to ask if you think this salary is reasonable or am I being greedy?

[bkyegres]

I qualified as a solicitor in 2016, so I’m around 7 years pqe. I’m paid 62k in Bham, commercial rather than private client work. I’ve only just paid off my student loan last year and honestly I feel like the firm are taking the piss… all the studying and expense feels ridiculous to be seven years on and barely over 50k. Obviously I know what some other firms pay and I can look into it further with recruiters but I am starting to wonder if you have to join a new company for any decent pay these days?! I could have skipped uni and worked my way up to this salary by now so it all seems a bit pointless.

Yes that’s rubbish. They are paying you that because they can get away with it. Go to a reputable recruiter and get yourself a proper paying job.

Probably not unless you choose another profession (such as the one the OP is in) and retrain, no.

Do you think other women should get paid less than market rate so teachers don't feel so bad about their poor life choices?

But this is surely not relevant to OPs question at all. Our public sector are paid terribly, why should that make us want to drag down everyone else to the same wages though!

Op I work in a related field and think you're slightly underpaid tbh might be worth looking into other options

Well as he is Head of Corporate I beg to differ 🤣

The average salary in the UK is, I think, £31k, so I think you're being dramatic. Also why ask Mumsnet? Look on Glassdoor/recruiters/other practices.

Depends what type of firm you are at. That is an NQ salary for the top City firms in the regions so it does seem a little low to me. And yes you do need to move to get paid properly.

Sorry my last comment was to this comment.

Well as he is Head of Corporate at his firm I beg to differ. 🤣

Nhs staff are seriously underpaid, thank you for all you do!

Rubbish. If only life were so fair that we always get paid just what we’re worth.

See poster above who went from £55k to £80k.

Well, career average defined benefit. Great isn't it?

You haven't read the whole thread have you. She isn't being dramatic when she is underpaid for the role she has in the region she is in.

Tech/IT?

I am early 30's, not in London, have no degree, earn approx £75k as a lead business analyst for a FinTech ... Most of my colleague are in the same position i.e no degree, although a lot of the junior BA's are graduates.

That was attempted to be a reply to a previous post but the reply didn't work!

My son is in Tech Recruitment. I suspect it may have been me you were answering. (When he was 25 was on £100k but more now as now doing same job in the US).

Oh dear. I’d hardly say educating children is a ‘poor life choice’.

If you went into teaching thinking you'd be earning a high salary, you don't sound smart enough to be teaching children.

And if you went into teaching knowing you'd get paid a lot less than if you became a solicitor and are now on Mumsnet moaning that solicitors get paid more than you, it sounds like you don't feel it was worth it. So yes, poor life choice.

Me neither. But then again I also never criticise people for wanting to be paid market rate for their job.

And I do agree there are some sectors which are massively underpaid for what they do but people do have a choice whether to choose those as their profession knowing their likely pay if they do. Further the law firms fully want their pounds of flesh for that pay.

Senior nurse here for a charity 23 years experience i earn 38k

In professional services you are absolutely paid what you’re worth.

Cool?

@SeasonFinale I don't quite understand, genuinely. For most jobs not needing further quals she's v well paid, as evident by average UK pay. For a solicitor - I don't know. She's not provided enough context as to her field/CV/region etc and I honestly couldn't say I know enough about overall pay in law to comment. It's like me saying "is this XXX good for my job" when there's so many external factors at play.

It’s not terrible but not brilliant either. In my experience yes you need to either move firms or at least threaten to leave to get a decent pay rise in private practice. I know NQs in Birmingham on similar wages to you but they are at top tier firms and have very little in way of work life balance so really depends what you’re prepared to sacrifice! I was at a regional firm until recently, 10 years PQE on £55k in a commercial role. I am aware this was very low but I had a nice boss & reasonable work life balance so I stayed for that reason whilst kids were young. I’ve since moved and had a £30k plus pay rise as a result!

I’m a senior scientist with a BSc and MSc. My salary has just gone up to £33.5k. Do I think I’m underpaid? Yes! Do I think the OP, earning almost double what I do, is underpaid? Yes! It sounds like they could be earning much more elsewhere.

Always worth talking to recruiters and looking at other jobs - you’ll either find something that pays more, or you’ll discover your salary is about right and your mind will be put at rest/you’ll start working out what you need to do to earn more.

Well it may not be as great as final salary. But still a lot better than defined contribution. And if your salary just upon qualifying is 40K... https://g.co/kgs/qrMXmb

Even for a career average it's going to be decent, isn't it? What other professions are you comparing it to, in thinking that it's a raw deal?

Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge your earnings. I think using 'blue collar' is an excuse is silly though. It used to mean manual labour which is low paid. But the trades are raking it in.

People are wondering what all the strikes are about, and where their ticket money is going, when you earn that much. That's probably more of the issue.

Depends what your point of comparison is.

It may be that within your profession it's low, as others have said. I can't comment on that.

What I do know is that I have an Oxbridge degree and a national profile. The highest salary I've ever had was £46k, which felt like a fortune (admittedly living outside London). £62k feels eye-wateringly high to me.

Nothing wrong with being paid an appropriate income for your work, and having parity with colleagues. But beware of measuring your value, status or contentment by your income.