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How much do you earn/should I earn?

Discussion in 'Serious' started by sotu1, 30 Apr 2013.

  1. sotu1

    sotu1 Ex-Modder

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    Hi guys,

    So I know this is a sensitive topic, but I'm in the middle of changing jobs and need a bit of a reality check on how much I should expect to be on.

    I live in London and have been working in a marketing role for a global company, and currently 27 years old. It's nothing crazy fancy but I'm comfortable. Wondering if anyone would be kind enough to suggest what my salary expectations should be? Especially if you're in a similar kind of role.

    Also, (I'm looking at the elders of the forum to help here) what's the highest I might expect to earn throughout my life if I continue on a steady career path?

    Thanks!
     
  2. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    London & marketing I'd expect to be on around £40k at 27.

    How much you earn in the future will very much depend on how far up the ladder you want to go and what type of marketing you do. Marketing directors for the biggest companies can expect to take home several hundred thousand a year. If you end up as marketing director for a smaller global firm I'd imagine you'll still be brushing £80k at the zenith of your career.

    Source: I also work in sales and marketing albeit for a family company, and I'm 4 years older than you.
     
  3. sotu1

    sotu1 Ex-Modder

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    Thanks for the input Shirty. Gotta say £40k seems ambitious?
     
  4. longweight

    longweight Possibly Longbeard.

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    How long have you been doing it and what is your title?

    40k isn't ambitious at 27 if you have worked your way up.
     
  5. sotu1

    sotu1 Ex-Modder

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    I've been in the industry for 3 years (graduated when I was 23/24). Maybe I should be aiming a bit higher....
     
  6. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    There was no science behind my figure, I just took what I earn, added a bit of "London weighting" and a small amount extra to differentiate between the fact that I work for a business which is likely to have a much smaller turnover than yours.

    Ultimately businesses tend to pay in line with the value that you are perceived to bring to the role. If you generate a clear and healthy revenue stream which is easily attributable to your own work then you are likely to command a higher salary.

    Don't lose heart if you're not quite where you want to be yet, 3 years isn't a long time and assuming you earn over £30k you're probably sitting where a lot of other relatively recent graduates are.
     
  7. PabloFunky

    PabloFunky What's a Dremel?

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    40K

    LOL
     
  8. longweight

    longweight Possibly Longbeard.

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    Why is that funny?
     
  9. Ending Credits

    Ending Credits Bunned

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    Interesting fact: family businesses actually make more profit than their public counterparts on average.

    Although I get your point that it's a small business, although youd be surprised by how many large businesses are family managed/owned.
     
  10. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    Bloody is. Medical Registrars earn less. So does a newly qualified Clinical Psychologist with two university degrees.
     
  11. Weekly_Estimate

    Weekly_Estimate Random bird noises.

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    never enough
     
    Last edited: 1 May 2013
  12. sp4nky

    sp4nky BF3: Aardfrith WoT: McGubbins

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    £40k is around the figure that Principal Economists earn in the Civil Service. If you get a good economics degree, join the fast stream, you can expect to get that grade in 4-7 years after university.
     
  13. longweight

    longweight Possibly Longbeard.

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    That doesn't say much though, if you are skilled in a private sector industry then I don't think that it is out of reach.
     
  14. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    For those who think £40k is a lot of money, they don't expect you to just turn up every day and sit on your arse posting on Bit-tech :)worried:), they expect to see results and a large degree of autonomy. I agree that £40k after 3 years is pretty ambitious and I gave that figure without knowing how long sotu1 had been working in his role, so based it on 6 years of experience.

    I'm not sure the private and public sectors are directly comparable.

    If in doubt, find your favourite job site and filter on jobs over £35k - there are lots out there. Another good site for working out whether you are on the right money as a graduate is Prospects. It's still relevant if you don't have a degree of course, but if you have a degree that is relevant to your chosen career path you are likely to start a fair bit higher.

    Case in point.

    Now I have a Philosophy degree which is worth precisely nothing to me, and worse still it is still costing me the best part of £150 out of my monthly take home pay to clear the sodding loan. As I believe Nexxo said in another thread recently, don't go to university unless you are hell bent on a specific vocation that requires it.
     
  15. Scroome

    Scroome Modder

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    Not at all.

    The banking sector offers far higher salaries, for example.

    Like I explained in the Social Club, when I was recruited, the agency (which only arranged the interview and put me forward for the role) made 7k commission.

    I'm 29 this year and earn enough to pay a large portion of my salary at 40% tax, which is never fun.
     
  16. whisperwolf

    whisperwolf What's a Dremel?

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    Yes the banking sector will have much higher pay scales, however need to remember that the average pay for the UK is around £27k currently and for every one person paying large amounts of their salary into 40% tax bands there are a mass of people on 15k a year.
    Our company recently shifted a whole bunch of marketing people in a location shift. It's large global company, most of the roles were band 9 giving a pay scale of 23k to 33k, with our current pay scale rises and if you had started at the bottom of the band I'd expect 25k to 27k. This, it should be noted is not Londonised, and this is the basic/middle roles in the marketing department, if you were a brand marketing manager you would be up to a band 11 or 12 and therefore up a fair bit in the pay scale. Conversely if you were the person in charge of getting the coffee and photocopying you'd be a band 7 and on a lot less.
    With just "a Marketing role" to go on its a bit vague and leads to a wide scale of what you could be doing. I confidently predict you could be earning between 15k and 50k,
     
  17. Porkins' Wingman

    Porkins' Wingman Can't touch this

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    The way you've phrased the question makes it sound like it's an ego issue as much as anything. Ignore what others are on and concentrate on what value you bring to your organisation and negotiate a fair cut based on that.
     
  18. bdigital

    bdigital Is re-building his PC again

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    Rather than concentrating on your total salary, consider whether you are in a position to save money, or pay off a monthly mortgage?

    Getting on that property ladder would be my number target if your not already on it.
     
  19. longweight

    longweight Possibly Longbeard.

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    That does depend on where you live and how long you will be there, for me it isn't worth buying in my area at the moment as the prices aren't going up enough to cover the moving costs.
     
  20. bdigital

    bdigital Is re-building his PC again

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    I think it would definatly be worth it regardless of the increase in value. I would rather pay a monthly cost that in part is given back to me when i leave (however long im there) rather than just give it away.

    Bearing in mind that property is reasonably low right now it can only go up however slow.

    Money is no good in a bank at the moment.
     
    Last edited: 1 May 2013

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