Quick question about looking for a new job.

Saruman

Lets say you have been reduced to a 3 day week, taking a massive drop in pay as a result. My options are:
1.Take a little dole money for the two days.
2. Get a part time job for the two days im not working (a little more money).
3. Look for a whole new job to get back up to my previous salary or maybe even above.

My question is on point 3. Do i let on to recruiters and potential employers that im looking because of this? Would it reduce my salary bargaining if they think im a little desperate? It would seem so to me.

So is it best to simply let on that im looking for a job with a little more security than my current job?
Or do i simply say im looking for more money & better career path?

AARRRGH

I would be honest. There is nothing wrong with wanting a full-time job.

Serafijn

I would be honest about your situation, but you don't need to tell them you want to work full time for the money. Explain you want to work full time as you're an active person who doesn't like sitting at home. That you want a challenging position with career prospects, and that's not what you're getting in your current role.

That would be good enough for me

starbelgrade

Saruman wrote: »

Lets say you have been reduced to a 3 day week, taking a massive drop in pay as a result. My options are:
1.Take a little dole money for the two days.
2. Get a part time job for the two days im not working (a little more money).
3. Look for a whole new job to get back up to my previous salary or maybe even above.

My question is on point 3. Do i let on to recruiters and potential employers that im looking because of this? Would it reduce my salary bargaining if they think im a little desperate? It would seem so to me.

So is it best to simply let on that im looking for a job with a little more security than my current job?
Or do i simply say im looking for more money & better career path?

Honesty is the best policy - employers are not stupid.. a quick phone call to your current employer for a reference check & they'd know what the craic is, leaving you looking like a spoofer. If an employer takes you on, it's coz he likes you & thinks he can work with you and even if it does mean working for a bit less money, consider yourself lucky that you even have a job.

doolox

Be honest at the interview but do not berate or be bitter about the previous employer about putting you on a 3-day week.
Any negative vibes to a prospective employer, even if in direct competition with your soon-to-be past employer, will be seen as an attacl on all employers and will not go down well.
Keep all remark regarding the misfortune of being put on a 3 day week as neutral and impersonal as possible.
I doubt anoyone will feel you are a bad worker for being put on a 3-day week at this point in time.

egan007

Which ever you do please don't take the dole unless you really need it.

kiwikid

egan007 wrote: »

Which ever you do please don't take the dole unless you really need it.

what are teh reasons for that post. surely people would make educated choices based on their personal circumstances.

Saruman

egan007 wrote: »

Which ever you do please don't take the dole unless you really need it.

What kind of crap is that? Are you actually saying that if i can cut out every non essential expense and all luxuries after taking a 50% cut in pay, and "get by" i should not accept the dole because there are more unfortunates out there than me?

Feck that, i have been employed full time since 1997 and earned the right to get what little i can get when the going gets tough.

I will certainly look to either get a part time job for the other two days or change to another job and make it back to where i was before but i have a mortgage and two other loans to pay so i will be damned if i will not accept money owed to me because someone on an internet forum thinks it might be morally wrong if i can afford not to.

Thats like me telling you NOT to claim your tax back from the revenue as the Government needs it more than you do. In a word, Muppetry!

If i had kids i would be absolutely screwed right now.

egan007

Go head, take the easy option....call it me a muppet all you like.
If you are afraid to role up the sleeves then admit it.

egan007

kiwikid wrote: »

what are teh reasons for that post. surely people would make educated choices based on their personal circumstances.

Most would, I know plenty who don't.

neil_hosey

egan007 wrote: »

Most would, I know plenty who don't.

OP you are entitled to the dole, so take it if you need it. Don't let certain eejits on their high horse tell you otherwise.

egan007

neil_hosey wrote: »

OP you are entitled to the dole, so take it if you need it. Don't let certain eejits on their high horse tell you otherwise.

There's nothing high about my horse.

The replies here are typically Irish, Never mind that fella take what's yours.

All I'm saying is that everyone needs to rethink their position, it's everyone's duty to do as much as they can for the county at the mo. Anyone who can't see that or chosen to ignore that fact are part of the problem rather than the solution....call me righteous, an eejit a muppet the abuse makes no difference.

The person who takes dole when they have opportunity to generate income by another practical means has no right to complain about the state of the county.

doolox

The dole is like insurance. People work and pay tax when they are in good employment. This not only pays for health, training, education, protection etc but also pays for when times are hard.
Some people may milk the system but answer this:-
Would the lowest level worker get €300-400 per week if the boss had the bargaining power of starvation to play with in the absence of Social Welfare?
Knowing the marketplace, in the absence of dole most wages would drop by 100 or 200 euro a week to get everyone back to the net gain of the basic job in the first place.
Also there is an argument that high public wages tend to feed into private wage levels and increase them to the benefit of all wage earners. Nothing in the economy happens in isolation.
As I worked solid for 14 years in my first official job and then another 14 years in my second official job with minimal breaks in between I think I have eaned the right to the dole. I certainly feel no shame taking it, just as the victim of a car crash feels no shame lodging a claim for what he already has paid for.
If the time comes where I have to claim assistance I will also do that.

Saruman

Of course we should not be ashamed. and if something else turns up or i get my full time back in a few months (fingers crossed) then i will be a tax payer again with money to burn and tax revenue to build up.

It all evens out in the end, i have paid more in tax than i can possibly take in the dole even if i was on it for a year. I will not be on it for a year because by then i will either be back full time in this job, or working full time somewhere else or at the worst i will be stacking shelves at a supermarket two days a week (where i started out working actually).

Ironically it seems to be harder to find work for two days a week than full time because while part time work is out there, employers seem to want you available for the whole 7 days so they can work out shifts etc. Finding a job only on Monday and Tuesday seems to be harder than i thought.

diverdriver

For many people the dole is insurance. I paid enough Pay Related Social Insurance - PRSI over the years. That means it's an entitlement. I had zero qualms signing on as I was simply getting back my own money. Once your working again the government gets it all back anyway.

As for people who say don't claim if you don't need it. If you lose your job you need it unless you have a six figure sum in the bank.

In fact when I quit a job. I initially didn't claim the dole thinking it would be easy to move to the next job. Only it wasn't. The guy in the dole office actually berated me for not signing on immediately, then gave me the form for back pay which was duly delivered to my account.