been working as a marketing exec in london for 3 years now. my salary is £31k which seemed alright when i started but now i keep seeing job ads for literally the same requirements offering £27-29k. ive taken on way more responsibility than what was in my original job description…budget planning, client strategy, even training the new interns. every performance review ends with “well look at your salary next year” but surprise surprise, nothing ever actually changes.
i dont want to jump ship purely for money if im being unrealistic about whats out there, but im starting to wonder if im just undervaluing myself by staying put. for anyone else dealing with the UK job market rn: whats actually reasonable to expect for someone with 3 years experience in mid-level marketing?
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Everyone is underpaid but you’re never going to get a substantial pay increase without moving around multiple companies.
Go and interview for jobs elsewhere and push them to make salary offers without you having to tell them your current or expected salary. The figures you get will tell you what to expect and there might be room for a small upward negotiation on top of those offers.
Why in tarnation would you work in London for this joke wage?!
You’d earn more at Aldis ffs.
Jump now or move around roles, do not stay out of loyalty to a company or because the people that work there seem ‘nice’
I see this time and time again, people who stay in a role for 10+ years with barely covering inflation pay rises when if they had moved around within the company or left altogether they would be on substantially more money. If you stay too long, you become an underpaid expert in your area and the company are laughing all the way to the bank whilst they underpay you.
You don’t want to jump ship purely for money?
Fuck that. You’ve proved your value by going above and beyond. They either pay you appropriately, or you walk.
I’d dust off my CV and get cracking.
been there and part of my problem was i had zero clue how to argue for more money because i couldn’t explain what value i actually brought beyond “i work really hard.” my manager kept brushing off my requests and i was starting to think maybe i just wasn’t worth more. my mentor finally told me to stop guessing about my strengths and actually figure them out properly. did a bunch of career reflection stuff like cliftonstrengths …was okay, some personality tests, but what really helped was the pigment career assessment. a friend who’d gone through similar salary struggles recommended it after she used it to prep for her own negotiations. gave me was actual language i could use in reviews and interviews. instead of going in with vague stuff like “i take initiative,” i could say “i thrive in strategy heavy environments where i can own campaigns end-to-end, here’s exactly how i’ve increased conversion rates.” it shifted the whole conversation from me basically begging for scraps to me showing why i deserved more. definitely research market rates, but also get crystal clear on your own worth in specifics. makes a massive difference when you’re negotiating.
Don’t want to jump purely for money?
Pal… you’ve been there 3 years, admitted to doing more than your job description, but £31k in London? Yikes… it may not be all about money but if your employer is happy to burden you with extra responsibility, how would thay make uou want to stay?
Im a designer, not a Marketer – but I know you can get better than what you have.
31k is astronomically low in London. I know how of a similar job in Manchester that will get you 32k and the standard of living is way cheaper.
I discuss with my colleagues to ensure we’re getting paid fairly at least between us. I also wouldn’t look at roles with my job title but I’d find what people are paying for my actual job responsibilities.
Money is the only reason I would leave a job. I get paid alright where I work so I don’t plan on leaving until that changes.
The stuff you’ve been doing sounds closer to Marketing Manager level stuff, or at least a Senior Exec role. Moving companies is typically how you get decent pay rises, so I’d at least look at what’s out there and apply to things, worst that happens is they say no. I’d look at moving elsewhere, maybe Digital Marketing Manager roles or something like Senior Marketing Officer or Senior Marketing Executive. You’ve got experience training new employees so you can leverage that to look for a position with line manager responsibilities (even if it’s just 1 employee reporting into you), typically adding management responsibility bumps the pay up. £31k isn’t a terrible salary for an Exec depending on the industry, but it’s not a particularly good salary for someone with 3 years professional experience in London, and not for someone who’s taking on the types of responsibilities you’ve listed here as those wouldn’t typically be within the scope of an Exec role.
Found it from a restructure this summer where they admitted they weren’t paying me enough so we having to tweak my job title, role and get everything I do signed off so they don’t have to pay me manager wage. So I’ve been job hunting v size and had recruiters confirm that I’m being terribly under paid despite all that I do. Charity can’t afford much at the moment and cut a load of staff but kept me.
I wouldn’t look at the job salaries though at the moment. They have gone sideways as so many people have been made redundant in the marketing sector that they are putting down stupidly low salaries knowing full well they will get desperate people who need something, anything right now.
I’m job hunting and all the recruiters are saying similar things that they haven’t seen so many people job hunting that unless you are literally doing the job already, you aren’t getting anywhere. Means that they can hire who they think will be the cheapest and means there’s not any up one really moving up, just side ways.
People are often looking to move into remote roles and take a pay cut for that and people are taking that to the in-person roles. Again though people are desperate.
So yes you are likely underpaid. Everyone is and it is getting stupid
I’m based in London and have worked in marketing for 5 years.
I started in fashion as a marketing assistant in 2019, earning £19k. Executive in 2020 at £23k, now an “Officer” (public sector equivalent of an exec / senior exec). I started this role in 2022 on £29k and worked my way up to £37k. This is with 5.5 years of experience. I’m hoping for a promotion to manager shortly that’ll take me to £43k+.
My friend recently took an assistant marketing manager role at £40k.
£31k in London is low compared to other jobs. But honestly with the state of marketing salaries, it’s not far off. Our officer roles start at 29k. Most roles this level I’m seeing in London are in a similar range, starting at 35k AT A PUSH.
Outside of London, I’ve seen exec roles in Liverpool starting at £23k, that was only last week!
Marketing comms and social are underpaid, especially when junior, but I do think you should be on £35k at the least with a couple of years of experience (which is ridiculous, that should be the bare minimum).
how do you survive on 31k in london?
Everyone on Reddit is either a millionaire and struggling to live day to day. Or on the poverty line and somehow managed to buy their 2nd house for rental income.
I earn 30k as a security guard doing 42 hours a week, left school at 16. Weird that me and you are on similar salaries and I am also outside of London, you have far more responsibility than I ever will too.