Hecticness
Man, I've been busy!
Work is extremely hectic because we're moving our main system from its current location in one of the offices into a proper hosted environment. As this system basically IS the company, we really can't screw it up. D-Day is still a month away and it's going to be constant setup and testing until then. Followed by a rather late night getting it all moved over and installed. Hopefully by the end of July it will have settled down... just in time for our holiday which is looming ever closer.
On other positive news, I had my appraisal yesterday. I was ready to go in with my boss and try to explain that I felt that a job title (and accompanying salary) of Junior Software Engineer no longer really fits with what I do. The first thing he did - before I said anything - was pick up the sheet and say "Well that's not right" about my job title. I replied that, actually, it was. I leave the "Junior" off of my email signature so he wouldn't necessarily have realised until then. He said that'd be changing... he can't have me stuck as Junior, and that he wants me as "Senior/Team Leader". He then went on to say that the board have recognised the work I've been doing since taking over our main system a few months ago and that some form of reasonable pay-rise was to be forthcoming. He wouldn't be drawn on how much though. Now that's a good way to start an appraisal! He then continued to go on about how much of a fantastic job I've been doing and how he and the business wouldn't have been able to cope without me. He then went through the form ticking "Meets Expectations" and "Exceeds Expectations" for everything, saying that the only reason I couldn't have "Exceeds" for everything was because the expectations had been set extremely high in the first place. Naturally, by the end of this by head was swelling somewhat. I was expecting to have to plead my case (although my boss is a great guy anyway), but it seems they were way ahead of me. I'm now waiting to see what sort of pay increase I get. It probably won't be as much as I hope, but something is better than nothing.
The next thing he said was that he wants me to move to our office in Somerset, where he (and most of the rest of the developers) are based. This wasn't unexpected at all, really. It would make a lot more sense for me to be there, rather than being a bit isolated away from the rest of the guys. One person I work with here is being "asked" (i.e. "move or lose your job") to goto the office in Cambridgeshire, and I knew they weren't willing to pay his relocation expenses. I was about to mention this, but before I could my boss said they would be paying my relocation, and would even pay for Ele and me to come down and stay a night to have a look around to see what we think of the place. This all amazed me a bit, as they are notoriously tight with money. It does show that they value me, which is something I'm not really used to!
So, we may well be moving to Somerset, although it is of course not that easy. Problem #1 is Ele's job. She earns a fairly good salary and I'm not willing to put ourselves in a worse (not that it is currently bad!) financial situation. Problem #2 is that we get free childcare from Ele's mum, and, as above, it seems daft to have to spend loads of money that we currently don't. My boss did indicate this may be open to negotiation a bit, but I don't think he has the authority to make a decision to help with those costs.
Problem #3 is that the relocation package of £8000 might not be enough to cover all costs, but that is probably open to a bit of negotiation. We'd probably have to sell our house and rent until we find one to buy (unless we get mega-lucky), and I'd want the company to front the deposit for this, too.
On the whole, both Ele and I do want to move. It's a much nicer place to live with a far lower crime rate, nice schools and lots of lovely countryside. I just don't know what to do about Problem #1... we couldn't move until Ele found a job, and then a firm is unlikely to want to wait whilst we sell our house, which could of course take months. I suppose one option is to try and get the company to pay the rent on a house in Wells for a while, so we could move and live there whilst our house is empty for sale. That way Ele could find a job and we could move reasonably quickly. I don't know whether they'd be up for doing that or not, though. My boss did say they'd try and help Ele find a job, but I don't know what they can do, really. I suppose we could sacrifice a bit of salary because the house prices are cheaper, but then there's still the childcare...
Argh, it's complicated but we are both keen to do it. I think I need to have a talk with the directors and see what we can come up with.
Work is extremely hectic because we're moving our main system from its current location in one of the offices into a proper hosted environment. As this system basically IS the company, we really can't screw it up. D-Day is still a month away and it's going to be constant setup and testing until then. Followed by a rather late night getting it all moved over and installed. Hopefully by the end of July it will have settled down... just in time for our holiday which is looming ever closer.
On other positive news, I had my appraisal yesterday. I was ready to go in with my boss and try to explain that I felt that a job title (and accompanying salary) of Junior Software Engineer no longer really fits with what I do. The first thing he did - before I said anything - was pick up the sheet and say "Well that's not right" about my job title. I replied that, actually, it was. I leave the "Junior" off of my email signature so he wouldn't necessarily have realised until then. He said that'd be changing... he can't have me stuck as Junior, and that he wants me as "Senior/Team Leader". He then went on to say that the board have recognised the work I've been doing since taking over our main system a few months ago and that some form of reasonable pay-rise was to be forthcoming. He wouldn't be drawn on how much though. Now that's a good way to start an appraisal! He then continued to go on about how much of a fantastic job I've been doing and how he and the business wouldn't have been able to cope without me. He then went through the form ticking "Meets Expectations" and "Exceeds Expectations" for everything, saying that the only reason I couldn't have "Exceeds" for everything was because the expectations had been set extremely high in the first place. Naturally, by the end of this by head was swelling somewhat. I was expecting to have to plead my case (although my boss is a great guy anyway), but it seems they were way ahead of me. I'm now waiting to see what sort of pay increase I get. It probably won't be as much as I hope, but something is better than nothing.
The next thing he said was that he wants me to move to our office in Somerset, where he (and most of the rest of the developers) are based. This wasn't unexpected at all, really. It would make a lot more sense for me to be there, rather than being a bit isolated away from the rest of the guys. One person I work with here is being "asked" (i.e. "move or lose your job") to goto the office in Cambridgeshire, and I knew they weren't willing to pay his relocation expenses. I was about to mention this, but before I could my boss said they would be paying my relocation, and would even pay for Ele and me to come down and stay a night to have a look around to see what we think of the place. This all amazed me a bit, as they are notoriously tight with money. It does show that they value me, which is something I'm not really used to!
So, we may well be moving to Somerset, although it is of course not that easy. Problem #1 is Ele's job. She earns a fairly good salary and I'm not willing to put ourselves in a worse (not that it is currently bad!) financial situation. Problem #2 is that we get free childcare from Ele's mum, and, as above, it seems daft to have to spend loads of money that we currently don't. My boss did indicate this may be open to negotiation a bit, but I don't think he has the authority to make a decision to help with those costs.
Problem #3 is that the relocation package of £8000 might not be enough to cover all costs, but that is probably open to a bit of negotiation. We'd probably have to sell our house and rent until we find one to buy (unless we get mega-lucky), and I'd want the company to front the deposit for this, too.
On the whole, both Ele and I do want to move. It's a much nicer place to live with a far lower crime rate, nice schools and lots of lovely countryside. I just don't know what to do about Problem #1... we couldn't move until Ele found a job, and then a firm is unlikely to want to wait whilst we sell our house, which could of course take months. I suppose one option is to try and get the company to pay the rent on a house in Wells for a while, so we could move and live there whilst our house is empty for sale. That way Ele could find a job and we could move reasonably quickly. I don't know whether they'd be up for doing that or not, though. My boss did say they'd try and help Ele find a job, but I don't know what they can do, really. I suppose we could sacrifice a bit of salary because the house prices are cheaper, but then there's still the childcare...
Argh, it's complicated but we are both keen to do it. I think I need to have a talk with the directors and see what we can come up with.
posted by Nej at
4:45 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home