Salary Story: I Got A 17k Pay Rise By Changing Industry

Illustrated by Other Maria.

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: 26
Location: London
Current industry and job title: Senior performance marketing manager in tech
Current salary: £60,000
Number of years employed since school or university: 4.5

Starting salary: £19,000 in 2017
Biggest salary jump: £30,000 to £47,000 in 2020
Biggest salary drop: N/A

Biggest negotiation regret: I was desperate to have something confirmed after uni so I took the first offer I got with absolutely no negotiation. I even had a few more interviews coming up but cancelled them and ended up super broke for my first year in London.

Best salary advice: If you're working in a role which exists in a lot of industries, consider overall pay as well as your passions. I might not be an engineer but working in tech means they pull my pay up.