Entry level contractor going permanent needing advice/tips

[velli]

Hi all Im a new contractor thats been working for the past 15 months as a credit controller for a major supplier to big department stores in the UK. Each week Ive been submitting my timesheet through an Umbrella Company and getting paid the following week rinse and repeat. Obviously with everything going on with Covid the company decided to make some positions redundant and invest in an extra permanent credit controller (3 Permanent 4 soon to be).
My day rate is £140 which translates to £125 before tax ie 32k per year. That includes sick pay and holiday pay as I havent taken neither in 15 months.
I have a meeting scheduled in with the Finance Director this week to discuss being made permanent but I was just wondering what the salary number will be. The thing is I cant afford to go from £32k to below £30k based on my bills each month. Thats lowest my threshold to even just be able to get by & save a nominal £50 each month while I continue my studies in the evenings (Studying ACCA).

To provide further context the other credit controllers honestly barely do much and thats being generous. Many reports or day to day tasks that need to be run gets thrown my way because

1). My colleagues who have been here for a few years more than I still dont know how to do them and is their 1st finance role despite being way older than me and are not tech savvy or even good with Excel.

2). Of the top 10 receivable accounts I have to manage 6 of them and whats funny is that everyone else has only 1 with the AR manager picking up the last 1. Also please bear in mind the accounts were totally poorly managed but now largely cleaned up due to endless hours and effort put into them. (Funny how motivating being paid more makes you overlook unfair uneven workloads).

I think this is a big reason why the turn over of the position was 1 employee every 9 months for 3 years before I started but I knuckled down as the difference between going from 24k in my last role to 32k was too motivating. Also to be highly cynical i also believe the reason why the uneven workload is there is because the manager is very close and personal friends with the other three that she wants always wants to ensure their bonuses are protected at the cost of the temp in the corner working away who can be blamed and scapegoated.

3). Most importantly and my biggest achievement with this company is that my top account is £500k better off in the bad debt column than when I started 15 months ago and during the first 3 months of 2020 I would have upper management come to my desk to congratulate me out of the blue saying that my accounts were moving in the right direction.

Any advice or tips will be really appreciated as I would like to be as prepared as possible because any less than 30k would completely kill my motivation and its probably the worst time in a long while in the job market at the moment.

Thank you!

[ladymuck]

So you know what you can't go below. Now you need to do some research into what the market rate for your work is.

Another bit of research is to find what roles they've advertised for over the past year and compare those rates (assuming they put a guide salary on the job specs) with the market for similar jobs. That will tell you whether the company are cheap skates, average, or generous and will help you set your expectations.

I'd be tempted to ask for at least £5k a year more than your gross today but you need to validate it against the research I've described above.

Your examples of the value you've brought to the organisation are excellent. However, don't be tempted to bad mouth your colleagues as that comes across as bitchy. Simply state the facts - I manage 6 of the top 10 accounts and all have shown an improvement of up to x% in the time I've been working on them (or some such) and use them to demonstrate how motivated you are in your work (even if you don't truly feel it).

Good luck!

[Antman]

I think that you've got a lot of positives on your side, if I were the FD I wouldn't want to lose you for a couple of k. But like ladymuck says you've got to find what their best price is.

I'd also be looking at getting them to outline a career path with some time checkpoints in there, but don't let them pooh-pooh you with jam tomorrow. They have someone who can smash the role, the cost of having to go out and find someone else and not have any guarantee that they can do the role should be in their mind.

[GitMaster69]

Hi all Im a new contractor thats been working for the past 15 months as a credit controller for a major supplier to big department stores in the UK. Each week Ive been submitting my timesheet through an Umbrella Company and getting paid the following week rinse and repeat. Obviously with everything going on with Covid the company decided to make some positions redundant and invest in an extra permanent credit controller (3 Permanent 4 soon to be).
My day rate is £140 which translates to £125 before tax ie 32k per year. That includes sick pay and holiday pay as I havent taken neither in 15 months.
I have a meeting scheduled in with the Finance Director this week to discuss being made permanent but I was just wondering what the salary number will be. The thing is I cant afford to go from £32k to below £30k based on my bills each month. Thats lowest my threshold to even just be able to get by & save a nominal £50 each month while I continue my studies in the evenings (Studying ACCA).

