Salary Story I Dropped My Modesty & Now I Earn £75k

Illustrated by Vero Romero.

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: 27
Location: London
Current industry and job title: Risk manager, financial services
Current salary: £75,000
Number of years employed since school or university: Six

Starting salary: £35,000 in 2015
Biggest salary jump: £57,000 to £75,000 in 2021
Biggest salary drop: Nothing so far (lucky me!)

Biggest negotiation regret: A couple of years ago when I was promoted, my salary did not increase as much as I had expected. Though I was disappointed, I did not negotiate anything as I was not ready to change job because of visa restrictions. Thinking back now, I should have at least spoken up about how I felt but the insecurity in me left me vulnerable back then.

Best salary advice: When negotiating for a new job, you should think about other benefits outside of the salary to take into account whether the offer is really worth it. A lot of firms now provide flexible working arrangements and additional health benefits for their employees which were probably not available a year ago, pre-pandemic. So what does it mean to you if you are taking a new role?