Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU about my salary?

159 replies

ArtemisOfOrtygia · 25/02/2020 07:50

I don't live in the UK, but my country is not too different so I think it's okay to ask the question here.

I always thought my salary is good, but lately I can't help but feel like, maybe, it isn't. But I compare my salary to other people's salary without taking into account that they might work more hours than I do. Anyway, I work 34.5 to 35 hours a week (Monday to Friday) and I earn about £37k annually. My salary increases annually with about £1.2k, and in 3 years time it'll increase by £1.2k PLUS about £4k annually. Making my annual salary £41k PLUS a yearly increase of about £1.2k.

I should probably also mention that I work in an NGO, so I probably don't earn as much as I could earn if I worked elsewhere.

OP posts:
itsnotmyparty · 25/02/2020 08:21

Is that correct in GBP? Or another currency??

JemimaPuddleCat · 25/02/2020 08:24

Do you still live in the Balkans? If so, you know that salary is well over average.

Especially when you have someone else paying all your bills and planning to retain your own salary for personal use only when you marry.

Yes, I did advance search your posts, as I normally do when someone seems goady

isabellerossignol · 25/02/2020 08:25

Seriously? I always thought your level of education is taken into account in the UK. I didn't know it's not.

It's obviously taken into account if there is something specific about the job that requires a particular level of education. So obviously a chartered accountant gets paid more than an accounts assistant for example. But if you're a chartered accountant and you've been made redundant and can't find a job so you take a job as an accounts assistant to tide you over until you find another accountant post, you don't get paid more than the accounts assistant sitting beside you just because you're a chartered accountant. Why would they? They're not asking you to be a chartered accountant, they're asking you to be an accounts assistant.

Rollercoaster1920 · 25/02/2020 08:25

Try glassdoor to see salaries for different job tiles companies and locations. I used it as evidence of my salary being way too low after a promotion.

ChasingRainbows19 · 25/02/2020 08:31

I'd take that and run! Plus bonus Regular pay rises that you don't have to fight for? I earn under £24k in the nhs and in April I get a pay rise which is about £350 for the year.
In my eyes that's a really good salary I could never dream of....

CloudsCanLookLikeSheep · 25/02/2020 08:31

Many employers will not offer much of a pay rise without an incentive (ie you resign and they counter offer) . One place I worked this was pretty much the only way to get a substantial pay rise.

twoheaped · 25/02/2020 08:32

Qualifications are taken into account in the UK @ArtemisOfOrtygia. If you choose to do a job that your qualification is not needed for, then you will not be renumerated for that qualification.

Bluewater1 · 25/02/2020 08:33

Very high salary for a receptionist if you are in the UK but you are elsewhere so I guess it depends on cost of living. My friend used to work in Hong Kong. They were on a salary much higher than it would have been if he was in the UK but the cost of living was much higher so it was relatively similar. I think your salary is high and you have good increments too

jellycatspyjamas · 25/02/2020 08:39

Uk full time is 40 hours a week

My current job full time hours are 35 hours a week, as was my last job. I can’t remeber the last time I was contracted to work a 40 hour week - I didn’t realise 35 hours wasn’t the norm for full time. You learn something every day Blush

Pukkatea · 25/02/2020 08:40

It's a bit strange that you don't know, OP. Why do you need people who don't know where you live or what the standard is in your country to tell you? I'm well aware of the salaries in my industry and how mine compares. Surely you know better than us what receptionists earn in your country?

My DM was an executive PA for a CEO and earned less than you. Also, in the UK, a pay rise of that amount every year is extremely unusual and certainly a 5k pay rise annually is unheard of.

In the UK you would be very well paid for those hours especially. If you're keen to earn more (you sound like you wonder if you're hard done by...) then can your BA and the translation work you do not lead to a more specialised and possibly higher paid role in that field?

Enchiladas · 25/02/2020 08:41

You work 35 hours as a receptionist for me £35k+?

I worked 40+ hours as a receptionist and administrator for living wage. Wow.

Enchiladas · 25/02/2020 08:41

*don't know where the 'me' came from

amusedbush · 25/02/2020 08:44

Uk full time is 40 hours a week

Every job I've had has been a 35 hour week.

Cheeseandwin5 · 25/02/2020 08:44

To answer your question, for a receptionist that would be a very good wage.
Although I don't know where or in what industry you work in , I would assume you are closer to be at the ceiling of what you could earn in as a receptionist.
If you want to make full use of your degree it might be worth looking for other opportunities though.

ErrolFinn · 25/02/2020 08:44

You earn more than I do as a Veterinary Surgeon...

HermanHermit · 25/02/2020 08:44

For a non profit organisation that’s a ludicrous salary for a receptionist. Your qualifications are only relevant if they’re relevant for the job. Plenty of bi/ trilingual people without the degree could do the largely unskilled job .

inwood · 25/02/2020 08:45

'Front of house' ie the receptionists in my office can earn around 40k

Hopeisnotastrategy · 25/02/2020 08:45

It’s relative to other people’s salaries where you live and the cost of living/ exchange rate there. Google the average salary in your country for men and women as a starting point.

DonKeyshot · 25/02/2020 08:46

If you're still living in the Balkans I very much doubt your living costs are anywhere near what they would be in London.

Rosalo · 25/02/2020 08:48

Where do you live?

Brefugee · 25/02/2020 08:48

Which country are you in OP? Usually you can do a search for salaries for the kind of work you do.

Yours seems very high for the job - unless it is very specialised.

theemmadilemma · 25/02/2020 08:49

Not all UK is 40 hrs. We have people on 35, 37.5 and 40hrs.

OP your salary is very good for a receptionist. You mention you do other tasks, so I'm guessing that's the reason for the higher than average salary.

How much does a Receptionist make in the United Kingdom?
The average salary for a Receptionist is £19,622 per year in the United Kingdom. Salary estimates are based on 18,464 salaries submitted anonymously to Indeed by Receptionist employees, users, and collected from past and present job advertisements on Indeed in the past 36 months. The typical tenure for a Receptionist is less than 1 year.

VisionQuest · 25/02/2020 08:50

Of course it's a good salary! 37k for 34.5 hrs a week as a receptionist?! Hell, sign me up. I'll happily retire as a lecturer on less than that!

Icecreamdiva · 25/02/2020 08:52

Even In London that would be good money for a receptionist I think. In other, less pricy areas it would be very high indeed.

curlsnotfrizz · 25/02/2020 08:52

that is about £31k and a very high salary for a receptionist. You would get half of that in the UK.

I also think your annual pay rise is amazing. I haven't had one in 3 years and this year, will get about 1% (which would be about 370 euro on your pay).

but then, all is relative. Unless we know where you live it's impossible to say but having friends and family in Germany and knowing a bit about wages in continental Europe, I would say you have it pretty well.