Genie Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 12 hours ago, kurtsimonw said: Offered a job to start next Wednesday in a small company as part of their finance team and bricking it. More or less been out of work for a year, and almost feel like a fraud even though I was very honest on my CV and interview - probably too honest. I suffer with really bad anxiety and barely leave the house these days, the account manager at the recruitment agency I got the job through asked about me being ou of work for a year, and then she mentioned she could relate as she has agoraphobia; and then switched from talking to me about the job they initially wanted to talk to me about, to the one I'll be starting next week as their directors are big on mental health and work with mental health charities. Although it's low paid, I'm happy with minimum wage work and the fact it's not minimum wage is a bonus, it's far more than enough to cover my mortgage and other bills. I think I'm just worried that being out of work for a year, not having had a finance role for 4 years, that I'll just struggle and my anxiety will get the best of me. Job seems a bit 'too good to be true' in pretty much every aspect that I'll end up **** it up. Give it 6 weeks and you’ll be thinking your colleagues are morons and really questioning how they got their jobs. Same for the management. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted February 7 VT Supporter Share Posted February 7 (edited) 14 hours ago, kurtsimonw said: Offered a job to start next Wednesday in a small company as part of their finance team and bricking it. More or less been out of work for a year, and almost feel like a fraud even though I was very honest on my CV and interview - probably too honest. I suffer with really bad anxiety and barely leave the house these days, the account manager at the recruitment agency I got the job through asked about me being ou of work for a year, and then she mentioned she could relate as she has agoraphobia; and then switched from talking to me about the job they initially wanted to talk to me about, to the one I'll be starting next week as their directors are big on mental health and work with mental health charities. Although it's low paid, I'm happy with minimum wage work and the fact it's not minimum wage is a bonus, it's far more than enough to cover my mortgage and other bills. I think I'm just worried that being out of work for a year, not having had a finance role for 4 years, that I'll just struggle and my anxiety will get the best of me. Job seems a bit 'too good to be true' in pretty much every aspect that I'll end up **** it up. Firstly fantastic to hear about the job. Genuinely chuffed for you. There's probably no point in reassuring you that you'll be fine. You will be, I'm sure you'll smash it. But I know how anxiety and imposter syndrome works and you'll probably still be shitting yourself! Once you start though that will all dissipate. You know what you're doing, you're good at what you do, and in a couple of weeks you'll be flying. Focus on the positives brother, good luck and congratulations! Edited February 7 by Stevo985 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted February 7 VT Supporter Share Posted February 7 13 hours ago, Chindie said: We got our targets for the year the other day. The one for the team I'm part of was described as 'challenging'. I saw them and quietly laughed to myself. They're impossible. We missed the January target by 60% odd. Everyone must know they're impossible. The thing is though, it's basically poison to motivation. I know if I work like a maniac, and do everything perfectly with every single opportunity, and everything goes my way with every one (which isn't in my control obviously), I still won't hit that target. So why try? I can't hit that target for a variety of reasons that aren't in my control. This is literally one of the first things they teach you in Business Studies at school. Madness if a company is still failing at it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 We have an annual bonus which is then adjusted based on personal performance. This is the rating you get from your boss. Most people fall into band 3 of 5. If you get a 4 you might get another 10% on your bonus. 5 is pretty much unheard of. They changed it from last year to make it linked to a variety of company targets, mostly completely irrelevant to our jobs. Things like customer satisfaction, producing the target number of products, delivery times, stuff people in my area in particular have absolutely no control over. It really makes it pointless going above and beyond. What will be will be. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted February 7 VT Supporter Share Posted February 7 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Genie said: We have an annual bonus which is then adjusted based on personal performance. This is the rating you get from your boss. Most people fall into band 3 of 5. If you get a 4 you might get another 10% on your bonus. 5 is pretty much unheard of. They changed it from last year to make it linked to a variety of company targets, mostly completely irrelevant to our jobs. Things like customer satisfaction, producing the target number of products, delivery times, stuff people in my area in particular have absolutely no control over. It really makes it pointless going above and beyond. What will be will be. That's how ours is done too. Although the overall percentage gets set on company results and then it can be adjusted slightly on performance. It is frustrating, but to be honest the scoring system at JLR used to drive me crazy. People were utterly obsessed with the scores, and they were so subjective. I hated it. At my place performance still comes into it but it's just manager's discretion. It's basically assume everyone gets the full bonus. Poor performers get slightly less and high performers get slightly more. But it's just done by managers' opinion. Seems much simpler. There's no arguments about "oh he can't have an extra 0.5% because his score is 0.1 less than Jane's and she's