advice on job offer

Re: advice on job offer

Gillian Mostyn — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:20:58 GMT

[quote user="Rose Roche"]wage that reflects my hard work and experience[/quote]

maybe worth remembering that an NQT starts on a similar wage to a newly qualified vet... it is difficult to compare public and private sector pay. How would you compare their skill set?

[quote user="Rose Roche"]employers exploit the fact that so many people want to go into veterinary nursing. [/quote]

Perhaps, but there is no comparison between the level of work and expertise you get from an experienced nurse vs a new school leaver. Most of us prefer to keep our staff.

I agree that some employers undervalue their staff, but I equally think most of us pay the best we can with the finances we have. I can assure you that practice finances would not allow most of us to increase nurse's pay - I'm not sure where you think the money would come from? Would you prefer there to be less staff and you all work longer hours? Increase fees? Or do you seriously think that the boss is taking such massive amounts of pay that they can foot the bill from their own wage? (Afterall, if you want £1500 a year more, multiply that by the number of staff in your practice.)

I am not being facetious - I genuinely would like to know where the people who feel underpaid would find the money to increase their salary? Actually, don't reply here, I'm going to start a new thread....

Re: advice on job offer

Roseann21 — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:21:58 GMT

Well done Spud! Start the revolution!!

Re: advice on job offer

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:04:59 GMT

I took the job and got it that I will get pay review in 6 months or b4 depending on how I do. I am working on getting us better pay starting with me. X

Re: advice on job offer

Sal the 1st — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:06:44 GMT

you are right we are undervalued - and you are also right in that we have let this happen, so the question is what are we going to do about it? At a guess most people will do nothing but continue to witter, and I am sorry but walking away from a situation that is causing you to feel undervalued or less than happy - well that isnt such a bad thing to be doing if what you are doing now isnt getting you what you are wanting and I dont see how that devalues the job?

Re: advice on job offer

Roseann21 — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:04:51 GMT

[quote user="Sal the 1st"]

yes the job can be relatively underpaid and I dont see that changing - but everybody has the choice not to do the job, to walk away and do something else. I did factory work for a time whilst in between jobs - brilliant pay but mind numbingly boring. It depends on your priority I suppose - a job you enjoy or a job that pays big bucks.

I dont think it is reasonable to compare our wage to a teachers wage or any other public sector job for that matter not unless the government are paying our wages

[/quote]

OK, so maybe not the best comparison, but I think maybe you are missing the point - why should we have to choose between a job we enjoy or a job that pays well? - I'm not expecting "big bucks", just a reasonable living wage that reflects my hard work and experience. Personally I think it just shows that we are generally undervalued, and we have allowed ourselves to get into this situation because employers exploit the fact that so many people want to go into veterinary nursing. And I'm sorry, Sal, but throw away comments about walking away and doing something else also devalue the job we do.

Re: advice on job offer

Sal the 1st — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:18:53 GMT

I dont think it is reasonable to compare our wage to a teachers wage or any other public sector job for that matter not unless the government are paying our wages

Re: advice on job offer

Fuzzyduck — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:36:42 GMT

I think the reason we assume the job is underpaid is because sadly, most are.

Re: advice on job offer

Roseann21 — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:04:26 GMT

[quote user="jamie"]

It does make me mad that in vet nursing taking a pay cut is almost always acceptable! Not having a go at you Spud god ive done it so many times myself, but i just find it laughable. Non of my other friends experience this when they go for jobs. Ok none of us obviously really ever expected to be rolling in it with the career path we have chosen, but why is it that vets/employers find it so acceptable to offer us much lower pay? It goes back to the fact that no matter how much you work at improving yourself and becoming and experienced knowledgeable confident nurse that is a real asset to any practice there will always be a 17yr old waiting in the wings who has always wanted to work with animals and can be paid minimum wage. Sorry rant over!! :) good luck in your choice lovely, if you are feeling excited about it then thats a pretty good sign x

[/quote]

So true, I have been nursing for over 20 years, qualified for 17, and I still earn less than a newly qualified teacher......

And Gillian, this is why we assume that the job we're discussing may be underpaid.

