How far do you travel to work?

[piskieinboots]

You can pop in - but no wheat to be found here

[Mikey]

You can pop in - but no wheat to be found here

I'm happy with gluten free or rye?

I'm salivating now.

[VirginVegGrower]

Chris, have you thought of getting into App development for Android as cost of entry is nil? Apple apps entry is relatively low ...just a thought.
The NHS is both badly managed and underpaid at your level.
Tier One companies such as HP, IBM, Fujitsu, Cap Gemini, CSC (lost a bundle recently), ComputerCentre are the main players when it comes to taking the IT from government contracts such as (in your neck of the woods) Office of National Statistics, DVLA, Welsh Assembly...HP were in Cardiff, not sure now. They will all offer progression paths, bonus related schemes, pension and health schemes. If you get the right recruitment company and your skills are desired enough, you may get travel allowance. You will have to learn to billy bullsh*t though and not declare your wish to take up the good life in a few years...
ONS = F
DVLA = F and IBM
HRMC have a presence in Cardiff, not sure of the contract

Do you have security clearance and if so, at what level?

What are your software development skills - for example, do you have SAP Basis? You can earn a lot more for specialist skills such as these - SAP £60-80K (I used to resource them) plays ITML/Web £35-60k (for middle to senior).

Hope this helps....and good, luck with whatever you decide.

[piskieinboots]

I'm salivating now.

I'm stuffed now

[Potstubsdustbins]

From my standpoint we go to work for one of two reasons (a) to earn money (b) because we enjoy what we do. Up to the age of 50 I went to work for money (though I was happy in the job). My simple logic was that if I go to work for money then my aim will be to earn as much money as I possibly can. As a contracts manager for a national heating company I ran site's all over England and averaged 50,000miles a year, car and fuel paid for.

As I grew older my leisure time became more important, it is still for sale but no one can afford it nowadays. Now I am happy to earn enough to live on and spent as much time as possible doing what I want to do, not what others tell me to do.

Chris, I suppose what I am trying to say is if you don't do it at your time of life you never will.

Oh and my commute now is 4 steps to the van door, as soon as I sit behind the wheel my time is paid for and I am still happy in what I do.

Colin

[piskieinboots]

As I grew older my leisure time became more important, it is still for sale but no one can afford it nowadays.

This I love

[chris]

Cor, a lot of replies, I'll work my way through them now....

[veggiechicken]

Cor, a lot of replies, I'll work my way through them now....

A lot of them won't take much thought! (like this one for example!).

[piskieinboots]

A lot of them won't take much thought! (like this one for example!).

Likewise my chicken-cooking comments can be skimmed over very quickly

[chris]

My only comment was going to be about the extra time you'd be away from home and family, but you've answered that by saying it will only really be an extra twenty minutes.
You seem a really family motivated chap and I'm sure that would have been one of your first considerations.

Whatever you choose...all the best.

Thanks di, my family is a main concern - I don't want to look back in life and have missed their young years.. That said, I am quite unhappy where I am, there is no head room - the managers here aren't that nice in person - unless of course they want something from you. I do let work affect me, it does stress me out - perhaps it's the change I need.. I seem to have hopped jobs every couple of years and have been in my current role 3 years this coming May.

I would have a couple of comments, in your current role you have a reasonable amount of flexibility as you are here at the moment, just like me!!

I don't really have flexibility, I do it on the sly

Where are you travelling to, 40 miles motorway is easy, 40 miles back roads are not, you have a young family and an allotment, add an hour onto your evening and see when you'll be able to get to the allotment!!!, its frightening dude.

You'll lose 2k of the 9k in fuel and car maintenance, and 30% in tax and NI, so you'd be roughly £350 better off per month, and an hour a day worse off, so is it worth being paid £18 for driving the extra distance to work a day.

I'd probably take the heads of the valleys road - I've done this a few times, and the traffic always seems to be going the other way (this new job in Swansea way.. it seems the majority of people are coming into Cardiff for work).

After I meet a target (which I can do) I'll be getting a 2.5k pay increase and then a bonus on top... so I won't be stuck at the new salary for long, plus there's the head room in the place for me to take the next step up in a few years time.

I've done the extra driving in the past, and its tolerable as long as there aren't accidents on the roads, the down sides are that driving can be stressful especially when you are pushed for time.