To provide further context the other credit controllers honestly barely do much and thats being generous. Many reports or day to day tasks that need to be run gets thrown my way because

1). My colleagues who have been here for a few years more than I still dont know how to do them and is their 1st finance role despite being way older than me and are not tech savvy or even good with Excel.

2). Of the top 10 receivable accounts I have to manage 6 of them and whats funny is that everyone else has only 1 with the AR manager picking up the last 1. Also please bear in mind the accounts were totally poorly managed but now largely cleaned up due to endless hours and effort put into them. (Funny how motivating being paid more makes you overlook unfair uneven workloads).

I think this is a big reason why the turn over of the position was 1 employee every 9 months for 3 years before I started but I knuckled down as the difference between going from 24k in my last role to 32k was too motivating. Also to be highly cynical i also believe the reason why the uneven workload is there is because the manager is very close and personal friends with the other three that she wants always wants to ensure their bonuses are protected at the cost of the temp in the corner working away who can be blamed and scapegoated.

3). Most importantly and my biggest achievement with this company is that my top account is £500k better off in the bad debt column than when I started 15 months ago and during the first 3 months of 2020 I would have upper management come to my desk to congratulate me out of the blue saying that my accounts were moving in the right direction.

Any advice or tips will be really appreciated as I would like to be as prepared as possible because any less than 30k would completely kill my motivation and its probably the worst time in a long while in the job market at the moment.

Thank you!

So after 14 months on the role if they want to offer you less than you already have I'd find that insulting.

[northernladuk]

So after 14 months on the role if they want to offer you less than you already have I'd find that insulting.

Why? Not unreasonable a perm role pays less than a temp one. Hell, that's why we are doing what we do fer christs sake. I can bet nearly every contractor ever got offered less than their current income to go perm..

Ah damn.. it's you.. nvm

[GitMaster69]

Why? Not unreasonable a perm role pays less than a temp one. Hell, that's why we are doing what we do fer christs sake. I can bet nearly every contractor ever got offered less than their current income to go perm..

Ah damn.. it's you.. nvm

thats applicable when temp role pays above perm role. Here it's 30 odd k . Normal average uk salary for educated specialist

[eek]

thats applicable when temp role pays above perm role. Here it's 30 odd k . Normal average uk salary for educated specialist

Still potentially very high for a credit controller - when I looked at Indeed to see rates of pay a lot were 18k or so..

However, as that is negative it's irrelevant here. The OP is doing the work of multiple others (it may require 2 people to replace her), you have a clear set of achievements (can they be applied to the other accounts) and you have a clearly defined career path with ACCA - so use that to justify the money and see what other work you could possible pick up outside of credit control.

The awkward bit here is that you need to know how much the others are paid and what the top end rate in your area for that role is. It may be that the rate is high because you a temporary, it may just be the equivalent permie rate. However the company is currently paying £35k plus for you (as the agency rate will be 10% minimum so becoming a member of staff may save them money).

[GhostofTarbera]

Boss just wants to cut 10K from his budget

What he does not want is

Lose his scape goat
Lose his top worker
Lose face to other 3 bozos and give them more work
Lose the one person in his team sen management even know exists
Get fired as the 6 accounts move into the red again

Tell him you need £32K


And take a holiday !


Sent from my iPhone using Contractor UK Forum

[northernladuk]

thats applicable when temp role pays above perm role. Here it's 30 odd k . Normal average uk salary for educated specialist

I'd go check how much Credit Controllers are paid. I think you'll be quite surprised.

The only group of temp people that get paid less than their full time counter parts that I am aware of are supply teachers. No benefits, all the risk and less pay. Just ridiculous.

[NotAllThere]

Why? Not unreasonable a perm role pays less than a temp one. Hell, that's why we are doing what we do fer christs sake. I can bet nearly every contractor ever got offered less than their current income to go perm..

Ah damn.. it's you.. nvm

Not that long ago you'd never have a controller worker via a brolly. They'd all be temps, costing the company more than employing them would, yet being paid less than a permie.

I'd guess that with a £140 day rate means the client is paying around £250. That gives a little leverage to get more than 32K. However, if the market standard is 24K, the OP should stay temping - maybe a management position will open up! If you really want the job, open the bidding at 37K. Otherwise at 40K. If you don't ask, you don't get.

I once asked 50K for a 40K job. While my offer was being mulled over, the guy who interviewed me resigned and suggested me as his replacement. So I got want I wanted ... + BUPA + fully expensed car...