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Salary Story: Contracting Made Me £100,000
Salary Story: Contracting Made Me £100,000

Refinery29

timea day ago

  • Business
  • Refinery29

Salary Story: Contracting Made Me £100,000

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: 33 Location: London Current industry and job title: Manager, civil service Current salary: £72,500 Number of years employed since school or university: Nine Starting salary: £26,000 Biggest salary drop: From £100,000 to £36,000. Biggest salary jump: From £50,000 to £100,000. Biggest negotiation regret: I'm usually very good at negotiating, but it had been a while since I've had to negotiate remuneration, so I was a bit rusty when it came to ones of my roles. When they offered me £55,000 I was a bit disappointed, as I was expecting over £60,000. However, I couldn't remember if there had been a salary range shown on the role description (I had applied for so many roles!) nor could I remember what I had written down in the application. I didn't want to appear difficult, so I only asked for an additional £2,500. They readily agreed, which was great, but once I started the role I saw the salary band for this position was 52,500 - 80,000. I had been offered right at the lower end! I had taken a big pay cut for this role (from £90,000) due to other benefits it would bring, but I was frustrated that I hadn't stood my ground and asked for my original amount. In hindsight, I would have asked more questions, including the salary band for the role, and used that to inform my negotiation. Because I didn't want to cause a fuss, I ended up hurting myself in the long run. Best salary advice: Be bold and honest about your salary expectations. It can feel uncomfortable talking about or asking for money. We may feel like we are being difficult or shallow to do so. However, it is important to recognise that money is not dirty, and neither is asking for it. When you remember that, it can feel easier to do the research and ask the questions that support negotiating pay. Let's hope that I too follow this advice! First Job: Analyst Salary: £26,000 Year: 2016 I was offered a graduate consultant role after an internship at one of the big four professional services firms. However, I ended up returning to university to undertake my Honours degree (a post-grad degree in New Zealand). Even though the firm didn't think I should go back, I really wanted to pursue my business studies more, so I ended up postponing the graduate position. But after my degree, I turned down the graduate role. I didn't think consulting aligned to my goals and I was also unimpressed with the pay offer of £21,000. I pivoted focus to the public sector and applied for civil services positions; eventually landing a role as an analyst. I was happily surprised with the £26,000 salary offered, especially as most people I knew were on quite a bit less in their first professional role. I don't think I negotiated my salary; at that time, I'm not even sure I knew that I could negotiate my salary! Job Charge: Advisor Salary: £32,000 Year: 2017 In 2017, I quit my job and moved overseas to travel and volunteer with refugees for a year. It was an eye opening experience, and one in which my privilege (especially my passport privilege) was starkly obvious. Upon my return, I began applying for civil service positions. Even though I was worried about applying for a role after a year of no paid employment, it turned out that my overseas experience was seen as a strength and gave me a lot of great examples for interview questions. I was offered a junior advisor role at a government department for £1,250 less than the midpoint advertised. Although I was nervous to negotiate, this was a junior role and as I had previous experience, I asked for the mid-point rate of £32,500. The manager agreed to it without trying to renegotiate, however, later she told me that she had been a bit shocked and impressed that I'd negotiated. She wasn't used to it. I learnt then that if you don't ask, you won't get. Job Change: Advisor Salary: £40,000 Year: 2018 After six months, I was already bored at the role I was in (it was glorified admin) so I ended up looking for jobs on the side. I had a friend in another government department who told me they were looking for advisors in her wider team. I had always been envious of her role; she worked in an area that directly helped underserved communities and her work was very rewarding, so I jumped at the opportunity to apply. I had a great interview, and once again my overseas experience seemed to be greatly valued. I felt confident