Personally mate, if I was in your position and I don't know your role I'd be asking about the pension scheme, whether there is any healthcare attached, and whether they would be prepared to offer fuel allowance or a company vehicle. If they are that keen on you there will be a certain amount of negotiating potential.

Also remember sometimes the grass is not always greener on the other side, but if you are unhappy where you are then a move can be a breath of fresh air.

Appreicate what you're saying, thank you (and everyone else!). The time is totally flexible, so it's not like I'd be late per se, it'd mean staying later or making the time up later on in the week (earlier start, etc).

The pension scheme isn't in place yet (though will be shortly due to the government's new ruling).. however I've worked out what I'd need to put in a private pension scheme, to match my NHS pension scheme and it's manageable on the new wage.

The fuel allowance would cover 50% of my travel (of which no one else in the team would be getting), so I'm not sure how flexible they will be with this. That said, there's a "bet" going on there that I won't be able to deliver on the dead line and a few workers there who know me have backed the bet by a considerable about of money so perhaps as the MD doesn't know me this will have painted a good picture? I've not officially accepted the role yet though.

At the moment my work is about 15 feet away from me!

I think ultimate achievement needs to be considered with any new job which involves a lot of traveling.

A '50 minute' journey during the day can turn into at least 2 hrs at peak times/accident/road works. There and back each day takes a lot out of your family time .
Ultimately for sanity you may feel the need to leave home even earlier to miss the 'rush hour' and work later -for exactly the same reason.
You may find you only see your young family at weekends. Also your OH would be left to do almost everything during the week.
I know- been there- and hated it....and so did OH eventually.
If it's a good 'stepping stone' and you have family support- then go with your gut feelings.
(Tis travel time not distance which you really need to consider if your car and petrol are paid for.)

Both my OH and I worked full time and it wasn't easy at all.

My wife doesn't work (was made redundant, from the secure, no redundnacy policy of the NHS.......) So she's at home with the kiddies, which is great as I'm not paying £42/day in nursery costs now, and my wife will be bringing them up (we're both happy with this arrangement). The extra money would help there obviously. I'd be leaving at the same time as I do now, which I have no issues with - the road I'm planning on using doesn't seem to build up with heavy traffic (as far as I've seen and others who take that route tell me)... but as you say an accident/road works - different story.

Have you tried any of the big four Chris where, depending on your level, you might be able to obtain a car plus allowance? Travel three days a week, work from home for two. HP, IBM, Fujitsu, CAP Gemini and others. Although the large IT companies have been cost cutting like mad over the last few years...

There's not much scope here, for what they're offering and I'm willing to accept - it's nice to have been head hunted too, as this chap knows what I can do (from a previous job together). I decided to work for the NHS as I genuinely thought I could make a difference to paitents lives (*groan* *groan* - yes I know, but it's the truth). I've learnt though, that theres as much politics and corruption here as there is (if not more) out in the private sector.

I used to work a forty mile commute many years ago and I had a travel time of 1.5 hours into a city centre. It was a nightmare. Saying that, whatever your mortgage details are would you be allowed to overpay and if so, assuming you are a 40% tax payer that £9k a year might not be come much to overpay with in the grand scheme of things. If you are a lower tax payer then I would ask why you are not getting in with the bigger IT organisations and getting yourself a yearly raise of £20-30k per annum. Have you put yourself up on the business networking sites, you know who they are, as Mr VVG gets head hunter calls from them all the time?

I'm not a 40% tax rate payer, the public sector vastly underpay for the equivilant private sector role, which is understandable..

My long term goal isn't to work for someone else, VVG - I've had a couple of stints at running a business in the past, albeit with the wrong people. My main reasons for being willing to accept this job are that I know I can do it, I can smash my mortgage free goal in terms of years (honestly, this is all I think about.. I lie awake at night coming up with ways that I can reduce our mortgage term etc).. so even if I'm here for a couple of years, I can then either take a jump up in the next salary band, or drop down and take a less stressful role.

It depends on how much you need the money really and whether you'll like the job when you get there. The second of these is difficult to answer until you do the job but if it ends up being not really what you want then you'll soon resent it. Personally I refuse to commute, would rather earn less and have quality of life and with the price of petrol at the moment the balance is soon offset anyway. Will you get the travel allowance forever or is it just for the first year? Will you be able to work flexibly? What does your OH say? Are you sure it'll only take 20 mins longer at rush hour? So many variables but the fact you're asking on here leads me to think that you're not too sure about it yourself or you would have already accepted.

