To think this salary is an insult?

[FlyingSolo16]

I’m a solicitor and recently interviewed for a position. Five rounds of interview, meetings with different people within the firm, etc etc.

Get to the offer stage and the “competitive salary” they’re offering was £27,500 a year. AIBU or is that an insult?

Five rounds of interviews for that???

Is that a junior role in a prestigious place?? If yes, maybe other benefits but otherwise :/ :/ :/

I thought a new law xame in a few months back that says, a company is no longer allowed to ask you what you currentlt earn and that they have to advertise the salary range.

You get £14 an hour working in Aldi so yes what they are offering is a joke.

I do think it's harder for young people nowadays than it was when I was young (and I worry about my daughter who is struggling to get onto the housing ladder).

But I also think your expectations are high. When I left uni my first job paid around £4500 and my first house cost £18,000 - so that's what, about 4 x salary. BUT, crucially, I didn't do it alone, I was newly married so had a husband who was sharing the costs. And yes money was tight for the first few years.

I think young people nowadays have higher expectations about what they want from life ... and I'm not saying that's a bad thing at all.

Surely you stated your salary expectations at outset or asked for the range? Otherwise you’re just open to wasting your time (and potentially theirs). How many years experience do you have? What area of law? I work with many in-house cooperate finance lawyers earning 100-200k but those fresh out of uni aren’t on that. Conveyance not so much.

Wow, I hope you laughed in their face, OP.

I'm a paralegal in a part of the country where wages aren't particularly high, and I earn more than that.

I haven’t read the full thread OP, but my advice is to engage with a reputable and experienced local legal recruitment consultant. Seek advice from them on the gojng local rates for newly qualified lawyers. Ask them to put you forward for suitable roles and to check the salary band is appropriate in advance.
I wouldn’t expect more than two rounds of interview to be honest for smaller firms. Five rounds for such a low salary is an absolute joke!

That is shocking. Im a senior legal cashier and earn more than that!

It’s horrible. I have every empathy with you. I started nq at 30k plus bonus and literally left there for a job just over 50k and now hit 75k. I moved around and progressed from 30k to 75k in under 5 years. It is doable. I won’t progress much further now though as I am regional. That first job is just hard to get.

According to Co-pilot a NQ solicitor in a small firm will earn between 25-35k. I agree after all that training the starting rate should be a lot higher than 25k, but it can’t be compared to a retail worker as some have. A retail worker won’t go up (apart from annual pay rises) if they stay doing the same level. Yours will go up significantly over the years as you get more experienced

That just doesn't make sense because their charge out rate is going to be minimum £100 per hour. Are you sure it wasn't a typo and was meant to be £72,500 rather than £27,500?

Yes the salary is insulting and absurd. I qualified almost 30 years ago in a small firm on £36k.

My PA earns more than double what you have been offered. I suspect you could earn more than £27k as a paralegal while you look for an NQ role.

Oh well it doesn't look like they pay their staff fairly. You can negotiate but I would thanks but no thanks.

Or you can provide 27.5 grands worth of work whcih sounds like about 3 days a week.

Solicitors don't get paid the rate the firm charges for their work.

Totally not unreasonable. That is not much more than minimum wage….unless it’s part time and comes with bonuses or something. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I wouldn't quit law over this, just shop around a bit and don't go into interviews without knowing the salary range. I qualified on 34k in 2022 which quickly went up to 39k. Moved firms and jumped to 45k. Now 3pqe and on 48. I work in a small, affordable city and my firm is a regional one but not huge. The partners in my firm definitely earn 100k upwards I imagine, definitely not 50k like you have said.

Ridiculous… Companies should also be upfront about the scale of remuneration package to avoid wasting applicants’ and their own time…

This seems like a very low salary and doesn’t reflect the time you have spent in 3rd level education

Can’t help but agree when there are people who don’t work and get plenty of help into a house if they have children

Dd1 decided to move to an entirely different industry. One of her uni friends is on 6 figures (they are just turned 30) but gives her life and soul for it and is considering leaving.

Youngest dd is doing a between university and Masters job and is on 23.5. No experience.

Don't teach. It's rubbish now!!

Suggest take the job but look for something else.

My DGD is 18 and has gone from school to a trainee post in a Solicitors currently working in the accounting team and she is on that salary.

Appalling salary given the training that is required.

Money certainly isn’t everything but as a mum of teens I would not encourage them to go to uni to only earn this at the end.

Totally sympathise. But although you have completed your articles, you’re still learning the ropes, so to speak? Most qualified solicitors start to earn more quite quickly I would imagine. PS. In This Life’s ( such as fab series and I was a bit in love with Davenport) London flat share they were all qualified; Anna was a barrister.

That said, my son was represented by a criminal legal aid solicitor recently, and a legal aid barrister, and they were both absolutely shite, both incompetent and careless. But then I looked at what a legal aid solicitor usually earns in the provinces, and it’s not very much. So that’s a lot of work, and a lot of hassle, for not very much money. Though you do get status and kudos of course. Also I suppose some of the work is interesting.

Five rounds of interview sounds insane, for that amount of money.

That's mad for a full time solicitor?! I thought a starting salary for one would be more than that? Is it legal aid only?