Salary Story: Mentally Recovering From A Toxic Manager

Illustrated by Virginia Gabrielli.

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: Glasgow
Current industry and job title: Higher Education, Alumni Relations Officer
Current salary: £25,100
Number of years employed since school or university: Eight
Starting salary: £10.50 p/h
Biggest salary drop: From £18,600 to £13,000 in 2019.
Biggest salary jump: From £18,500 to £25,100 in 2023.

Biggest negotiation regret: Being a POC woman, negotiating is something we don’t tend to speak about and I honestly feel this has disadvantaged us in comparison to our peers. There was one occasion when I had a new role and my manager asked me to state my desired salary and reasons for it in an email. I remember feeling so out of my depth, so I replied by saying that I was happy to accept the minimum salary. It’s crazy when I think back at the lack of confidence I had then even when my employer was willing to negotiate!

Best salary advice: Always speak to others about salaries. One of the best things I did before I negotiated for my current role was speak to other people, specifically my POC female friends and acquaintances. When I spoke to white men in comparison, they had a completely different perspective where negotiating and asking for more was a given. It was an expected conversation. It feels a little embarrassing that it was only when I was 27 did I learn that you could negotiate salaries, but better late than never!