Reply to: "Hired" in March but still haven't started due to covid

[LondonManc]

still think that no job is better than ending up in a dump.
at least you can apply for benefits which, if you resign you will not for a while.
life is beautiful, stop and smell the roses.

my experience

Sounds great if you've got a warchest. If you need to work, it's easier to look for a job from a job. If you're a permie and are applying for another permie role, they'll wait.

[GigiBronz]

still think that no job is better than ending up in a dump.
at least you can apply for benefits which, if you resign you will not for a while.
life is beautiful, stop and smell the roses.

my experience

[sira]

I signed my contract for perm job in February, and it was due to start in June. In March they postponed the start date until July, and now they revoked the job.

If anyone's job has been postponed and they haven't taken you on payroll and put you on furlough, then its extremely likely they will cancel your job as the economy is going to get much worse & new starters are the easiest targets for the chopping board - so I recommend looking for new jobs if anyone's in such a silo.

[LondonManc]

Thanks for all the replies. Looks like I could be going for the record of longest time from verbal offer to boots under the desk.

The salary's not stellar (I was in take anything mode back in March) and they're one of those employers that everyone joins when the market is bad. My colleagues all went there after the 2001 crash so I have a pretty good idea of what they're like.

My alternative plan is to do a PGCE in September. I like that I get certainty(ish) for a year and I've just spent 2.5 years teaching tech overseas. That was a lot more interesting than sitting at a desk for 37.5 hours a week. School life could be hell, but it could be better than worrying about how many virus particles there are on the office kettle.

One other piece of good news is that I've just had an email about a contract. I guess there are a few crumbs out there.

Nah, I'm going to be reaching 8 years on mine in September.
Still not been told that the contract is not going ahead.

[GhostofTarbera]

Thanks for all the replies. Looks like I could be going for the record of longest time from verbal offer to boots under the desk.

The salary's not stellar (I was in take anything mode back in March) and they're one of those employers that everyone joins when the market is bad. My colleagues all went there after the 2001 crash so I have a pretty good idea of what they're like.

My alternative plan is to do a PGCE in September. I like that I get certainty(ish) for a year and I've just spent 2.5 years teaching tech overseas. That was a lot more interesting than sitting at a desk for 37.5 hours a week. School life could be hell, but it could be better than worrying about how many virus particles there are on the office kettle.

One other piece of good news is that I've just had an email about a contract. I guess there are a few crumbs out there.

Not yet - you will never start


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[billybiro]

You are as contractor after all, not a "sign any contract"-or

This is for a permie role

Conceptually, they're different. Semantically, they're not.

[PerfectStorm]

This is for a permie role

Oh, sign up and bend over in that case

[fidot]

Despite protestations, I've done this a few times and it's never ultimately been turned down. You are as contractor after all, not a "sign any contract"-or

This is for a permie role

[PerfectStorm]

Am supposed to start on 1st as well albeit in my case had the offer made at the beginning of last week.
Have been pushing to see a draft of the contract but complete silence so far.
I am assuming they would either like to postpone the start date or have a clause in contract that would like to push over the fence last minute.
Either way I am not going to play along, I'll say that I am keen to start as agreed and it is my way or no way.
From the interview, got a feeling that the manager could be a bit difficult so alongside poor pay puts me off quite a bit...

I am wondering if they ever stop and think what the other party is feeling... or do they just assume we are so indebted that we'd crawl on our knees to get some pennies thrown at?
Permanent employment feels like a punishment for something we did in a previous life indeed...

Agencies see no advantage in giving people paperwork early, it just encourages reviews and requests for changes... hold firm, and change the start date when they supply the paperwork and you can give an idea of when you'll get your review back.

Despite protestations, I've done this a few times and it's never ultimately been turned down. You are as contractor after all, not a "sign any contract"-or

[DrGUID]

Thanks for all the replies. Looks like I could be going for the record of longest time from verbal offer to boots under the desk.

The salary's not stellar (I was in take anything mode back in March) and they're one of those employers that everyone joins when the market is bad. My colleagues all went there after the 2001 crash so I have a pretty good idea of what they're like.

My alternative plan is to do a PGCE in September. I like that I get certainty(ish) for a year and I've just spent 2.5 years teaching tech overseas. That was a lot more interesting than sitting at a desk for 37.5 hours a week. School life could be hell, but it could be better than worrying about how many virus particles there are on the office kettle.

One other piece of good news is that I've just had an email about a contract. I guess there are a few crumbs out there.

[Mephisto]

Sorta the same but for a temp role in a warehouse. Didn't make it in time and they decided to put the brakes on all hiring unsurprisingly.

Dunno if anyone has considered it but volunteer work can you give you a bit of self-relevance again as well as expanding skills and filling the tedium of lockdown. I always did a bit here and there around normal work but have ramped it up and am part of some things trying to make a difference.

Surprising the skills asked for nowadays too. I have seen roles asking for migration specialists, PMs, 'product' owners(barf) etc. I guess they're all using the same IT kit SaaS, collab. etc. so it calls for such.

[GigiBronz]

Am supposed to start on 1st as well albeit in my case had the offer made at the beginning of last week.
Have been pushing to see a draft of the contract but complete silence so far.
I am assuming they would either like to postpone the start date or have a clause in contract that would like to push over the fence last minute.
Either way I am not going to play along, I'll say that I am keen to start as agreed and it is my way or no way.
From the interview, got a feeling that the manager could be a bit difficult so alongside poor pay puts me off quite a bit...

I am wondering if they ever stop and think what the other party is feeling... or do they just assume we are so indebted that we'd crawl on our knees to get some pennies thrown at?
Permanent employment feels like a punishment for something we did in a previous life indeed...

[LondonManc]

Keep looking until you're at their desk - physically or remotely - and you still want to come back the next day!

Keep looking when you're at their desk too. If they behave like this when onboarding you, it's going to be the same for the rest of your career there. Make sure you leave in the first two years so that your notice period is as short as possible.

[PerfectStorm]

Keep looking until you're at their desk - physically or remotely - and you still want to come back the next day!

[jmo21]

Hi all,

Has anyone else found themselves in the weird situation that I've got myself in?

I was interviewed mid-March and offered a permie job (through an agency). Then the lockdown happened and...



Eventually I got a contract from them with a provisional start date of June 1. That's next week. So I email the HR woman today to make sure everything is ready and a few hours later my agent phones back and says they're pushing back on my start date because they're waiting for guidance from the government on safe working in offices.

I lost my rag with the agent. To be fair it's not their fault .

So do I continue bending over and taking it or do I tell them to stuff it and go for plan B of leaving software development while the job market is so poor.

My feeling is that if they really wanted me they'd have Fedex'd me a laptop by now .

Tough one. I know I'd be pretty sour on the job after that.

Especially as I've seen lots of chat online of people starting jobs seamlessly online.

I'd be applying elsewhere.