How to double your salary
When you work as an employee, you’re essentially selling your time and skills. This is a business transaction like any other, where both parties try to get the best deal they can. You want to get paid as much as possible but your employer wants to give you the bare minimum.
In 2008, I got my first job as a Trainee Analyst Programmer. My starting salary was £17,000 and I was quite pleased with this given the state of the economy at the time. The company was going through a hectic time. Very disruptive changes required extensive support from the IT team, which was suffering from lack of resources. I was asked to offer a levels of service that would not usually be expected of a trainee and luckily for them, I was able to deliver. I won’t go into the boring details but for going ‘above and beyond’ my salary was increased to £25,000 after six months. After another six months, I was promoted. I basically did the same job but I dropped the ‘trainee’ status. At this point, my salary was increased to £28,000. The following year was quiet with nothing particularly interesting happening at work. I received a cost of living increase which increased my salary to £28,840. This year, my basic salary was increased to £30,000. At this time, I was told that I’m “on a path” or something equally obtuse. Reading between the lines, I think I’ll be promoted to Senior in 12 months time if I decide to stay with the company. I’ve also received £3,000 in bonuses this year and get paid for some extra support work so my total earnings this year from work are about £35,000.
I’m happy to say that I’ve doubled my salary in three easy years.
So why have they been so happy to throw money at me?
The following article covers my four tips for improving your salary, all taken from my practical experience over the last few years.
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Darwin's MoneyMay 3, 2011 at 7:30 pm
The thing I’ve seen as most effective (which I can’t pull off with my personal situation) is to simply jump jobs every couple years, even if it requires moving. It’s a mathematical certainty that as long as you’re marketable, there will always be a higher paying opportunity elsewhere through a headhunter, networking or Linkedin or whatever. I get the calls now and then but I’m not interested in moving.
AshMay 3, 2011 at 7:49 pmAuthor
You’re right. A lot of people have difficulty giving up an easy situation though, myself included. I need to be more disciplined. When I’ve got slightly less going on in my personal life, I’ll look around for a pay rise…honest!
LaTishaOctober 17, 2011 at 11:49 am
Great job! There’s no substitute for hard work and you were justly rewarded.
AshOctober 17, 2011 at 8:49 pmAuthor
Thank you very much LaTisha. I returned to work today after a week off so I was a bit grumpy. This comment cheered me up
Peter JonassonMay 25, 2012 at 11:03 am
In a way, you have put yourself in a strong position from day 1. You are not indispensible to the company but if they had to replace you it would really cost them. When I worked in banking I always made sure that I engineered a situation where I could to a certain extent call the shots when it came to salary reviews, promotions etc.
Well done. Keep up the good work