after the interview and prepared for a potential offer. I wanted £40,000; I knew this was likely ambitious, but I believed that I had the skills needed for the role and wanted to back myself. I did end up getting the call saying they wanted me. They asked for my expected remuneration, which I didn't provide. I had been told not to give the first offer, as it anchors the negotiation. I didn't want to risk asking for less than they'd offer. They ended up offering me £37,500; less than I wanted. I was nervous but determined to negotiate, and tried to ask for more, but the nerves and guilt meant that I struggled to get the amount out in a clear way. The manager could tell I was struggling and came right out and asked if I would like £40,000 (she knew what I was trying to do). I gratefully agreed. To this day, I'm amazed that she did this. This manager taught me that it is my right to negotiate and I should not feel guilty for it. To this day she's one of the best managers I've had. Promotion: Senior Advisor Salary: £45,000 Year: 2019 I was undertaking senior advisor-level work in the team from early 2019 and although I hadn't been in the team that long, I believed that I deserved a promotion. Looking back, I also think I was comparing myself to others my age and felt pressure for how far along they were in their career. This put a fire under my ass to get there faster, so I approached my manager and negotiated a promotion for later in the year dependent on delivering an ambitious project. Six months later I successfully delivered the project (the most rewarding and challenging project I've done to this day), and I was granted the promotion and a raise. I tried to negotiate more than the £45,000 offered, but I was declined and told that it would be discussed at a later time. I remember feeling disappointed, as I was expecting £50,000 (I knew others with similar experience were earning that), and no timeline was given so I knew it was unlikely to happen soon. One thing that was known in the civil service is that being promoted internally usually results in less of a pay rise than moving to another department, and to me this was an example of that. Soon after the promotion, I quit my job. You can probably tell already, but I get bored easily and was no longer feeling as challenged in my role as I previously was. Side note, I realised I probably have ADHD (hence the getting bored easily and jumping around) and have been on a waitlist for an assessment ever since. Salary: £50,000 Year: 2020 COVID hit in early 2020 and my plans came to a grinding halt. I'd sold my house and quit my job, but then the country shut down, so I moved in with my parents. After a couple of months with no work and no surety about when borders would open, I started looking for jobs. I ended up talking to an ex-colleague in my previous team who mentioned they were looking for a senior advisor. I decided to apply and managed to negotiate a £5,000 pay rise from the £45,000 I had been on (so I ended up on the £50,000 there after all!). It felt odd moving back into the team (a lot had changed in a few months due to COVID), but it was also oddly comforting not having to learn the ropes like you usually need to in a new workplace. Job Change: Lead Advisor Salary: £100,000 Year: 2021 Being back in my previous role was good for many reasons, notably, I got to work with great people and helped finish off a project that I cared for. However, I never quite settled in. When 2021 rolled around, I talked to a recruiter about the potential of becoming a contractor. I knew I wanted to move overseas at some point, and the flexibility and better pay of contracting appealed to me. I ended up finding a contract as a Lead Advisor in a government department. The role was a promotion and was offering the equivalent of £100,000! I was initially hesitant to go for it, as I knew it would be a huge challenge, and as a contractor you don't get a 'settling in' period, you have to be able to hit the ground running and know what you're doing, and if not, you can be let go with little to no notice (one of the downsides of contracting). I was worried that I wouldn't be able to perform. My friends and family eventually persuaded me to go for it, so I did. I was surprised, excited (and let's be honest, terrified) when they offered it to me. It turned out to be an incredible experience; I truly thrived in the more senior position and I proved to myself that I am capable of a lot more than I believed. I also loved the pay, who wouldn't! Job Change: Manager Salary: £36,000 Year: 2023 I dabbled in some self-employment. It provided a lot