Right, I've been mulling this over for a few weeks and I think it is time for me to start looking for a new job, but I'm a bit stuck at what to look for and I have got a little too comfortable.
I've been working in the same place for just over six years now, at the beginning it was a zero hours thing as I worked full time elsewhere. However, after redundancy from the old job, I got more shifts and worked my way up into a salaried position learning a lot along the way.
It's without a doubt the best job I have had, I like the people I work with (for the most part) and it's sort of degree relevant with it being a arts/culture organisation.
Having said all that, I feel I have hit a bit of a brick wall in regards to progress and pay, and to put it politely, the newish head of the department has no idea what he is doing. It's a technical department and he is essentially a salesman and he seems happier to give work and projects that we could build upon to other people if he can skim some money off in the short term.
The idea of a payrise is out of the window (my colleagues hasn't gone up in 12 years) and the reward for doing a good job and exceeding targets seems to be more work.
Currently, I have built and maintained the entire organisation's inventory, I conduct site visits (often involves driving nationwide, overnights stays etc), I install art exhibitions/museum installs, build and maintain AV equipment, lead on large outdoor cinema events (including delivery, transport, staffing, kit, logistics etc) and I know a bit of Unity (mainly for AR development) and a bit of Blender. Currently, I've ended up managing projects with no support or extra compensation. I'll get TOIL instead of extra pay for working extra hours which would be fine in the short term, but pre-pandemic, I had acrued 3 extra weeks of time off by the beginning of October. This is a general overview, I do a few extra bits here and there too. All of this for £18,270 a year and the age of fucking 30.
My sister is a travel agent and she's on just over £24,000 and she's still getting a payrise despite the industry being decimated.
I'm not saying I'm worth millions, but I can't help but feel I'm worth more than this. At the beginning I could overlook it as there were lots of perks to the arts, but a lot of those are dissapearing and management is a nightmare.
The big problem is I've boxed myself into a corner and the skills I have and jobs I do are quite niche. So my question is how is best to take inventory on skills and then look for jobs that would suit that? I'm feeling very lost, not to say comfortable. As much as I'm complaining, it is very easy to get comfortable when you have been somewhere for so long. How do you make yourself more daring I guess?
Sorry if this feels like a rant. Any advice is welcome.
Starting pay for a junior Unity developer is £25k, rising to £40-£50k for someone with a couple of big projects under their belt and ~£70k for a lead developer. Demand continues to outstrip supply and a lot of the London-based studios are now offering fully-remote roles.
Learn Git and TDD, put together a small portfolio of demo projects and you'll get your foot in the door somewhere. Keep learning, keep working on your skills, be willing to jump ship for a better opportunity and you could be a lead developer within 5-7 years.
You've identified things that are less than satisfactory with your current situation, but without making your other options concrete, you risk slipping back into what you know and are comfortable with.
Big changes in my life (and the confidence to make them) have invariably come from researching my options and determining tangible outcomes that would take my life in the direction I want it to go. I might be a bit strange in this respect, but I've put together loads of long-term plans this way, many just as backups, then take strategic and budgeted steps towards it. If I know I'll need to save for to move home or take a qualification, I'll do that. It's all blocked out in a big spreadsheet.
Sorry to be boring, but I'd saying being diligent is just as important as being daring when it comes to these decisions.
>All of this for £18,270 a year and the age of fucking 30.
>My sister is a travel agent and she's on just over £24,000 and she's still getting a payrise despite the industry being decimated.
Fucking hell, I thought you were looking for serious money but have you considered giving government a go? You can certainly put your practical and project management experience as a selling point and earn 30k+ in a HEO/SEO/G7(at a push) role off the bat.
Agreed. As much as I'm complaining now, I can keep my head down and do my research, I'm just a bit stumped as to how to apply myself. I've fallen into things a lot the past few years.
I don't mean that I'm looking for £24,000 a year, I'd like more than that. I just used it as an example of a job that is much easier and less demanding and is part of an industry that has been hit a lot harder than the arts.
>>13772 Your problem is that you started basically in manual labour, you've gained tons of skills and moved up to what's essentially a management position gradually and if you were to start again doing the same thing you'd be on a £30-40K contract.
Start looking for another job, just have some imagination in what you're looking for and try to think creatively about how you would fit in, sounds like you're generally going to be looking in the entertainment and events industry so with things starting to open up again now everyones going to be hiring. You probably want to start mooching around for as many different job titles you can think of that sound in any way relevant to what you do "events manager", "PA installer", things like that.
Your CV should be as candid as possible in stating all the roles and responsibilities you currently have.
It sounds like you meet a lot of people. Are none of them tempting to jump ship to?
It's a slightly awkward conversation, probably best phrased as seeking new challenges rather than grumbling about your existing salary/employer.
However, if you're there, looking all competent and stuff, that's far better than a blind CV.
