How did you decide it was time to make a change?
In all honesty, I was struggling to make ends meet and I was starting to feel resentful towards the company I was working for. I was going above and beyond but not being compensated appropriately. I knew something needed to give.

Have you ever negotiated a promotion or pay rise before?
Never!

What preparation did you do beforehand?
The numbers don’t lie. I pulled together my KPIs for the business; my actual results against the KPIs; feedback from other members of the company, whether it was an email from the SLT praising me for a campaign or positive customer feedback; and any other areas I’ve excelled in or worked towards the company goals outside of my job description and scope of works. I spent a few months in the background building a bank of these ready for my appraisal.

I also researched the average salary for my role and experience across the north-west and the UK. I showed where my salary sat and how the industry compared to this – I’m not sure the discrepancy was a complete shock to them.

I collated everything and then pulled it together into a formal presentation to present back to my line manager during my appraisal. One-to-one meetings and appraisals are your meetings. They’re a chance for you to speak about any topics on your mind with your line manager, exchange feedback, and discuss your career development – and this includes your pay rise.

Know Your Worth: “How I negotiated a £4,500 pay rise to meet the industry average”