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.
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Age: 27 Location: London Current industry and job title: Senior project scheduler, health Current salary: £143,000 Number of years employed since school or university: Eight Starting salary: £22,000 Biggest salary jump: From £47,000 to £104,000 in 2023. Biggest salary drop: From £36,000 to £22,000 in 2019.
Biggest negotiation regret: When speaking to recruiters I’d sometimes let them reduce my desired day rate when I knew it wasn’t what I wanted. I guess you’d call it imposter syndrome. I was scared to say my worth outright in case it put them off. That led to me almost accepting a role at the same rate as the job I was leaving! Never again. Know your worth and add tax.
Best salary advice: Don’t be afraid to take contract roles! Everyone seems to be scared about the “lack of security” but what is job security nowadays? Your permanent job could let you go at any time. At least you’ll be prepared and be well compensated if you contract.
The same day I interviewed for this role, I was offered another role with a £24,000 salary. They wanted an immediate response as to whether I was going to accept the role so I had to take a leap of faith. I turned down the role and knew I’d have to give it my all to secure the project support role — and it worked! The salary was set at £150 per day, which I was happy with — it was a big difference from the previous offer. Plus weekly pay.This was a promotion…allegedly. I was unable to negotiate the salary and holiday was allocated based on managers’ preferences.
After working as bank staff for four years while completing my studies, I was forced to take a permanent role as they were phasing out bank staff (we were making more money than permanent staff). This meant guaranteed shifts but a salary reduction of £14,000. I left three months later. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do career-wise but I knew it wasn’t that!
I left my previous job as the environment became extremely toxic. After one week of working in this new role, whispers of COVID reached my boss and we were made to work from home before the rest of the country. I lost my job a few weeks after that due to business slowing down. I enjoyed this role, although it only lasted two months!After being out of work for eight months, I managed to land this contract. It felt good to be doing something directly to help the general public in relation to the pandemic. As the world started to open back up, I began thinking about my next steps and a career path as I knew this job was temporary.This offer came out of the blue. After being out of work for the majority of the pandemic, I had been offered a job paying £24,000 and given a deadline of 12 p.m. that day to accept. However, I also had an interview at 12 p.m. for this new role. I was hesitant but desperate for work, plus I had wanted to get into project management for so long so I decided to take a leap of faith again. The interview went well as I had relevant experience and transferable skills, and I bagged the contract paying £39,000.I had been offered two extensions to my previous contract, however they were starting to request that we return to the office five days a week. I wasn’t willing to do so and decided to see what else was out there. I heard about this role but I wasn’t interested initially as the salary jump wasn’t big enough. But I was told the company would negotiate for the right candidate. They were pleased with my relevant experience and achievements. I interviewed while sick with COVID and received the offer the next day (my birthday!). I was able to negotiate my rate to £180 p/d, which is £47,000, fully remote.I loved my previous role but unfortunately they couldn’t afford to extend my contract due to budget issues. I was informed of a public sector role, interviewed at 4 p.m. and received the offer at 8 a.m. the next morning.
I didn’t negotiate the rate as I was in shock that they felt I was worthy of such a salary (imposter syndrome AGAIN), regardless I was extremely happy with it. I manifested this salary at the start of the year and I’d got it! I never thought I’d go from £150 p/d (£39,000) to £400 p/d (£104,000) in the space of a year, especially at my age. I stayed in this role until the end of the financial year. Unfortunately, the new budget meant that they weren’t able to afford contingent labour from April.
Thankfully I landed another contract role that was fully remote. The only downside was I had to wait for security clearance. I ended up waiting four months for my clearance and used the time to travel and freelance. My journey as a contractor has been unpredictable but I wouldn’t change it for the world. No risk, no reward I say.
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