Working your way up - Junior to Senior

LloydChristmas

I am wondering if it is a common issue that people have gone through. I was hired as a Junior 3 years ago and now their is a prospect of being made Senior in my position.

My problem is my salary has not increased at the same level. I am still earning approx. 30k which I know is at least 15k less than what a senior position should earn.

If I am made senior, the most they would offer is 5K increase I am guessing which still leaves me being hard done by.

What should I do? Refuse the position and look elsewhere?

Bandana boy

I would take the position and negotiate as much money as you can from them.
Then start to look elsewhere ,you will find that your negotiating power for a new role will be stronger if you are on better money now and have a title that is higher.

Now what do you base your opinion of what a "senior" position should be earning ?

Unless you can get some other company to pay that higher figure then that is not what you are worth ,it is common that people who progress through the ranks earn less than people coming from outside.
The reality is it costs more to attract talent than too retain.

tony81

I HATE places which put this artificial construct of junior/senior in place.

Quite often a senior is the person who doesn't document things properly, wouldn't get a fraction of their salary in another company, but has been around for ages and gets on well with the manager.

The reason your salary has not increased is probably because there are pay freezes in place and no doubt there's a queue of people who would be only too happy to work your job. If you are actually indispensable you should try to find another job that pays more then ask your employer to match it.

areyawell

LloydChristmas wrote: »

I am wondering if it is a common issue that people have gone through. I was hired as a Junior 3 years ago and now their is a prospect of being made Senior in my position.

My problem is my salary has not increased at the same level. I am still earning approx. 30k which I know is at least 15k less than what a senior position should earn.

If I am made senior, the most they would offer is 5K increase I am guessing which still leaves me being hard done by.

What should I do? Refuse the position and look elsewhere?

Your deluded!

tony81

areyawell wrote: »

Your deluded!

That's a really stupid thing to say. The op didn't give any details regarding eduction, work experience or qualifications so you really can't make a statement like that.

However, LloydChristmas, try not to worry what other people in the company earn. Instead, find a job either internally or externally that pays you as much as possible. That's your actual market value!

jimmycrackcorm

I find that if you what to maximize salary then you have to move jobs. No company would barely consider such an excessive raise for 30 to 45, however another company would evaluate based on experience and pay accordingly.

On the other hand 3 years doesn't necessarily a senior make.

Stheno

Bandana boy wrote: »

I would take the position and negotiate as much money as you can from them.
Then start to look elsewhere ,you will find that your negotiating power for a new role will be stronger if you are on better money now and have a title that is higher.

Now what do you base your opinion of what a "senior" position should be earning ?

Unless you can get some other company to pay that higher figure then that is not what you are worth ,it is common that people who progress through the ranks earn less than people coming from outside.
The reality is it costs more to attract talent than too retain.

I'd take this approach too.

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

I find that if you what to maximize salary then you have to move jobs. No company would barely consider such an excessive raise for 30 to 45, however another company would evaluate based on experience and pay accordingly.

On the other hand 3 years doesn't necessarily a senior make.

Agreed, this has been my experience, best way to really jump up the seniority/experience ladder is to move company

LloydChristmas

Thanks for the replies folks. I think you have echoed my feelings all along that it is really necessary to leave a company to get more money and responsibilty. Possibly returning in a few years on more money higher position. In fact, it is a well known fact that many people do this in my current company.

While I dont like chopping and changing between jobs, I also dont like getting stale