4 longer days?

My MIL does something like 7.30/6pm to secure her Friday off.

Maybe a work around?

@wishIwasonaBeach - it's a good idea, but it wouldn't really work for this particular role unfortunately...

No harm in asking!
You could pitch it to them:
The market rate for my experience level is 50k. However, I would be interested in this role on a 4-day a week basis, meaning that you could still pay the advertised salary of 40k. I'm confident that the level of experience I bring would mean I would deliver excellent value for money.

Yes, but what you don't know is whether they want to pay more for your 'worth' or whether they'd be happy with someone who can do the job ok at the salary set. Just because you believe you're worth more, doesn't mean they'll want to pay it.

As someone who oversees recruitment and has done so on very tight budgets before, I wouldn’t mind the suggestion at all - it might not fit what the company needs but on the flip side it might work well for them too. Just be sure to make it clear how efficient you’d be in the role due to all the experience behind you, and the benefits to the company, instead of it being about what you need.

Good luck!

Ah, just put it on the table - it's not like anyone's time is being wasted if you lay out from the start you can only do 4 days and you won't consider less than 38k.
I do think it's a bit of a big ask but if you're the right person...

If the salary is too low for what they require, they might not get too many takers or poor quality applicants.

Just out of interest is it civil service? (Totally unrelated to the comment above!). When I joined they wouldn't budge on pay but did grant PT hours.

Always worth asking.
But just be very careful they don’t agree to it but expect you to do the same amount of work! Unless they are actually going to reallocate part of the role then you’re going to end up working long hours to try to get through the work so you’ll effectively be back to the lower hourly rate