Salary Story: I Got Promoted At A Christmas Party

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Age: 32
Location: London, UK
Current industry and job title: Commercial manager in the tech/recruitment industry
Current salary: £66,000 (inc. 20% bonus) plus shares currently worth £5,200
Number of years employed since school or university: 10

Starting salary and year: £7 p/h in 2011
Biggest salary jump: From £45,300 to £56,500 in 2020
Biggest salary drop: Not happened yet

Biggest negotiation regret: When I started at my current company I was desperate to leave my previous, very toxic job and I didn't properly research market averages for the role I was applying for. The salary was wide open and I could definitely have negotiated a higher starting salary and bonus but at the time I was so overjoyed to be moving that it didn't seem like a priority. I was also at the time under the impression that negotiating on salary was a no-go and was nervous at the thought of doing so. I've since discovered that this is extremely common in younger female professionals and safe to say I would have no such qualms in the future!

Best salary advice: Know your worth, quantify the value you add, use your leverage and do your research. You should be keeping a record of your achievements and accomplishments on an ongoing basis, making sure that these are at the forefront of decision-makers' minds and that you can succinctly detail what you have been doing and how this has improved outcomes. Your line manager will have a difficult time turning down a £5,000 pay rise if you can demonstrate how you've saved the company £50,000 or won contracts generating £1 million of new business. You will need to do this for performance reviews anyway but really it should be something you track and update regularly – it's so useful on a personal level to look back on and a record of your demonstrable contributions will be invaluable for salary negotiations. It's also great for a pick-me-up on those days where you're facing impostor syndrome or need a little ego boost.

It can feel so obnoxious to promote your own success and shout about your achievements but you need to fly that flag high – trust me, nobody is going to do it for you and your manager won't know what you're up to half the time. Shout it from the rooftops!