I've been interviewing candidates for a position that's been vacant for a month. The person who left, reported to me, but she had been in the department since before I was born - so I let her do her thing, she'd forgotten more than I'd likely ever learn and she did stellar work.

Lots of really good candidates. I have a very informal interview style, I want to see them, not the interview version of them. So we talk, let things happen organically. I learn about them, answer anything they want to know about the role. After about 40 minutes, we're done and they're excited to talk more. I discuss with the team, then make an offer the same week.

Four people so far, all had offers, all have said "Sorry, that's actually a pay cut for me. Can we negotiate the salary?"

Unfortunately, I already did. I negotiated with my bosses to put the offer at the top of the range, and it's still a paycut. I have no other method, nothing else to offer them. We just simply don't pay well enough. The plus side of having the salary ranges publicly available is that I get to be very honest when talking about it with my team. They know what I'm on, they know what they're on. They know what a promotion would entail and they know what they could get elsewhere. Honestly I'm surprised we're only down like 6 staff given there are many opportunities floating about at the moment.

The most recent candidate moved here from Scotland, interviewed amazingly and when I made an offer, she asked for a week to see some other offers. Of course I was happy to wait. She got another offer, from my old boss no less. More money, same organization. She asked very politely if I could match that offer, as she'd like to work with me, but the other role is offering a fair bit more. I told her I couldn't and that she should take that role - it's a good one and she's a good fit and that's a really good boss. Ugh. It's all true. She went with it and I'm sure she's happy, but back to the drawing board for me.

Anyway - my own interview in a fairly entry-level IT role is up tomorrow. Just desktop support/technician. They normally want people with a degree in the field, so I'm pleased they're interviewing me. I'm not entirely sure what kind of questions I'll get asked. When I interview, it's about behavioural things. Prioritizing, difficult conversations and situations. I've never interviewed for nor interviewed someone for a more hands-on, technical role.

I'm confident it'll go well. I interview well, it's just a matter of whether or not I'm worth taking a punt on. I'm wondering if me applying for a role that is a noticeable step down in pay and responsibility would be seen as a negative to them. Maybe? Maybe not?

Ah well. Oh shit my gaming pals almost completed a raid in Destiny 2 last night. I went in almost refusing to be involved because I was not in the mood for mechanics and people getting angry at each other, but it turned into just a barrel of laughs as we fumbled our way through everything. Got a couply hours of footage, gonna edit it down to highlight how we share one braincell when we get together. And we'll, hopefully, finish the damn thing this weekend.