only getting 0.05% more" Edited February 7 by Stevo985 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted February 7 VT Supporter Share Posted February 7 1 minute ago, Stevo985 said: This is literally one of the first things they teach you in Business Studies at school. Madness if a company is still failing at it Yeah, it's ridiculous. To be honest I don't really know how they come up with targets, they seem to have been given a number from on high and then divvy it up between teams, or they just pluck numbers from the air that make the overall number look good... Either way, what in being asked to do, isn't possible. I kinda wish I could go into details on why it's impossible, because I'm curious if the absurdity of what I deal with every day comes across to people outside of it. It also ties into the bonus scheme, which is itself it's own Kafkaesque nightmare. Part of the bonus is obviously the target, so we're off to a bad start. But part of the bonus is made up of less concrete things, like your conduct. And then other parts of it relate to how well the wider business has done on various fronts. And then the company does this thing where you are rated and that is taken into account as well, but it works on that absurd basis where essentially nobody can get top rating, almost nobody gets bottom rating, so everyone gets 'doing alright' or 'doing quite well', and what you get is effectively chosen by management... Which means you could smash your figures, the entire business could have the best year in history, but because marketing want to give a few of their staff top ratings you will be marked down from top rating and the justification will be some vague thing about none sales KPI matters you apparently fall down on. It's a nonsense. Thankfully I'm someone who views a bonus as exactly that, but there's something galling about the company making us attend wider meetings and read internal communications about how wonderful a year we've had and how fantastic everything is, when for us the year was dire (again, not our fault) and we aren't getting anything while we watch the champagne getting poured. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 Just now, Stevo985 said: That's how ours is done too. Although the overall percentage gets set on company results and then it can be adjusted slightly on performance. It is frustrating, but to be honest the scoring system at JLR used to drive me crazy. People were utterly obsessed with the scores, and they were so subjective. I hated it. At my place performance still comes into it but it's just manager's discretion. It's basically assume everyone gets the full bonus. Poor performers get slightly less and high performers get slightly more They’ve completely lost the plot now. In terms of individual performance there are NO ratings at all now, and as I said the annual bonus is linked to stuff you cannot control. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted February 7 VT Supporter Share Posted February 7 Just now, Chindie said: Yeah, it's ridiculous. To be honest I don't really know how they come up with targets, they seem to have been given a number from on high and then divvy it up between teams, or they just pluck numbers from the air that make the overall number look good... Either way, what in being asked to do, isn't possible. I kinda wish I could go into details on why it's impossible, because I'm curious if the absurdity of what I deal with every day comes across to people outside of it. It also ties into the bonus scheme, which is itself it's own Kafkaesque nightmare. Part of the bonus is obviously the target, so we're off to a bad start. But part of the bonus is made up of less concrete things, like your conduct. And then other parts of it relate to how well the wider business has done on various fronts. And then the company does this thing where you are rated and that is taken into account as well, but it works on that absurd basis where essentially nobody can get top rating, almost nobody gets bottom rating, so everyone gets 'doing alright' or 'doing quite well', and what you get is effectively chosen by management... Which means you could smash your figures, the entire business could have the best year in history, but because marketing want to give a few of their staff top ratings you will be marked down from top rating and the justification will be some vague thing about none sales KPI matters you apparently fall down on. It's a nonsense. Thankfully I'm someone who views a bonus as exactly that, but there's something galling about the company making us attend wider meetings and read internal communications about how wonderful a year we've had and how fantastic everything is, when for us the year was dire (again, not our fault) and we aren't getting anything while we watch the champagne getting poured. My company are ok with targets, but they always increase them compared to the previous year. Which I understand to an extent, but it also ignores the fact that as things get better, improvements become harder and smaller. Couple of years back we made loads of savings, like £10m in a year which was loads for our department. But we spent at least 6 months telling them why these had happened and how it was a one off and there was no chance we'd make savings like that the next year etc etc. It was legitimate, we basically got a huge price hike from a UK supplier and moved the parts to a supplier in Asia for way WAY cheaper. A process that takes ages but all the savings hit that year. it wasn't going to be repeated Targets come out for the next year, £12m Obviously we missed that by miles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 My companies bonus scheme seems relatively simple. It's up to 14% of your salary, split 2 ways between group and your set objectives (7% obviously). We're set 5-6 objectives per year. I had 5 as I started in July and completed 4 out of that 5. The group (from heresay) has performed well, so I reckon I'll get 10-12% bonus next month. I've also said I'd split my bonus 50-50 with my pension, so I don't get buzzed too much by tax.. I think that feels fairly sensible.. I dunno, any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 My bonus is a flat figure written into my contract. it's about half a months salary. But the last two years, they've randomly given me another bonus on top so it's ended up being equivalent to a 13th salary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 On 07/02/2024 at 10:47, lapal_fan said: My companies bonus scheme seems relatively simple. It's up to 14% of your salary, split 2 ways between group and your set objectives (7% obviously). We're set 5-6 objectives per year. I had 5 as I started in July and completed 4 out of that 5. The group (from heresay) has performed well, so I reckon I'll get 10-12% bonus next month. I've also said I'd split my bonus 50-50 with my pension, so I don't get buzzed too much by tax.. I think that feels fairly sensible.. I dunno, any thoughts? Seems very sensible. