When is it acceptable to accept a job with the intention of using it as a springboard only?

Question

I have reluctantly accepted a job with a very poor contract which I'm deeply unsatisfied with. I plan to use the job as a spring board / insurance policy whilst job hunting. There are essentially no exit clauses so no notice is required for the first month at all and only 1 week for a period up till 12 months for either party.

It is of my opinion that this employer is asking for it. Is this common practice?

Or is it better to have rejected the job outright and continued without an income for as long as required to secure a better role?

Answer 1

There are risks to taking a job that you intend to stay at only a short time. You'd need to determine whether those risks are acceptable to you.

• When you leave the job quickly, you're likely to burn bridges at that company. If the company as a whole is one you have no desire to work at, that's no problem. If the company has other positions that you would potentially want in the future, however, a short tenure might hurt you.
• In some concentrated industries and locations where a lot of people move between a handful of large companies, you're likely to find that your manager from company A is now working at company B when you apply to B and in a position to either help or hurt your application based on your behavior at A.
• If you have a history of short job tenure, that's going to be concerning to future employers. Having one short stay isn't likely to raise any concerns but if you already have a few jobs that you left quickly, adding more may cause future employers to be concerned that you're a job hopper.
• Taking a job may make it more difficult to find a better position quickly. Plenty of people have taken a job intending to continue their job search only to find that they now have much less time and energy to devote to the search. It's harder to schedule time for interviews if you're working during the day particularly at a new job where don't have a lot of leave built up. It's often harder to get the motivation to send out a bunch of applications after you've put in a full day of work (particularly somewhere you don't like) than when applying for jobs is your job.
• If the title/ role is a step back for you, that would also be a potential concern. If you've been a Senior Widget Polisher for a few years but you took a Junior Widget Polisher position as a stopgap, that's going to make your resume look weaker when you're applying to other companies and presenting yourself as a Senior Widget Polisher. It can also affect the enthusiasm you project in interviews when the interviewer says "Tell me about your current position"

If you're aware of the risks when you take the job and you're comfortable that the benefits outweigh the risks, there is no issue taking a job and honoring the letter of the contract but no more.

Answer 2

This appears to be the statutory minimum notice in the UK its not that uncommon.

Yes it is acceptable to take a job with the aim of eventually finding something better.

In almost all cases its better to be working as you are building up qualifying years for things like state benefits and also missing any employer provided pension payments. Its also easier to get a job if you are already working.

Also in the current climate rejecting a job offer can cause problems in claiming benefits, even more so if you in an area that uses Universal Credit.

Answer 3

As an employee, it is always acceptable for you to adhere to the contract that your employer asked you to sign. Whether that is ultimately in the companies benefit or not, is irrelevant.

Using a job as a springboard to another, means developing skills and experience that can be shown to future employers. That can apply to all jobs up until your last.

As for using a job as insurance, that is a much trickier question. It is not ultimately about that employer, it is about you and your future employment. I would suggest asking yourself what you would do if you were the hiring manager and you knew that the applicant had in the past did what you intend to do. And what you would think of the applicant.