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.

Bullshit

Research aside, there are roles available to people with biomed/medical sciences degree with/without PhD where you could easily be earning 100k plus after 7 years.

I think you are probably a little underpaid. If you'd have asked me to guess your salary, I'd have said £65-£70k, but you dont really make the big bucks in law until you make partner. Any prospects there?

I also think, that you might find your job less secure than you think. Commercial law is well paid relative to other fields, and a major expense for companies. AI is coming, and there is a great deal of efficiency savings to be made. Routine work is going to be automated and I suspect a lot of law firms are going to find work drying up unless they stay on top of the curve.

The words "are you on glue?" spring to mind here.

These threads never go well.

Which is precisely the process the op is going through it seems to me. Precisely the same process of recognition that many perfectly capable people go through. And which represents the advice that she is receiving on here.

You could have given that advice yourself, but you preferred a put-down, which is why I responded. Just no need to be pointlessly negative and insulting.

I’m a qualified Specialist Dentist working in a busy NHS Dental Hospital. I have two degrees, an Msc, a diploma and over 10 years experience. I am on the junior doctors salary scheme (as a dental registrar), so my salary is less than 50K. No potential for a pay rise (so far) or a bonus as that doesn’t exist in the NHS.

I think you are being a) crazy if you think 62k isn’t much higher than 50k b) extremely naive if you think more qualifications > more pay. C) entitled that solicitors should automatically earn more than any other profession that requires qualifications

Not unheard of in companies such as Network Rail.

So do you think the OP should be happy to earn less than other people doing the same job as her at the same level and in the same location just to make you feel better?

Posting on mumsnet asking for career advice says a lot.

Which is a completely valid choice and makes the question void.

It's one of the things that contributes to the pay gap though.

Women ought to be encouraging each other to maximise their potential and get paid what they're worth, not telling lawyers to shut up and be grateful that they're not on a teacher's salary.

This may be the most ridiculous comment I’ve ever read. I really hope this thread opens your eyes because if you think £62k is mind bogglingly rich I can only imagine you are massively underpaid yourself and could do with a bit of financial education and confidence to look for more than £5ph or whatever it is you get.

Well it massively depends on the type of firm you’re at and what you specialise in. So without that context, no one can advise if your salary is appropriate.

I at no point said shut up and be thankful you aren’t on a teachers salary. That’s an utterly absurd argument. Why would someone working in private practice be on a teacher salary?! That’s like a minimum wage hospitality worker telling teachers to stop moaning it could be worse. It’s a ridiculous argument.

This thread is full of women who have chosen completely different professions telling the OP she's lucky to earn such a huge salary.

Why any of them think their contributions to this thread are relevant, I have no idea.

Asking MN this question is a waste of time- unless people replying are solicitors in Birmingham they’re unlikely to have a clue and you’ll just get a lot of pointless comparisons to other occupations.

Speak to someone in recruitment and get a proper idea of how your salary sits in the market. At 7y pqe you should also have an eye on partnership (not for now but in future). What do your prospects look like where you are? If you move this is something I’d want to know about your new firm- prospects for being made up, who would be ahead of you etc etc.

Also think about work-life balance. London salaries are much higher but my understanding is that regional hours can be more reasonable. Again, something to weigh in the balance.

How is your firm doing? Have you been negotiating raises as you go? What future do you think they see for you? 7y pqe is a really key time in your career- up or out, basically. If you’re not going up, might be time to get out.

I cannot fathom how small your world must be to think that a £62k salary is more money than anyone ought to earn

In every school, hospital, Surgery, supermarket, train station in the land, there are (several) people earning more than that

surely no one is that blinkered and small minded..?

I was not one of them.

I have a degree in science and make only over 33k...

It's not really about what career it is. It's that £62k is so high that no one really ought to be that rich. If it were an unusually difficult and important job such as heart surgery it might be arguably acceptable to pay someone such a huge sum, but this isn't such a role.

Good one, comrade.

4 legs good, 2 legs better.

barely over £50k? It's 24% more, maybe they're concerned about your lack of numerical ability.
No one here knows your skill set/area of law or the appropriate rates for your area - do some research instead of a random question on here. If you find similar jobs are attracting higher pay, either apply for them or use them as a negotiating tool.

Let's say it again for the people at the back - the whole world doesn't have to benchmark off of the NHS and teachers.

Thank you for your service etc. but your salaries are not the salaries from which all other salaries must be based. It's like the job equivalent of 'man here' on threads where noone asked for a man's opinion.

My DH has

Finance or banking.