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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To be annoyed about this salary...

86 replies

damejudydench · 22/10/2013 22:34

I was approached by an agency today for a short term PA role. Job is for a FTSE 250 supporting the CEO, CFO and management team just outside London. It looks like a full on role and I have a LOT of experience at that level.

Salary is £22k.

I have just looked at the company's Annual Report and the top three directors earn a total in excess of £5m (including pensions and incentives).

I'm wondering just how much bigger the pay gap is going to get.

OP posts:

ilovesooty · 23/10/2013 20:47

My line manager is bricking himself at the possibility of my leaving damejudydench He doesn't think my particular skill set would be at all easy to replace.

I guess you can vote with your feet but it depends on what else is out there I could work for the Work Programme for less responsibility and quite a bit more money...but I love my company and my job.

However if I thought I'd earn enough from my self employment (private counselling practice) I'd have some tough choices. At the moment I have as many clients as I can cope with but I don't know if that would extend to 9-5 work.

It's all down to what your skills can command but in a recession it all gets very difficult.

Retroformica · 23/10/2013 20:51

Just tell them that you are intestered but the salary is far too low.

Original poster

damejudydench · 23/10/2013 20:55

Hmm... tough one.

Not many people love their jobs or their company though, ilovesooty.

OP posts:

Bumblequeen · 23/10/2013 20:57

In the organisation I work for, the Admin Officers are paid far more than that.

£22k is a very poor salary considering you will be supporting Directors in a large organisation.

ilovesooty · 23/10/2013 21:00

Not many people love their jobs or their company though, ilovesooty

Absolutely and I feel privileged to work where I do. However I do struggle when there are inconsistent applications of the pay policy...yes, it's a tough one as you say.

wukn80 · 23/10/2013 21:21

I'm really shocked at some of the comments saying they'd expect double that, £50k etc etc

Are market rates for average PAs really that high in that locale? (I can understand exceptional ones, as in any job, but not par for the course)

If so, I think I studied the wrong subject at uni, neither of us earn anywhere near that and spent years gaining the professional qualifications needed to undertake even a junior role in our careers.

So, I think YABU (yes, even if it's London!) and if they can get someone to do that role at that salary, fair enough. if they're a crap candidate but cheap and they do the job "good enough", maybe "good enough" is acceptable. if it's not, they'll soon find out and have to re-recruit, potentially increasing the salary to the next rung to get better candidates.

I also don't think comparing it against the Snr Manager salaries is helpful - you're talking about fundamentally different skillsets, different legal obligations and barriers to entry.

2468Motorway · 23/10/2013 21:48

I don't think its unreasonable to compare with the salaries of the senior management. In this case it merely confirms that it's likely to be a full on job for a skilled person.

People on here comparing it to teachers and other roles are not comparing like with like, in the PA world this job is more like a headteacher. It's senior and requires experience and a complex skill set. I'm not a PA btw).

DontmindifIdo · 23/10/2013 22:00

In my experience, if they are offering a part time PA role, they know they can get it experience for silly low money.

Tell the agency you aren't interested in roles paying below £40k (or whatever your interest level is). If they want to forward your CV to the company, it should be with the clear explaination that you are looking for closer to £40k for it. It might be handy for the agency to send your CV with that information, they can then compare the CVs of those who will work for £22k and they might realise if they want degree and experience, they need to pay the market rates, or they accept they aren't getting someone experienced/educated for that money.

TondelayoSchwarzkopf · 23/10/2013 22:40

A PA IS a professional role

Original poster

damejudydench · 23/10/2013 23:15

Of course it's a professional role.

There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about what PAs actually do. I've been known to be on the phone to my boss at midnight making changes to his schedule for the next day (because the company has hit the headlines as the share price has plunged) and in the office at 6am in preparation for making 500 people redundant across EMEA.

OP posts:

Isabelonatricycle · 23/10/2013 23:23

wukn80 this isn't an average PA job though. This is PA to the management team for a FTSE 250 company. Very different animals!

I agree that the salaries for said individuals is irrelevant, however, those figures should give an idea of the role and responsibilities their PA will have. Good PAs at the top end of companies will practically be running the organisation!

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