The bulk of the traffic is going in the other direction, my OH is supportive as she knows this job gets to me - I had doubts this morning, as I've said yes but then thought that 20k miles per year driving to work is actually quite a lot of miles! I'd be getting the allowance for as long as I'm there.

I don't *need* the extra money, we survive fine on what we have incoming at the moment (bit tight some times), but the extra money would help in terms of paying off mortgage faster, and being able to save at the same time. I'm also decorating our house, so the extra money there would be welcome meaning I can buy more things in the month than I would have been able to in the past (and ultimately please el - giving me more free time to pursue other ideas I have going on in my head!!).

The unfair thing is that they get to try you out and if they don't like you, its on your bike.
I had a friend who fancied living and working in Canada so he took 6 weeks holiday from his job in the UK and emigrated. Tried it for 5 weeks, decided it wasn't for him and returned to his job with his employers none the wiser!!
Can you do that Chris - and I don't mean go to Canada -

I am out of leave for this financial year, so not really a possibility, but it was something I did thing of doing (i..e not taking part of a holdiay we're going on and seeing how it is down there... but then a week in a new job isn't really scratching the surface).

[chris]

Chris, have you thought of getting into App development for Android as cost of entry is nil? Apple apps entry is relatively low ...just a thought.
The NHS is both badly managed and underpaid at your level.

Yep, I have an idea for an app that is under development (apple wise - might port it to android) but it's only really for fun/to see if I can do it - if it makes money then that'd be a bonus.

Tier One companies such as HP, IBM, Fujitsu, Cap Gemini, CSC (lost a bundle recently), ComputerCentre are the main players when it comes to taking the IT from government contracts such as (in your neck of the woods) Office of National Statistics, DVLA, Welsh Assembly...HP were in Cardiff, not sure now. They will all offer progression paths, bonus related schemes, pension and health schemes. If you get the right recruitment company and your skills are desired enough, you may get travel allowance. You will have to learn to billy bullsh*t though and not declare your wish to take up the good life in a few years...
ONS = F
DVLA = F and IBM
HRMC have a presence in Cardiff, not sure of the contract

Do you have security clearance and if so, at what level?

What are your software development skills - for example, do you have SAP Basis? You can earn a lot more for specialist skills such as these - SAP £60-80K (I used to resource them) plays ITML/Web £35-60k (for middle to senior).

Hope this helps....and good, luck with whatever you decide.

Thanks. No security clearence. I know of SAP, having used it briefly in a past role, but nothing to write home about - my skillset mainly stems around web based technologies (php, .net, coldfusion, classic asp, the usual stuff really), with some work in app development (delphi, vb a long time ago) yada. In all honesty, it bores me though! I'm prepared to stick it out for 10 years more, but after that if I don't give a business idea a go, then i'd like to drop back to something horti related - even if it's working in a GC somewhere If I can inspire someone as much as I have been with gardening, then I'd be happy - job satisfaction here? /dev/null.

Chris, I suppose what I am trying to say is if you don't do it at your time of life you never will.
Colin

True, yes. I've had a taste of success in the past, it's bitten me - but well if I can earn it now, I may as well as you say.

Thanks again for all your input.

[veggiechicken]

Say Yes Chris!
Having read what you've written, you know what you're doing and have other options if it doesn't pan out. You'll only regret it if you don't take this opportunity.

[piskieinboots]

You'll only regret it if you don't take this opportunity.

And nothing is forever

[VirginVegGrower]

I get what you are saying Chris and it's earning maximum money in minimum timeframe that was my understanding of your situation. The private sector IT co.s have served us well. DVLA in Swansea should you want to make that leap. HP had it and lost it to F. You know who to ask

[Nicos]

I think you've answered yourself then Chris

....remember that you may be able to tweek your terms of employment a little more to your benefit- it's always worth a try!

When I worked in the NHS in Cardiff many many moons ago- there were things called 'snow days'- I'd be surprised if they still were available BUT it might be worth suggesting that there is slightly more flexibility in your contract in working from home in 'unusual' weather conditions.
Just a thought.