Finished…

Today was my last day as a permanent employee. I have now finished as a Design Engineer, and from Monday I will be a Contract Design Engineer.

Ever since I handed in my notice 5 weeks ago, I’ve been itching to get out of there and into a job where I can actually do some proper designing. For a few months now I have had little to do in the way of designing and so I have been getting extremely bored, so now I am going to have something to get my teeth into. I am really looking forward to that.

I’ll let you know how things go on Monday.

My New Job Starts Next Week

It’s now only one week until I begin my new job as a Contract Design Engineer. I’m really looking forward to it, as it is going to be the start of an exciting new chapter in my life.

When the opportunity came along, trying to decide whether to make the jump seemed to be a scary proposition. A few decisions had to be made.

One of the most important of these was whether to form my own Limited Company, or to join an Umbrella Company.

After a bit of research and weighing up on the pros and cons of both options, (a good source of information can be found at Umbrella Supermarket) I decided that the best option for me was to go for the Umbrella option.

The company that I have gone with is Brookson. They were recommended by another contractor at the company that I’m going to be working for.

I am new to contracting, and I think going for the Umbrella route is the safer option at this stage. Nearly all of the paperwork is taken care of by the umbrella company, and so therefore there should be less chance of me falling foul of too much government red-tape. You don’t have to worry about paying your tax bills on time like you would with forming your own Limited Company, so there is less pressure for the first time contractor. It would also allow me the freedom to get out should I not like the lifestyle of a contractor and go back to a permanent job.

Who knows what the future holds?

Maybe in 6 months time I’ll find that I like the way that it is all working out, and want to have the greater flexibility that the Ltd Company option gives to the contractor. But with greater flexibility comes greater responsibility. Once I have made up my mind that this is how I want to work then I will make the next step and form my Ltd company.

So I’m going to take it one step at a time, and see how things go. The next update will be after a few days of the new job.

Until then……

A New Job, A New Start

Yesterday I handed in my notice at my current employer because I’ve got a new job.

The new job has come out of the blue, I didn’t even go looking for it, it came looking for me. It’s great because in effect, I’ve been head-hunted. That is a really great feeling.

So, I’ve got 5 weeks left here before I start my new job as a Contract Designer. I will still be involved in the automotive industry, but now I will be designing exhaust systems.

It is a little scary as I will be employed as a contractor, rather than a permanent member of staff. It is going to be an exciting time.

There are plenty of things to sort out before I start. There is the contract to sort out, how I’m going to set myself up - whether that is as a Limited Company, or as part of an umbrella company. My initial thoughts are to go with the umbrella company, as it will remove a lot of the initial hassle and paperwork that would come with setting up my Limited Company. If I enjoy the life contracting then it will be something to look at in the future.

The new company is near Preston and so I’ll be commuting. Hopefully this will not be too bad. When I went for the interview it took me about an hour, and this was when the roads are at their busiest. I hope to leave earlier than that when I start so that I can beat the traffic. It should be possible to do in 45 mins.

In the meantime I’ve got a few loose ends to tie up. I need to get the CAD system upgraded before I leave and make sure that everything is in place for the next CAD Engineer coming in. I’ll also need to give a helping hand to finding a replacement.

So a busy few weeks ahead, but it will all be worth it in the end.

How to make your employees feel wanted

Its that time of year when we are all looking to have the little break from work for Christmas.

Just before Christmas in work we are usually given some shopping vouchers as a little thank you for all the work that we do during the year. Its not a lot, but it just makes you feel wanted, and that your work is valued.

Well, not this year. Instead of £20 in vouchers, we are going to be given an extra £15 in our pay. We’ll be getting in our January pay because they forgot to include it in December’s, and of course we’ll be taxed on this. So, instead of the personal touch of £20 in vouchers and a thank you, it is a bit of a let down with us getting a greatly reduced amount. After tax it works out at about £11, equivalent to 23p per week. It sucks really.

The biggest complaint that we have is that no-one in senior management has told us that we won’t be getting the vouchers. Just a simple explanation would suffice. That is all we ask, a little bit of honesty.

If you look after your employees, then they will look after the interests of the company. It’s not a hard concept to follow.

Merry Christmas