Annual Review

Emmzi

also, you can't compare 'graduate jobs' like for like.

- occupational field?
- location?
- wage?

will let other grads and HR bods (like me!) offer an opinion.

I've worked in finance and logistics lately, and they paid about 22k coming in, 24k after 2 years.

Where are you getting your 'should be paid' figures from eg known and respected industry monitor, or mates down the pub?

leiela

My should be figures are got thought reasearch on the net, looking at the average wages in my line ... even the very bottom end is much higher than im getting. Also i have contact with alot of other specialists, who although it's not proffesional to talk about wages, all seem to be doing very well for themselves (though to be fair i couldn't tell you exactly what they earn) and having spoken to them on a general level about the prospects in the area, they all seemed to agree that it was the sort of market where you could pretty much name your price if you where good.

Granted im under no delusions that im experienced enough for that yet .. but still i think market average for "programmers" (which isn't that great, as they are supposed to be a dime a dozen) is surely a reasonable expectation. I was physically offered a job, contract in hand at christmas for 6k more than im currently on. I refused it at the time because i'd not been in my presant role for even 12months and i was concerned about how another "job hop" would look on my CV. Besides at the time i was learning so much in my current role i really felt the company had alot more to offer me that wasn't "financial" and the job i was offered we the type that would make my brain melt though bordem doing the same thing every day (no challenge at all)

Since then the job situation has changes, they've added all this extra travel, responsibility etc and my financial situation at home has changed significantly and i can no longer afford to keep working at this wage... i either need to either find away of getting more money, or i need to find a new job on the same wage closer to home without the travel element, because right now i can't pysically afford continue the way i am and im starting to feel taken advantage of.

bristol_pilot

Time to move on. My experience is also that changing employers is the best way of getting a step change payrise. As your career progresses, there comes a point where it becomes increasingly dificult to do this for family/personal or even pension reasons so the first 10 years or so after graduation are when you can really build your career by making a few strategic moves. As two of your previous jobs were temp, you are effectively a 'first job changer' and could be offering potentially good value to employers. A £10k rise is achievable, but to echo what others have said do not trust agencies (they make estate agents look honest).

GrammarGirl

You could be me! Seriously, I am in a very similar position. Or should I say, I was until yesterday when I was offered a job elsewhere!

I went straight into my current job from uni and was trained up on the job. I had a mentor and a lot was invested in my development, until I was able to work autonomously but with my mentor there for back up and to handle the more senior aspects of the job. My mentor left her position in Dec and she still has not been replaced, and there are no plans to replace her any time soon. I've taken on all her work, plus the company has gotten busier since she left so I have more general work too. I also work at a small company and am expected to pitch in with other jobs that really have nothing to do with my role.

I was becoming increasingly frustrated with my job. I have 18 months experience, my mentor had 10 years yet I was doing her job and getting paid half her wage. This coupled with the fact I found out a colleague was earning 5k more than me (at at similar level in a different department) meant I started looking elsewhere. When I told my company I had an interview, they tried to make me stay (a 1k payrise but nothing else). I was offered another job at a much larger company, which a support team of 15, and 5k more a year. There was no way my current company could compete!

My advice would be, go along to any interviews you're invited to, get an idea of what you could get elsewhere and the different opportunities people could offer you. Ultimately you need to make choices to benefit YOU, not people around you.

crackerberry

Start applying for jobs elsewhere and going for interviews. Thats the best way to find out your worth in the industry.

Regardless of whether the going rate is £10k to £20k higher any prospective employer has to be won over to believing you are worth that. And someone who on paper should be doesn't always measure up to that face to face in interview situations... in the eyes of interviewers that is.

Go to some interviews and test the market and their reaction to you. Hopefully you'll receive at least one pleasing offer. You then have the option of accepting an offer and moving on or using it as a bargaining tool with your current employer (not recommended)

Most times as previously said to achieve a payrise you have to vote with your feet...by leaving. If the going rate is £10k + and you do manage to secure a grand, maybe two more out of your current employer you still aren't going to be exactly ecstatic are you when the going rate outside is still £10k+. And you're unlikely to get more than that out of them.

I wouldnt be too hasty to discount the length of service you already have with your current employer either. If you move elsewhere you're starting afresh and having lost some of your employment rights tied in to needing a year's service too. In the current climate especially I'd say "better the devil you know" is particularly apt.