Do you think I am underpaid? PhD from Cambridge

[Ramphamosa]

I’m 29. I’ve got a PhD from Cambridge in a STEM subject. 1st class undergraduate from Oxford.

I work for one of the big four. I earn about £58k a year in London. I work 9am-8pm most days. Get very little bonus.

I know it sounds like a decent salary, but I honestly thought I’d earn a lot more than I do. Big 4 was my fall back choice.

It's market forces.

If you aren't happy with your pay, then you need to do something about it - whether that is moving job, getting promoted to the next level, whatever.

Assuming you graduated int he last two years and haven’t made it to your first choice you’re effectively sitting where most oxbridge grads are at 22.

Unless they joined California tech or big consulting / law almost all of my friends with good Oxbridge degrees and financial aspirations started about there - and did a couple of years of 60 plus hour weeks before they made the first big jump. Very few people in the 250-500k bracket before early 30s - and they had, almost without exception, been working for 7-9 years for that. You need to demonstrate your worth to an organisation and / or build your network.

Most people hit their big earning jumps in late 30s and 40s. You have effectively taken an academic pause in career earnings. It would have been super hard to go back to do that afterwards - be patient!

I work in consultancy, a different industry, and we so often get the perpetual students who have 2 degrees, a Masters, and a PhD, and are demanding to go into a role on a huge salary.

I'm afraid not - Your experience is what will earn you earn you the big bucks. Spending 10 years as a student doesn't impress most employers.

This is slightly out of date but salaries have not moved on that much. It is a run down of Oxford graduate salaries, including postgraduate leavers. It shows quite clearly that you are not earning what the average 22 year old is, and that the average salaries for postgrad earnings are highly skewed by the MBAs etc (who are often people who have gone back to academia with some work experience already under their belt).

Oxford graduates' work is "meaningful and important" to them | Oxford University Careers Service

Research shows that those with PhDs earn less than those without. The highest paying level of education is an undergraduate degree - once you reach that, more qualifications don't equate to higher salary (at a population level) it's all work experience or on the job training.

I'm a similar age to you, undergraduate degree but not Oxbridge, and earn just shy of 100k. I went into grad work straight after my degree age 21.

I think PhDs will definitely slow down your career - so I'm not surprised your salary is on the low side for your industry and age

You're doing great and amazingly well so please don't feel bad about yourself.

However, I do agree with previous posters comments.

1. A PhD does not necessarily add value "in itself".

1. Non-white people, women, minority groups are often encouraged to get more and more qualifications (especially £££ costly ones) and then seeing a white bloke who knows the boss suddenly be launched past them when it comes to the big jobs and promotions.

1. It often is down to your face fitting the culture of the team or organisation.

1. Be prepared to switch directions. If you're somewhere for 2 years plus, often you're seen as the reliable workhorse and there's no interest in moving you up.

1. Random idea. With your kick ass qualifications, you're basically the IDEAL private tutor.

People pay a lot extra for Oxford and Cambridge and PhD so go straight in at a higher hourly rate (£70 plus an hour).

There's no start up costs as you work on Zoom and just independently research how to do it.

That might not be what you want to do longer term, but for money that could subsidise you if you wanted to think about switching directions (and you could do it from a beach in Bali).

I'd actually think about something like getting a professional life or career coach or counsellor to help you a bit.

Just having a PhD from Cambridge doesn't mean you should earn more than anyone else tbh.A PhD isn't really worth the paper it's written on in most jobs - not unless you go into archeology or something incredibly competitive and niche.

Sounds about right for big 4. Assume if you want more you would need to go to an investment bank or do your own business. Big 4 won’t make you loads until you get quite high up.

