Salary Story: I Earn 49.5k Working 8 Years For Pay Rise

Illustrated by Xinyue Song.

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: 31
Location: Bedfordshire
Current industry and job title: Content marketing manager at US-based marketing agency (salary in USD)
Current salary: $65,000 (£49,500)
Number of years employed since school or university: 10

Starting salary and year: £18,000 in 2011
Biggest salary jump: From £25,000 to £35,000 in 2018
Biggest salary drop: From £23,600 to £0

Biggest negotiation regret: I wish I'd negotiated on benefits during my most recent job change. Joining an American company, they have much less annual leave than I'm used to and as I'm technically a contractor for them I don't get retirement contributions. I wish I'd pushed for extra pay in place of those benefits (especially as US teammates get 401k contributions).

Best salary advice: Offer to discuss your salary with teammates – especially if they're newer to the company than you (and coming up to pay review periods) or younger or less experienced than you.