is the pay jump from jr. to ad or senior that drastic?

Backstory. First generation college student, first in fam to have “an office job with benefits etc and pto.” Recently been seeing a lot of posts about creatives, why certain positions are more likely to get fired etc. what jumped out at me was the $$ people were giving for each position. I assumed jr’s are like 40-50k, ad 50-60k, senior 60-70k. These posts are saying it’s more like 40-50k, 60-70k and 80-90k. Is that real?

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Echoing what everyone is saying here. It varies greatly based on your city, your agency and your situation, but the salary jumps are big.

In a large market like NYC or Chicago or LA at a “brand name” agency it’s roughly this:

Junior: 40-60k
Mid: 60k-85k
Senior: 85k to 120k

Hope that helps. Congrats on being the first college grad and first to land a corporate job.

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These figures are in line with smaller markets, too, if you’re at a big agency. I know mid cws making 80-90.

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When I went from AD to senior my salary went from 60k to 80k and that was 7 years ago.

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Welcome to the industry. For those who find success, it tends to pay well, especially considering how (relatively) easy our jobs are. The more you get paid, though, the larger the target on your back. 20-30% jumps in salary are not uncommon.

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Maybe it’s different for everyone, but when I went from mid to senior, I had to fight very hard for $90k. Meanwhile, I have a Sr. AD friend who negotiated at a different agency for $120k. Could also come down to years of experience.

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If you don’t mind me asking, what was your salary when you were a mid? And was it at the same agency?

it all depends on agency and market ofc. But your aim sounds low. just for comparison (and it’s all I know) I started at 55 in 2014 and now at 130

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Location location location

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I started at 55 as a junior and now I’m at 83 as a mid. I’m in nyc.

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Started at 50k as Jr designer, then 75k as mid designer, then 85k as mid AD, now 115k as senior AD.

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You can make big jumps if you find the right opportunities. I went from a junior making 55k to mid making 60, then mid making 100 all in the span of three years.

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Just want to add, I’m just curious bc raises and promotions for my parents (so the only real knowledge I have of the working world) was more like a 3-5k raise. If that.

My path (just over 6years of exp) and just moved to USA.

Jr. AD - 45k CAD
AD - 80k CAD (few k bonus every year)
ACD - 170k USD

Awards and not making yearly jumps help.

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