Move job, earn more

Moving jobs early in your career can lead to higher earnings than staying with your existing employer. This is something that’s been shown to work for many people and here’s why:

If you stay in your current role you’re likely to get the going pay increase often in the 3-5% range. However if you move job you can get salary increases of 10%-20% or more. 

This is particularly true early in your career as your starting salary is likely to be low as you were competing simply to get your first job and gain experience.

By moving job you can access the best rates of pay on the market as employers compete for talent and pay more for candidates with relevant experience. What’s the point of having gained experience if you’re not getting paid more for it?

If you moving jobs every few years you could earn 50% more in the future.This will make a huge difference to your income, how much you can borrow to buy a home and your overall wealth.

Make it a new years resolution to check the going market rate for similar jobs to yours every year. You may be surprised at how much employers are offering for the same job as yours. If this is the case you can use it to ask your existing employer for a raise or motivate yourself to move job in any given year. 

Your prospective employers don’t know exactly how much you earn, so you can inflate it a bit when asked about your current salary. Say you’re earning £25,000 and you say £27,000 then get a 20% increase thats a new starting salary of  £32,400 compared with a starting salary of £30,000 had you said £25,000. Make sure the inflated current is credible hence our advice to just nudge it a bit as part your negotiations for a new salary. 

If you have any contacts who work for a company you’re looking to be employed by then ask them what’s the salary range for the role you’re applying for. Often employers have what they call a band or salary range for a role. As long as you don’t ask too high within it, they will be open to your ask. So find out as much as you can to help you pitch it right. 

Some candidates don’t feel comfortable in asking for a bit more when they get an offer. The time to do this is when it’s verbal before they send the written offer. All they can say is no, however if its a reasonable ask like rounding up the nearest £1,000 then it’s likely they will accept it. 

Check that employers are paying the same rate for the same role regardless of gender, race, age or any other factors. For example, pre some recent legislation one big financial employer checked and found that all males earned more than their female colleagues doing the same role. The root cause was that females joining asked for less than their males colleagues. This shows not just an inequality but the importance of asking for more when you join a business. 

Yes, moving jobs not only pays more it develops you as well. The days of one job even career are over and we’re better off for it. Go explore and get new roles that will not only improve your bank balance but your life experience.