Re: advice on job offer

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:33:25 GMT

same 40 hr week but no late nights as they have set staff to do them.

i took the job so am excited now. just got to hand notice in and an not looking forward to that

thank you all for the comments and advice, it has all been taken on board x

Re: advice on job offer

Gillian Mostyn — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:44:23 GMT

[quote user="spud x"]also less late nights , no on call and less weekend work(which cant be a bad thing)[/quote]

I may be looking at this differently - but considering the working hours are better, why are you surprised the pay is less? Considering you don't say the actual pay, I am surprised people are jumping to the conclusion that the new job is 'underpaid'. It may be the previous employer had to pay more to retain staff on a less-than-desirable rota?

No?

Re: advice on job offer

jamie — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:08:44 GMT

Re: advice on job offer

Mark Hedberg — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:43:35 GMT

[quote user="spud x"]

there is somting about this job that makes me feel excited again.

[/quote]

And that's what it's all about, isn't it? :) Good luck!

Re: advice on job offer

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:50:52 GMT

good advice people. thank you all for the help. i will look at the costing etc with other half in detail he says the change should not kill us. i like the idea of asking for time to look over the salary.

and no money is not everything. I know it is not a huge drop but its a drop and it also makes me a little angrey that we have to take a pay cut to move to a better job!!!

there is somting about this job that makes me feel excited again. also less late nights , no on call and less weekend work(which cant be a bad thing)

Re: advice on job offer

Leigh Hinsley RVN NCert(BDev) MBVNA — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:44:24 GMT

I too was recently offered a job for a £1000 paycut which was 2xthe travel than my current job which makes it equivelent of £2000 paycut. However I am pretty unhappy at my current job and feel like I need a new nursing challenge. It has a lot of other cons though - shorter shifts so more time at home and no ooh with just 1 in 4 Saturday mornings. Having got a house and currently, a wedding, to pay for makes the drop quite scary but when I sat down and calculated the monthly drop and examine where I can save in my disposable income - better phone contract, canceling the never used gym membership - I found that the drop wouldn't feel so bad. I'm some one who would rather try something and make it work rather than regret not taking the chance so I'm happy in my decision to take the job. Plus they have a loyalty scheme, pension scheme and pay increases with the rising cost of living so my pay won't stay the same forever. If I survived on a trainee wage, I feel like I can survive on anything! Good luck, I know its a difficult decision, so I encorage you to sit down and do math thoroughly. X

Re: advice on job offer

Dippy — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:04:29 GMT

They obviously like you if they've offered you the job. Do they know it's so much less than you're currently earning? If not, tell them and make sure they know that's why you need time to assess whether you can practically afford such a big drop - they may come back with a slightly higher offer if they want you badly enough. Perhaps they would meet you in the middle, so that it's 1k less rather than 1500 per year. If they won't do it now, ask whether they would consider it in 6mths time when you've proved yourself (but get that in writing as I've been made promises which haven't been kept before!) Failing that, I guess you just have to take the advice of the other posters and decide whether you can actually afford to live on it or will end up looking for something else or a second job in a few months time, or whether the other benefits outweigh that for you. Money isn't everything but in the current climate, I know I couldn't live on that much less than I do now but I suppose that also depends on your lifestyle. Good luck!

Re: advice on job offer

Rachael_24 — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:32:51 GMT

I think that you need to consider why you applied for the post in the first place. Are you unhappy in your current role?

I have recently taken on a new job and am taking home £300-400 less each month which as you can imagine is a massive shock to the system. However, I am very happy with the decision that I have made as I can truly see myself being very happy in this new position.

Good luck with whatever you decide x

Re: advice on job offer

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:50:38 GMT

hours are the same but other benifits do seem to come to light. they want me to train the students and are 100% behind that, they are doing lots to the practice to make clinics possible.

i will ask a little more about my training. thanks x

Re: advice on job offer

Mark Hedberg — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:08:26 GMT

I would suggest looking at the hourly rate. If your pay is less but your hours are less, you may find that on a per hour rate you're not losing as much.

Is it closer to your home? If your commute is shorter, you'll save travel costs.

Alternatively, going by 30 calendar days a year, if you can save a little over £4 a day, you'll save that £125 a month, which is £1500 a year.

How about professional development? Training students is a great thing - but how supportive are they about your training?

Your results, of course, may vary. I merely offer math ways of looking at it - your personal circumstances are of course your own. :)