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  Name: Barney
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Its a Funny Old World...

By Barney : Forum Member

Published 7th November 2013 |

Read latest comment - 27th December 2013

Have recently placed some adverts for plumbing jobs in London, so rather than state that the wages will be whatever, I thought I would leave it up to the candidates to say what they would be willing to work for, then if it was within our budget, then the chances are they'd have a job. Never did it to get cheap labour, it was done on the basis that if someone say's 'I'm willing to work for this amount' then their happy and they don't end up feeling hard done by and not earning a comfortable living wage.
So far I have received 10 applications, great, 10 CV's all of which I have read dozens of times over the years, starting of with 'I'm a very hard and conscientious worker' and ending with 'And in my spare time I enjoy football'

Not one mentioned how much they would be willing to work for, so I replied to everyone who had sent CV's saying thanks very much, but...... How much money do you wish to be paid per day? So far the response has been pretty poor with only one replying saying he wanted to earn

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Barney

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  Name: CareersPartnershipUK
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CareersPartnershipUK : Forum Member
7th November 2013 3:40 PM

Asking candidates to "tell" you what they think they're financially worth goes against the grain of "Britishness", Barney!

Also it tends to act as a (poor quality) test of candidates' personalities and job circumstances. The more adventurous, self-confident types who're fairly happy in stable jobs will ask for a significant increase on what they're already getting ... and be happy (for a while) if they get it.

The more "careful" candidates will ask for less than they feel they deserve ... and then feel aggrieved.

Those worried about their jobs or their employer will also ask less - quite probably less than you'd feel happy offering.

Surely it's in your interests to find out what the local pay range is for good tradespeople and then tell recruits the offer will be somewhere within that range?

Linda
CareersPartnershipUK

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  Name: mattylad
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mattylad : Forum Member
19th December 2013 2:47 PM

Ever thought of paying them based upon how hard they work? I have guys working for me who take 30% of whatever they take... so if they go out from 7-7 they are going to work hard than if they are paid a daily wage... Not everyone is willing to work this way, but the guys who do - work very hard because they know they can earn some serious wonga if they put the hours in.

This means you won't get lazy people working for you..

I incentivise weekend call outs, late nights etc, but I just pass that cost on to the customer.. i.e. pay 50% instead of 30%...

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  Name: Markrichard
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Markrichard : Growing Business
27th December 2013 11:25 AM

Lol! the funniest statement I read in your post was "ending with 'And in my spare time I enjoy football". What are the ways to enjoy football... Seriously but I think you did it right from your side. last thing you can do is that you can ask your social references whether or no they know any plumber. If yes you can contact them directly and if no placed an advert stating your price clearly as they perhaps you can get some applications.

Markrichard

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