of flexibility, but I found myself working a lot more hours for a lot less pay (about £17,000). My financial reality became stressful and I had to lean on my partner every now and then. Eventually the stress got too much, and I ended up looking for paid positions. I ended up being offered a fixed term contract in a charity for £36,000. I was shocked at the low pay, but after six months of infrequent pay through self employment, it seemed like a better option. Unfortunately, the charity had set pay bands and no room for negotiation. About six months into the role, I was called by a recruiter who I'd previously given my details to. They told me they had contract opportunities in the civil service and asked if I was interested. I was torn, because the role I was in had great opportunities for skill enhancement, but the pay wasn't sufficient to help me reach my goals of early retirement in my 40s. So I decided to leave if the right contract role came up. I felt really bad about this, as I hadn't been in the manager role that long, but I knew that I had to choose what was right for me. Job Change: Senior Advisor Salary: £90,000 Year: 2023 I was soon offered a contract position in a government department. The six month contract role came with a significant pay increase, which I was very excited about. The six month contract ended up getting extended another three months before coming to an end. Job Change: Manager Salary: £57,500 Year: 2024 My contract was close to finishing and I was keeping my eye out for new roles. Although I liked the flexibility and pay of contracting, I was worried that eventually I'd be out of work for a long time. I looked for permanent opportunities and eventually found a great role in the financial services sector. I was offered £52,500, but my homework showed that I should expect £60,000. Usually I would have negotiated for that amount, but I was a bit rusty and for the first time it wasn't the person I would be working for calling me to make the offer, it was HR. I felt a bit thrown trying to negotiate with HR, so I ended up asking for £57,500, which they accepted straight away. Looking back I wish I asked for more, but I understand why it felt uncomfortable. About eight months into this role, I had a conversation with my manager laying out the reasons for why I deserved a raise. They asked me to make a business case and the comparative examples I gave were between £70,000-80,000 (I'd since found that the same role in the industry, and similar roles in my organisation, were paid much higher than me). Four months later I still hadn't heard the outcome of this potential raise. However, I did have a chat with a senior leader who asked where I wanted to be in five to 10 years and was very surprised when I said 'retired'. Maybe it's a bit shocking to admit this at work, especially at my age, but I'm an honest person, and I don't see myself in the typical 9-5 past this point. I used to be so attached to "climbing the ladder", but I don't care about that anymore and just want the freedom to live life as I choose. Job Change: Manager Salary: £72,500 Year: 2025 Whilst I was waiting on the outcome for my pay increase, my manager approached me about a new opportunity in a different team. I hadn't been actively looking for a new role, but this opening did align much more with my interests. So I applied for the position and ended up getting it. When originally asked in the application how much I wanted, I said between £75,000 and £85,000 (less than the top of the band). They offered me £70k, which I was quite disappointed by as it was near the bottom of the band, and with my experience I shouldn't be near the bottom. I was able to negotiate to £72,500. They appeared hesitant to negotiate and pleaded budget pressures, although why put a higher rate up if it wasn't available? Once again, I think internal hires are at a disadvantage when negotiating pay. This rate was still not where I wanted it to be, but I decided that the role provided opportunities to upskill in new areas, so it was worth the trade off. In good news though, whilst applying for this role, my pay increase request for the role I was in got approved at £65,000, and was backdated a few months! I've now been in the new role for a couple of months, there's a lot to learn, which I'm enjoying, and I hope it will keep me engaged for a longer time than normal. I'm setting my sights high for a promotion within the next 24 months, where my goal is to reach £100,000. This will help me get to early retirement sooner. Although, who knows what will happen next. One thing that is obvious: I like change!

