Salary Story: I Feared That If I Negotiated, I’d Lose The Job Offer
In our series Salary Stories, women with long-term career experience open up about the most intimate details of their jobs: compensation. It’s an honest look at how real people navigate the complicated world of negotiating, raises, promotions and job loss, with the hope it will give young women more insight into how to advocate for themselves — and maybe take a few risks along the way.
Been in the workforce for at least five years and interested in contributing your salary story? Submit your information here.Published stories receive £100.
Age: 30 Location: Fleet, Hampshire Current industry and job title: Paid media manager, marketing Current salary: £40,000 Number of years employed since school or university: Nine
Starting salary: £14,000 in 2015 Biggest salary jump: From £32,000 to £40,000 in 2022. Biggest salary drop: N/A
Biggest negotiation regret: Not negotiating my salary in my first role. I was earning £3,000 less than a colleague who had less experience and no degree (even though degree didn’t matter to the role) because I had accepted what was offered and not negotiated like they had.
Best salary advice: If you think you’re underpaid, look on recruitment websites to get an average salary for your job title in your area and take it to your management to discuss getting an increase.
It was the second job I interviewed for after I moved home from university. I didn’t negotiate at all, and the benefits were the bare minimum.This was an internal change. I moved from the customer service department to the marketing department when a role opened up. I didn’t negotiate here either, as I had no previous experience in marketing so didn’t feel I could.This was a promotion from assistant to executive after a few years of working in the same role. I was running the B2C email marketing at that point, all while dealing with a family emergency but still managing to maintain high praise from other departments.This was a raise in the annual salary review. Despite receiving more money and the percentage increase being quite high, I pointed out to my employer that the total yearly salary was much lower than the market average. I also received one additional day of holiday. I left my previous company. I moved from an in-house position to a small agency which had slightly higher average salaries. After three months at the company, the previous post holder left and I was promoted. After learning all the basics, I was able to draw from previous experience to progress quickly. I went from an agency to a fashion company in London. As it was a new industry I didn’t negotiate a higher salary.I went to an agency in London. I negotiated from £35,000 to £40,000 as the role was in high demand and I was choosing between two companies that had both offered me a role, so I felt confident asking for more money.
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