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How A 31-Year-Old Managing Director Quadrupled Her Salary in 9 Years

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Illustration by Abbie Winters
In our series My Salary Story, 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 eight years, and interested in contributing your salary story? Email us here.
Previously, we talked to a 29-year-old product manager who says she was denied a raise based on her age. Today, we hear from a 31-year-old managing director who worked for the same company on five different teams in four different countries.
Age: 31
Current Location: Manhattan, NY
Current Industry & Title: Managing Director, Private Wealth Management
Starting Salary: £34,000 base with £1,250 bonus (roughly $57,000 based on the exchange rate in 2009)
Current Salary: $285,000 ($235,000 base with $50,000 guaranteed minimum bonus)
Number Of Years Employed: 9
Biggest Salary Jump: $149,000 in base
Biggest Salary Drop: $0 (I never accepted jobs below current level.)
Biggest Salary Negotiation Regret: “Not negotiating when I transitioned from a graduate program, and believing HR when they said it was standard. There is always room for negotiation! Another hard lesson is overly trusting recruiters/hiring managers — everything needs to be on paper, or it won’t happen!”
Best Salary-Related Advice: “Always look at the job description and judge what it is worth, as opposed to looking at your current salary and calculating a percentage jump.”
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