Feel like I undersold myself

[Floofydawg]

I started a new job earlier this year after a period of unemployment following redundancy. At the time the job was advertised there was no salary range given. I was worried about going in too high so when they asked what I was looking for i went in 10% lower than my previous salary had been. I was offered the job after 3 interviews and they offered me the salary I asked for.

I'm now kicking myself as a colleague who does the same job has hinted at their salary and it's around 10% more than mine. Pay review is coming up early next year but I've been told that everyone just gets the same. There are no salary bands advertised so I don't know where I benchmark vs my peers.

I like the job but I can't shake the feeling that I'm being underpaid. How do I have that conversation with my boss? I'm probably only going to work another couple of years before retirement so I need to maximise my earnings while I can.

That's what I would do. Negotiate to align your salary with the one of your colleagues. If they refuse, start looking elsewhere

But the alternative (if they refuse to align your salary) is to stay there and be dissatisfied and resentful, and eventually demotivated. If you look for another job you can always ask about the conditions/flexibility and see if it's worth it.
Of course the plan A is to negotiate a pay rise.

Unfortunately you set yourself up to be undervalued by asking at 10% less than your previous role. So it's not your employer undervaluing you, you did that. So that's a learning. But moving forwards...
If it was me, at my next review I'd say that i love the role but I did join at 10% less than previous pay due to being so positive about joining. Now how can I explore ways to get to that level now that I've proved my worth.
For example can you move up within your band or to step into the next level up? What would need to happen for that rise to occur? They will have some ways of elevating individual salaries outside of across the board rises. That isn't a 'difficult situation' this is just you exploring how to progress or be rewarded at work - you need to reframe this from something negative/difficult to something positive that shows you are engaged with your progress.

@TwattergyI agree I've only got myself to blame, but I came from a position of being out of work and needing a job. But that's some good advice, thanks.

But they are not getting the same salary for the same work so that's nonsense. Is the person who is on more salary for the same job male or female?
You could ask at pay review that you'd like them to confirm you are paid equitably with others doing the same job ... as you would like to be treated fairly.

@ByQuaintAzureWaspthat's kinda my point. Same job, different salary. Of course it's a man.

I’m sorry but you need to own this rather than make out your a victim of discrimination because of your gender
it was a blank salary you asked for a figure and they paid it they didn’t barter you down .of course they had a salary in mind you basically didn’t negotiate or research the salary range
if you went to the shop and something was £10 you wouldn’t offer £12

going forward you need to put a case forward saying you undervalue yourself as you weren’t full aware of what was involved

plenty of people get paid different salaries for the same job we used to get 3,6or 9% rise depending on your personal objectives they set

this is on you and it up to you to see how you can change this but I wouldn’t go shouting discrimination

judging by the fact they don’t put salaries on job and it a negotiation plenty of people will be paid different salaries

@Floofydawg I think you have to chalk this one up to experience and suck it up. If you aren't prepared to move jobs and you like where you are, there isn't much you can do.

@rwalkeri am owning it, I know it's my fault for not going in higher. But I was unemployed at the time so it's a really difficult situation to be in when you don't want to risk not being considered for a role for the sake of £5k. When I was offered it I asked for info on the salary band so I could understand where they were placing me but I was told there are no salary bands.

I only stated it was a man as someone asked.

You might be right. I'll see what comes out of pay review.

PS @rwalkeri wasn't going to go into a work conversation shouting discrimination, I never said that.

I would also be careful about how you approach it. While I appreciate why you ended up in this situation, an employer might well see it that you don't understand your worth / liable to panic / some other detrimental view of why you didn't negotiate harder beforehand. None of which may be justified, but be wary of how you might be perceived.

The lesson I think, is that, should you find yourself in this predicament again, the sentence you need when asked is something like:
"I am more interested in the total package, so it is difficult to give you a base number without fully understanding all the benefits (leave allowance, flexible working, health care, equity, bonus, etc). I would be thinking in terms of a baseline around £x which could go up or down depending on the rest of the package."

That leaves room for you to get a feel for where their thinking is, tells them that you not only understand your worth, but also how the game is played, and doesn't box you into a corner. I know it doesn't help you now, but it might help someone else who is in a similar position to the one you were in, or even a future you.

@HappiestSleeping100% agree, however the application process required that I just put in a figure without the ability to add commentary. But yeah, lesson learned.