Why my salary is ridiculously low for a London-based management consultancy role in the energy sector?

[MellowAquaBalonz]

"Why is my salary so low? Navigating Underpayment in London’s Energy Consultancy Sector"
Despite ticking all the "right boxes"—a Master's degree in Economics, solid Big Four experience, Russell Group credentials, and meaningful internships in top asset management firms—I find myself feeling shortchanged. Working in London’s buzzing energy consultancy sector, where job descriptions promise competitive packages, my current salary feels far from competitive.
Conversations with peers reveal a frustrating discrepancy: colleagues with comparable or even less experience are earning notably more. London living costs are relentless, and what initially seemed like a promising career move now feels disappointing and undervalued.
I’ve been wondering: is my situation unique? Perhaps I undersold myself in initial negotiations or underestimated market standards. Or maybe this consultancy simply isn’t aligned with typical industry compensation.
So, what's the right approach? Do I initiate a conversation about salary expectations, start exploring new opportunities, or is there a hidden factor at play that justifies this pay gap?
Navigating salary expectations, especially in a high-cost, high-stakes city like London, can feel isolating. I'd love to hear from others—have you experienced similar frustrations, and how did you address being undervalued at work?

You may get more of an answer if you post on fishbowl tbh

Your opening was a bit long - is this a small org? What role are you actually in - selling / delivery?

Mainly - salary is what they are willing to offer, how about speaking with a headhunter and moving if you feel shortchanged, or did you get hired in at the wrong level?

More directly - what is “ridiculously low”?

AI?

Well for a start, you don't seem to be able to string a sentence together without using ChatGPT, so I'm not sure how much value you are bringing...?

Wait until you have a chance to demonstrate your value with your employer - 6 months or a year, depending on what you do, and then pitch for a pay rise. Be ready to justify your request.

Also keep an eye on jobs vacant in your sector, at the same level of experience. How does your pay compare?

In the end "a Master's degree in Economics, solid Big Four experience, Russell Group credentials, and meaningful internships in top asset management firms" all mean nothing at all unless you can deliver a return on your salary, for your company."

Your qualifications got you your current salary, now you need to prove you are worth it

What's your salary? It's hard to judge if your salary is ridiculously low or not, and what conversation you should have about it, without a ballpark figure

You've posted a lot today OP. You're a grad, who struggles how to navigate office etiquette and not been there 2 years yet, right? As a grad, despite excellent qualifications on paper, you're not actually able to deliver any value just yet. They are paying you £40k a year to train you up.

You sound like AI. Not saying you are, but reads that way.

I started my career as an economist in consulting over 30 years ago. The salary was surprisingly low given the job. However by the end of the first year it had more than doubled.

Why have you used chatgtp for this

You have only just started. Your qualifications don't earn you a good salary, being a valuable employee does. Work on that.

Your incoherent OP has just demonstrated to all and sundry why your salary is so low.

If that's how you write, look up the Peter Principle - it will explain things.

I'm a heavy user of chatGPT professionally but unfortunately your OP demonstrates why so many people hate it. It's very difficult to reply to although I can't fully articulate why. I guess because it's so obvious that it isn't actually written by a human.

What is your salary?

Are you a grad or near to that level (per other comments) If so what kind of ‘solid’ big 4 experience could you possibly have? The masters is irrelevant if you can’t deliver. Ive worked with published phds who earnt less than me. If you haven’t been there 2 years, focus more on what you are delivering for them than what they are paying you. What was your performance review like? When did you last ask for feedback? If it helps, mentally write your cv- how will you be able to describe your current tasks on it to look good? Do them that way so if it doesn’t work out there at least you’ve beefed up the cv.

Lay off the artificial intelligence, focus on meaningfully connecting with people using your own thoughts and words, and rest assured that you're at the beginning of your career.

"I can't fully articulate why"

Neither can the OP.

How on earth can we advise if you don't tell us your salary?

I don't know but salaries generally reflect the market rate, and/or your ability to make or save a company money. Not qualifications after a point. Try moving companies?

40k for training post??
Bloody hell

Using ai for a mumsnet post? 🫣

Develop some confidence by relying on your own skills and by learning new ones. This will reflect in your behaviour. Lay off the ai, it's rendering everything soulless, corporate and impersonal.

Giving the OP the benefit of the doubt and hoping that this hasn't been written by AI, my thoughts are that in another thread today have said that you have only recently started this graduate role and are struggling with how to interact with more senior staff so I'm not quite sure what all the internships and solid Big4 experience but you also mention is all about? If you have actual Big4 experience then why are you only now in a grad role? Yes you have a decent degree from a good university but so does every other graduate in this, or any other consulting company – it's the minimum requirement!

If you are not being paid appropriately, then you either failed to do any research before joining to establish what the baseline salary for this role should be, or you are being paid appropriate to your level of experience but other people may just have negotiated harder or be working in a more niche area.

Difficult to advise more appropriately as you have given very little information in your post on this or other threads, but assuming that you have only recently joined the company, then your actual value is very little while you are in a training period. Get your head down and learn all about your role, only when you start adding value and contributing to the bottom line should you think about asking for pay increases. It's not clear what size of company you are working in but if it has a formal graduate program, then presumably there are fixed timescales for salary increases and markers which you need to hit in order to benefit from those?