ADVERTISEMENT

Salary Story: How I Made My Way From A Soul-Sucking Job To $92,000

ADVERTISEMENT
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 people 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.
Age: 30
Location: Newark, DE
Current industry and job title: Banking and finance industry, associate business analyst
Current salary: $92,000
Number of years employed since school or university: 8
Starting salary: $32,500 from 2015-2018
Biggest salary jump: $55,000 to $85,000 in 2022
Biggest salary drop: $50,000 to $45,000 in March 2020. My company was trying to “preserve cash” during the pandemic.
Biggest negotiation regret: When I was offered $85,000 for a marketing consulting job at a major bank in 2022, I didn’t negotiate at all because I had sticker shock as I was only making $55,000 at the time. Looking back and knowing what that position was paying at the company, I definitely could have gotten at least a little more.
Best salary advice: Try to negotiate! The worst they can say is no. Always strive for more and strive for better. Nobody is looking out for you the way you must look out for yourself.
ADVERTISEMENT

More from Work & Money

R29 Original Series

ADVERTISEMENT