Would you take any of these jobs?

[Halfwaytheree]

I currently work in a senior management role in government on £45k.

• Applied for a similar job in government on a contractor basis, secured a 6 month contract on an equivalent £60k salary.

• Then found out earlier today, that secured a permanent/salaried PAYE job, at a law firm. This is a senior technical role vs pure leadership role. I was told that their top range is £43-44k but their offer is negotiable. So I’m not really sure what the final salary may be or what the leeway is there.

Would you take either of these jobs? Both have downsides I suppose in terms of longevity. I’d say that both roles are an upgrade from what I’m doing now and I’d be able to get better jobs in the future if I took either, whereas my current role doesn’t have much room for progression

A 6 month contract would make me nervous given the job market. Is there a chance you’ll struggle to get a role after that?

How much extra a month is the 60k job after tax etc? Like pp is worry about what happens after that?

If you're looking for just a change it sounds like you could at least get the same salary in the second job
What are the downsides of that role to you?

Well I have only been searching for new roles within the last few weeks and been able to secure multiple interviews/jobs so far. I assume it would be similar in 6 months?

But the 6 month contract length, has lead to me continuing to apply for jobs.

6 month one for more money, but then there are lots of jobs in my field, I can always work.

I’d talk to them all, is there room to negotiate on the 6month contract, how about 12.
are there bonuses on top of the potential 44k or are there other perks like all working from home or great health insurance or something.
are your current employers prepared to up your salary to be competitive?

what job do you actually want? What will lead to better long term career prospects? Which has better work life balance?

You say as a contractor for the 6 month job, if that means you'll be self employed you also need to think about pension implications and other aspects of being self employed, you might find it isn't actually worth it financially.

Scope for progression is important but people always say that to woo you anyway. You risk being stuck having taken a pay cut and not progressing. Worth talking more to them but I'm not sure either option sounds great tbh.

On the face of it, the contract. Work at that level/salary gives you experience you can leverage for the next job. But it depends how much risk you can absorb.

I think it’s £1k extra after tax, it’s fully remote so I believe I may be eligible for a different tax code too.

I was wanting to leave government anyway, so I wouldn’t mind taking a 6 month contract with the view to leaving at the end of the 6 months for private sector. I’d say the contingency plan is going back into government.

The downside of law firm role is the pay, it wouldn’t also cover the loss of pension benefits plus there is some infrequent travel to other locations (I regularly travel in current job so used to this.) It’s a national law firm, good employer and the work itself would compliment my CV. I suppose that the job title of my current role sounds better as this might sound like a demotion in seniority. It’s not really but there’s less line management expected.

@OakleyStreetisnotinChelsea So it’s not on a self employed basis, it can be paid through PAYE which I’ll opt for. It would be paid by an agency via IR35

If youre out of work for 6 months after the 6 month contract then its not paying 60k its paying 30k. I wouldn't, in this market.

Lots of great questions here.

Current role annual leave allowance would jump to 30 days next year. Law firm has 25-30 days. Seems negotiable, unless it’s based on length of service.

Current pension is high, employer pension not stated yet.

Other benefits are comparable but Law firm also has:

• Westfield Health membership, offering refunds on medical services alongside our Aviva Digital GP services.
• Discounted legal fees
• Free professional subscriptions
• Critical illness and death in service cover - Financial peace of mind for you and your family
• Group Income Protection
• Discounted gym memberships
• performance bonuses/annual bonus

Whether I’d make use of this, I’m not sure

@Pumpkindoodles

Current employer definitely wouldn’t up salary, you just have to apply for higher paying jobs!

I definitely don’t want my current job. I’m not sure which of the two others helps me more. I’m a badged data analytics professional with a maths degree, the contractor role is a hybrid management/technical role, the law firm role is like a lead technical role.

Contractor role fully remote, no travel expected so best work/life balance. Current role hybrid, 60% in office, national travel required, worst work/life balance. Law firm, mostly remote but some occasional travel to other cities.

The thing is, I haven’t stopped applying for jobs and I’m still getting offers so I guess my approach would be the same if I get the contractor role. I wouldn’t just start applying in month 5 of the contract. Hopefully by actively applying, I reduce risk of being out of work?

In a normal market Id agree. Job market is pretty far from normal these days!

Are you allowed to work as a contractor to government straight after leaving a government role? I work in the CS and my contract stipulates that I can't do this for a certain period of time, I think it's 2 years.

That’s so weird - there’s zero restrictions on future employment in my contract. What’s the rationale behind that?

Is this 6 month one actually more money? If it’s a contractor role does that mean no pension contributions?

I presume it's because your knowledge from working within the department would put you at an unfair advantage over others and if you were known to the people dealing with the procurement it might bias the process.

It probably depends on your department and also perhaps the seniority of your role. I think it's blanket across all roles in my department, but perhaps in yours it doesn't apply to officer roles (I presume you are HEO or equivalent by your salary, or perhaps the bottom of SEO band).

Which department pays HEOs £45k? I just checked Civil Service jobs and zero HEO roles pay that much.

Regardless, I think your overall point is irrelevant as my department doesn’t have these restrictions hence it not being a point of concern.

I just thought it was worth mentioning as I know it applies in my department. Again, pay varies between departments, I was to be honest guessing at the HEO pay band based on my SEO role paying just under £60k.