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?

My ds just lives at home with us now but his work colleagues who don't have the privilege of living with their parents survived quite fine. Some lived with romantic partners. Others with flatmates they became friends with. Yes this was outside of London in a much cheaper area. He's now received a pay award and has moved back in with us and saves so much money as he's transferred back to the London office.

Tripled? To £80k? You don’t even know how much experience the OP has as a solicitor. Even in London, mid-level salaries at top firms are £60k - not £80k 😂😂😂

You don’t have to answer this, of course, but are you working at the moment? If so, could you stay in your current role? Do you need to move roles?

I’m working and I’m going to stay in my current role at the moment, and to be honest I think I’m going to leave law for something else. Unless you hit partner (which is increasingly hard with the nature of businesses these days, and even then, usually yields under £50k), it’s just not worth it.

its just sickening. It’s gone from going to uni, working hard and making a career in order to buy a house, and having a family, to doing the same thing for a flat share with multiple other people. What’s the point

Sorry to hear you’re thinking of leaving law. Hope your job search goes well. Wishing you all the best.

That’s pathetic. It’s what lots of qualified profesionals earn as a first grad job though so I guess it depends… is it your first ever job? Is it a good firm? Can you quickly earn up?

That salary does seem low but presumably if that’s the rate they are paying and they are able to recruit suitably qualified people they won’t pay any more. AI is going to decimate lower level legal jobs so even jobs at this salary may not be around for much longer. I really fear for young people with good degrees and debt unable to find anything let alone professional jobs.

Did you ask what other benefits were included with the job, because these can add up

Hoe much they contribute to a work pension ?

Free parking or transport ?

Free BUPA or gym membership ?

How much paid holiday, sick pay ?

Other benefits ?

5 interviews is a lot of time & effort to not
know the salary & T&Cs of the job

You could take the job for a couple of years, then move to another company ?

I was expecting another "I was offered 125K, a mere 20K increase for manging two extra people" type thread but no.
That pay is absolutely rubbish considering the interview process alone.

Sorry seen you’ve said it’s not a grad job. Yes it’s an insult for an experienced person. That’s less than a manager in a shop earns. It’s less than I earned as a junior reporter and journalism is terribly underpaid.

Retailer head offices have internal legal.departments which might pay better if you have any nearby and have. A better work.life balance with more normal hours

I would not go for an interview unless I knew the salary bracket offered. Certainly not 5 interviews!

Do you currently live in a flat share, if you don’t mind me asking? It sounds like you’re quite surprised that most young single people in big UK cities live in flatshares, or studios with shared bathrooms, but that’s the way it’s been for at least the last 10 years - especially in London and the SE.

100% a red flag, trust me. I once applied for a permanent job, only for it to be revealed after a successful day of recruitment, that the job was a fixed term contract. Nowhere was this indicated on the job spec. I gave up a day's work to go through the recruitment process and was very disappointed. I turned it down as I was already employed in a permanent role. I've learnt to steer well clear of organisations that are not transparent.

That’s crazy! I assumed that it would be good money.

Why didn’t you ask about the rate before interviewing? Hours and pay would be my first question before applying for any position.

It certainly makes me think I can’t advise my dc to go to uni to get better career prospects. I can only say go to uni in order to go to uni.

If I were younger I would look to move away, Europe or Australia or Asia. What’s the point in this country, as OP says? Impossible to make progress with any of the traditional life stages, because you can’t afford any of them. Bad enough for us, we work hard and a few years back had a decent standard of living with savings, but now we can’t put anything aside, we barely get to the end of the month, despite cutting back and back at the supermarket and other areas.

Jesus, that's appalling.

I've worked for 5 law firms and am in a low cost of living area, and earn £75k in a support role.

I've got lots of experience, but no official professional qualifications.

Sadly, I think it’s the same situation re career prospects and standard of living in most other European/Asian countries as well as in Australia/Nz, Canada and the US.

Agree with this. Yes in London and large regional firms solicitors can make a lot of money. But in smaller firms the pay is often not great, isn’t the average salary for solicitors outside of London only about 45k?
Also the area of law makes a huge difference. Family law and conveyancing, wills and probate tend to pay considerably less. When I qualified my pay was poor but I looked at it as an opportunity to work hard and prove my worth. I think you have to be prepared to do that at the start of your career. Also it isn’t a companies fault the cost of living has gone crazy, they will be making far less money too.

Yes- I left law college in the early 90's and most people lived in flat shares. There was never the expectation to buy a house straight out of uni!

Same. Not to do the whole "When i was a kid i walked to school in my bare feet", but when I left uni in 2006, friends in London were getting a 1 bed flat, with one couple in the bedroom, and 1 couple in the living room, in zone 2.

I made more than that as a solicitor's clerk (outside London).

I can see that being disappointing after such a lengthily interview process. But I find your ‘what’s the point’ attitude a bit ‘woe is me’. I graduated 25 years ago and all of my peers lived in flat shares for a good few years, either until they moved in with their partners , or their salaries had increased, or their parents gave them money for a flat deposit!

You haven’t given us enough information. It sounds a bit low but it all depends on: your PQE; type and size of firm; what area of law you will be doing etc. If you really are a solicitor, you would know that this is critical information.