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 I've been in my role for 15 years (I know, far too long!) and every year my target goes up. I just accept it now. To be fair, i've been lucky with bonuses in years gone by... they're not as handsome in more recent times, but enough to stop me looking elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mottaloo Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 On 06/02/2024 at 19:30, kurtsimonw said: Offered a job to start next Wednesday in a small company as part of their finance team and bricking it. More or less been out of work for a year, and almost feel like a fraud even though I was very honest on my CV and interview - probably too honest. I suffer with really bad anxiety and barely leave the house these days, the account manager at the recruitment agency I got the job through asked about me being ou of work for a year, and then she mentioned she could relate as she has agoraphobia; and then switched from talking to me about the job they initially wanted to talk to me about, to the one I'll be starting next week as their directors are big on mental health and work with mental health charities. Although it's low paid, I'm happy with minimum wage work and the fact it's not minimum wage is a bonus, it's far more than enough to cover my mortgage and other bills. I think I'm just worried that being out of work for a year, not having had a finance role for 4 years, that I'll just struggle and my anxiety will get the best of me. Job seems a bit 'too good to be true' in pretty much every aspect that I'll end up **** it up. Well done mate ! Delighted for you You'll smash it.....just hope the finance role isn't directly in sales.....they're total words removed, eh @Xela 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Xela Posted February 25 Popular Post Share Posted February 25 Had my pay meeting last week... wasn't expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised. Nice pay increase above inflation. Bonus was marginally better than last year as well. Overall a good day at work! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC_Hitz Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 3 minutes ago, Xela said: Had my pay meeting last week... wasn't expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised. Nice pay increase above inflation. Bonus was marginally better than last year as well. Overall a good day at work! Book yourself a few days off... 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 1 minute ago, AVFC_Hitz said: Book yourself a few days off... I've got a few shorter weeks coming up. Might go to Blackpool, sample the 3x Spoons, have a poo on the beach and punch a donkey. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid4ever Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 1 hour ago, Xela said: Might go to Blackpool, have a poo on the beach Perfect means United Utilities don’t have to use electric to pump it there, all good for my water bill. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Follyfoot Posted February 25 VT Supporter Share Posted February 25 (edited) My eldest left school last year and has been looking for an engineering apprenticeship since. In the meantime, he has just got a job at Tesco’s at one of the Large warehouses. The starting pay is about 30 grand a year with his shift allowance. He’s only 19. Had no idea they paid as well as they do. I would imagine it’s hard graft and he says it is but apparently they are short on numbers and they staff Need staff. Beats my 25 quid a week on my YTS Edited February 25 by Follyfoot 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 8 hours ago, Follyfoot said: My eldest left school last year and has been looking for an engineering apprenticeship since. In the meantime, he has just got a job at Tesco’s at one of the Large warehouses. The starting pay is about 30 grand a year with his shift allowance. He’s only 19. Had no idea they paid as well as they do. I would imagine it’s hard graft and he says it is but apparently they are short on numbers and they staff Need staff. Beats my 25 quid a week on my YTS Not bad at all is it? You can see why no-one is joining the Police or Army now, as I'm sure their stating salaries are less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinker Posted February 26 VT Supporter Share Posted February 26 9 hours ago, Follyfoot said: My eldest left school last year and has been looking for an engineering apprenticeship since. In the meantime, he has just got a job at Tesco’s at one of the Large warehouses. The starting pay is about 30 grand a year with his shift allowance. He’s only 19. Had no idea they paid as well as they do. I would imagine it’s hard graft and he says it is but apparently they are short on numbers and they staff Need staff. Beats my 25 quid a week on my YTS APPRENTICESHIPS AT JLR This is a time like no other to begin your journey with us. An apprenticeship programme at JLR opens doors to automotive innovation and technology, enhancing your skills and experience for the future. https://www.jaguarlandrovercareers.com/content/Apprentices/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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