The great thrift valley: How the Northeast became India's style underground
The great thrift valley: How the Northeast became India's style underground

Time of India

time3 days ago

  • Business
  • Time of India

The great thrift valley: How the Northeast became India's style underground

LINE FROM MANIPUR Live Events NE LINE TO MAINLAND (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Online thrift is not for the faint of heart. In the fastest-fingers-first world, you have to call dibs on an item the moment it is released on the Gram. The drop is announced via Stories. You set the alarm, turn on notifications and still you might miss what you had set your heart on after seeing it in a sneak-peek. There are no pre-bookings and no favourites. But that is the thrill of thrifting—the one that got thrifting—a common term for buying second-hand, preloved goods—gains traction in India, the Northeast is emerging as the hub. A lack of retail shops in the past has created a culture of thrift in northeastern states where secondhand goods arrive in bales. Add to this their unique sense of style— and urban audiences in the rest of the country can't get enough of thrift lines from the north eastern states have secondhand markets—from Fancy Bazaar in Guwahati and Police Bazaar in Shillong to Bara Bazaar in Aizawl, Sunday second-hand market in Imphal and Hong Kong market in Dimapur Manipur-based Ngahon Tungshangnao , who set up his store Mirinwon in 2019, says it takes days to find the right products. He visits every thrift store in his hometown Ukhrul and travels to Imphal city and even other states to source. The clothing usually arrives in bales of 80-100 kg. 'I do drops twice or thrice a week on Instagram , sourcing items according to the seasons.'Tungshangnao, who loves his bucolic life with a side of high fashion, says it is convenient to start an online thrift store in the Northeast , but it has not been easy of late. 'Political instability poses challenges. And the internet gets banned whenever there's a riot. With no private couriers, one can't make quick deliveries either,' he Rachel Gwanile Thong started her store Assortments2.0 in 2016. 'I began by selling pieces from my wardrobe that I didn't wear anymore. To my surprise, people were interested. That encouraged me to start thrifting and sourcing pieces,' she says, adding that the interest has only grown of who runs the operation with her partner Limatenzuk Ozukum, sources everything from Nagaland—mainly Kohima and Dimapur. 'In the early days, I used to go around second-hand shops and dig through everything myself. Now, we have vendors who give us a heads-up when they open a new batch and we get the first pick. We source in bulk,' says says logistics is a challenge, but her customers have come to realise that quick shipping and fast deliveries are not possible from does two-three drops a week. 'I don't always follow themes, unless I happen to have a good collection of similar pieces. Otherwise, it's more of a 'what caught my eye' approach,' she contrast, Folkpants, run by the sisters Linno and Lumri Jajo, from Ukhrul, puts out thematic drops. Lumri Jajo says thrifting was a natural progression of their love for clothes and fashion. 'During college, we organised successful garage sales at our home in Delhi,' she says they observed a lack of quality and unique clothes at affordable prices for conscious consumers. As they sourced for their personal wear, they decided to curate items that didn't fit their style but were too good to pass up. Folkpants has recently done an all white edit for summer, a linen edit and even a vest edit. Jajo says, 'There are many thrift shops but some sell cheap items without quality or authenticity, while others have high prices but less curated selections. We stand out by offering quality products at reasonable prices.'With thrift shops launching on Instagram on a daily basis, curation, quality control and deliverables are the way risk analyst Aparna Balaji has thrifted from shops in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, and says they understand the meaning of thrifting. 'They carefully choose the pieces they put up. So, it's unique. It is sent through India Post , making it even lighter on the pocket and truly sustainable, what thrifting is meant to be,' says bag designer Sudha Sekhar has faced some issues. 'I am particular about the cut and fabric. These pages mostly get products from East Asian countries that almost always have smaller sizes. But some experiences have been good, like my footwear picks. I have been wearing some for three years,' she says. An abundance of polyester also bothers Shaingam Mashangva who runs The Mellow Lane says she tries to curate according to her clientele. 'One needs to really do some homework for the business to thrive. Understanding the customer's choice is very important. Since 90% of my clients are from places that are hot and humid, I mostly source comfortable natural materials,' says Mashangva, a physics teacher-turned-thrift business says sourcing good pieces has become tough: 'Sometimes after going through 1,000-3,000 items, we end up with just 40-90 good pieces.' She does a drop of 20-25 pieces. She sells 30-50% of clothes on the day of the drop but ends up with a lot of unsold items, which are put on sale after a couple of says, 'When you are selecting from 100 kg bales, you end up with a lot of defective pieces.' Most thrift shops, while selling items, mention even a small defect in products and that is reflected in the owners confirm demand from the mainland. Thong, who is a lawyer, says that even though Assortments2.0 is a side hustle, she has seen steady growth and strong support over the years. 'With more people embracing sustainable fashion, we are seriously thinking of scaling this into something bigger, hopefully a full-fledged brand.' Most of her buyers—from teens to people in their 40s and 50s—are from metro Tungshangnao started Mirinwon as a side hustle, but now it's a full-time business, thanks to the growing demand. He says, 'Thrifting has become cool. My consumers are from all over India, and they are 18 to 45 year olds.'Yet challenges remain. Mashangva says that each year the price of thrifted clothes is increasing as bad-quality thrift bales make it harder to get good pieces: 'While it's easy to set up an online thrift store, it is difficult to build followers because of the Instagram algorithm. And the number of followers matters a lot for this business.'Jajo says that whether the thrift stores will succeed depends on the individuals running it. 'We started small but have grown into a sustainable business over the past six years. Demand and growth have been steady, with 80% customers returning.' Jajo says many find the process of searching for unique items interior designer Lorraine Kerr told The Cut in 2013 on why she thrifts: 'The chase is the most fun part…. It's about the hunting and gathering!' The thrill of discovery is just a fingertip away.

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