Non-white people, women, minority groups are often encouraged to get more and more qualifications (especially £££ costly ones) and then seeing a white bloke who knows the boss suddenly be launched past them when it comes to the big jobs and promotions.
@Quiltedvelvet so true

while a salary of £58k is respectable, especially for someone working in London within the Big Four, it may not fully reflect the potential earning power of someone with a first-class degree from Oxford and a PhD from Cambridge in a STEM subject. When factoring in long hours and limited bonuses, combined with the opportunity cost of not pursuing higher-paying industries, the individual may indeed feel underpaid relative to their qualifications and workload.
Recommendations

1. Explore Internal Promotion: Seek clarity on the career trajectory within the Big Four and consider pushing for promotions or transfers to higher-paying divisions such as M&A advisory, technology consulting, or risk advisory.
2. Consider External Opportunities: Given the individual’s academic pedigree and STEM background, exploring roles in higher-paying sectors such as fintech, investment banking, or technology could yield significantly higher compensation and potentially a better work-life balance.
3. Negotiate Bonus Structure: Engage with management on the possibility of improving performance-based bonuses or other compensation incentives.
4. Reassess Work-Life Balance: If compensation does not improve, and the long hours continue, consider whether the prestige of working at the Big Four outweighs personal job satisfaction and financial expectations.

Ah, ChatGPT, how kind of you to join us.

@MetalGearSystem Is this the advice from ChatGPT? 😆. If so not bad actually. (light hearted - sorry if you wrote this by hand!)

Xpost @HarrietBond 😂

Big 4 and the consultancies all have standard salary grades. So basically it really all depends on when you graduated and what role you are in ie progression opportunities. The hours are just standard for these firms. You don't get paid overtime and you won't get any extra kudos for working hard.

You've described it as a numerate and coding type role, that won't necessarily get you climbing up the ladder. Often in these type of firms it is the consultants in sales etc who are bringing in new revenue.

The question I have is not are you being paid enough but are you progressing compare to your peers? What is the expectation in terms of future salary .. some roles are relatively lower starting but then ratchet up after. Are you happy and enjoying it? Have you looked elsewhere and compared the job market? If you're not getting promoted and it's a typically how they increase salaries then usually you're better jumping to another one rather than staying put.

btw I spent 25 years in this environment - now happily exited into a normal job!

It's very, very obviously GenAI-generated. It's okayish advice, if generic, because that's what a GenAI does.

i wrote the draft and used Grammarly to improve the structure , spelling ect as i have dyslexia and adhd

yet made it through a degree, thank goodness for computer assistance

In that case, you need to tone down the AI usage and just use it to correct your spelling, because this is not written like any actual human writes.

much appricated, its a mix at times as i need it detailed to help the op's question but not too little detailed that im just saying pickles so to speak

Most jobs in academia (high level) require a PhD. In all my working life (scientific research, publishing) the vast majority of people have PhDs and having so puts them on a certain starting salary.

Granted, this isn't 'most jobs', but it's certainly a significant number and not terribly competitive or niche (nor well paid!).

PhDs are everything in certain sectors - academe, scientific research, some medical fields etc but in business while, impressive, it’s kind of irrelevant to your career.

Indeed. I was responding to the 'not worth the paper it's written on' remark.
I accept that OP works for one of the big four so the remark was in the context of that.
I just felt it was a bit dismissive.

Honestly, about 20 years ago in my late 20s was earning about that at a large corp. I did have a professional qualification but I did that whilst working so I had 3 more years work experience than you so maybe it nets out. But, that said, I had a child by that point and had deliberately not gone for promotion and there were people younger than me who were a level up by then earning into the £60ks. I don’t think a phd probably would have gained you anything tbh, it would be similar to a 3 year professional qualification.

I disagree unless maybe you are talking small companies. Nowadays the promotion process in my experience is very regimented. I worked somewhere where you had to get people to sponsor your promotion, you had to interview and then it went to a panel. It was very formalised and people raised grievances if they felt it had been unfair. I have never been encouraged to get unnecessary qualifications at my own expense, has anyone else? I have never heard of that.

I thought Coding was very well paid. £58k is good, but I'd expect a phd coder to earn more. Do the big 4 not suggest qualifications and promotions to climb higher. You do say you have no qualifications, so you certainly aren't an ACA qualified accountant. What was the dream job? Can you get back on track to that?