too much ain't enough....

A recruitment consultant rang me at work the other day.  He was brief and to the point, saying that I had been recommended to him by a couple of people for a job he was recruiting for, and would I mind sharing my mobile number so he could call me back.  My usual instinct in these circumstances is to panic and put the phone down, but C. has patiently explained to me that it does no harm to talk to them and to find out what they've got on offer. I gave the guy my number and then got on with my day.  I've been enjoying work recently, but where's the harm?

That evening, I had a good conversation with the recruitment consultant.  The job on offer seemed a reasonable next step from my current one, and it would be a hefty pay increase of something like £20k.  The catch was that the job was in Leeds - nearly 80 miles each way, door-to-door. 

I flat out don't need the money and I certainly don't need the hassle.  I like working 15 minutes from home; I like that my whole day doesn't have to be about work; I like that I can pop home if I need to.  I'm not rich, but I've learned that I'm rich enough and that other things are more important.  £20k is a lot of money, and I'm well aware how lucky I am to be able to afford to turn that sort of cash down, but double that still wouldn't really be enough of an incentive to move.  That and I fatigue easily now, so long days commuting are probably not a good idea either.  I wasn't really ever tempted.  Still, the consultant asked me if I would agree to an informal chat with the prospective employer, on the understanding that I'm not on the market.  Why not?  Where's the harm?  It's good to learn that you still have desirable skills, if nothing else. 

Next day, I took a call from the IT Director of this other company.  It went quite well, I thought, although of course it essentially turned out to be a job interview and not just an informal chat after all.  How naive of me to think otherwise.  I haven't heard anything since then, although as I made it clear to the recruitment consultant that I wasn't interested in moving, that's hardly surprising.  My job, amazingly enough, has been quite a lot of fun recently, and although I know I could earn a lot more money elsewhere, I actually don't want to move.  It never hurts, of course, to let your boss know how much someone else values your services.... (although: mental note.  When asked your salary expectations for a job you're not that interested in?  Pitch higher.)

My boss, it turns out, was strangely interested in the details of the recruitment consultant who had contacted me.  It was the same one, of course, who had been chasing him for the same job as the one that was being offering to me.... only he was being offered it at about £20k more than the level it was being offered to me.

Tsk.  Recruitment Consultants, eh?  If you can't trust them, who can you trust?