Salary Story: I Fought For A Pay Rise For 6 Months

Illustrated by Vivienne Shao.

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: Digital marketing lead, retail
Current salary: £45,000
Number of years employed since school or university: Eight
Starting salary: £21,000
Biggest salary jump: From £33,000 to £40,000 in 2021. I jumped from the charity sector to working for a huge supermarket and it changed the whole game for me.
Biggest salary drop: N/A

Biggest negotiation regret: My manager (who was paid £40,000) went on a six-month sabbatical and I stepped up to cover his role but my salary was only bumped up to £30,000 from £28,000. I was fuming but didn't negotiate hard enough. I started a dialogue with HR that lasted six months and after a while it left a really bitter taste in my mouth. I then took action by sending directly to HR a job specification for a similar role within the NHS that was paying £8,000 more. Within one day they'd changed my salary to be a few grand more (but still didn't match the NHS salary or my manager's salary, whose job I was essentially doing). I should have taken action sooner but it's very tough negotiating salaries in the charity sector.

Best salary advice: When there's a pay band and you're offered a salary that's in the middle, always ask for the top end. It means they have it in budget and can pay you that if they really want you. As someone who has hired people, I've always offered mid-band and the employees have accepted. But if they'd asked for more, I would have said yes!