Salary Story: I Left My Dream Job For 50% Pay Increase

Illustration by Jessica Meyrick

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: 29
Location: London
Current industry and job title: Senior data consultant, public sector
Current salary: £67,000
Number of years employed since school or university: Seven

Starting salary: £28,000 in 2016
Biggest salary jump: £44,000 to £67,000 in 2023
Biggest salary drop: £48,000 to £35,000 in 2020

Biggest negotiation regret: I applied for a role, reached the final stage and the role was offered to another candidate. I was then offered a role a grade junior with verbal promises made that I’d be promoted quickly but, due to HR policies, I was not eligible for promotion for over a year.

Best salary advice: Negotiate — don’t be scared of losing a role, you’ve got a reasonable amount of power by the time a company has made an offer, as they don’t want to go back to recruiting! And negotiate even for what feels like a relatively small amount because in absolute terms its still not a lot. I negotiated an extra £2,000 on top of my current salary. I nearly didn’t, as it felt like a small amount compared to my overall salary. Then I realised that getting an extra £2,000 for a couple of phone calls was so worth it.