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Food for thought this a Friday. Quiet quitting has been trending for the last few weeks. This is problematic in two ways. A) Doesn’t actually identify the root cause for burnout (I.e abuse at work or poor company culture B) Completely dismisses a whole demographic of people unable to do the bare minimum without facing penalty. Any other thoughts? https://www.theroot.com/why-is-quiet-quitting-a-thing-for-white-people-but-n-1849407594/amp
Helloo 🎏 .. need your thoughts on below 👇
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First off, congrats on getting your first gig 👊 No mean feat.
There’s a few things to think about and consider here. This is only my opinion based on the info you’ve given so far.
First, let’s take the money out of it for a second. Are you happy at the agency you’re at? By that I mean is the culture good, do you have good senior teams/CD/ECD to learn from, is the agency doing good work etc. I ask that first because it’s really important early in your career that you chase good managers and good people to learn from. The money will come. As my first CD said to me, “You’re underpaid for the first half of your career and overpaid for the second half, the trick is do good the work that gets you to that halfway point as quick as possible.”
Next to consider is the quality of the agency these offers are coming from. It’s an employee market right now. People are leaving jobs for 20%+ raises. Agencies are willing to pay for talent. Which is great for people looking to move. But if these offers aren’t from better agencies with better creative leaders doing better work, the short term gain may not be worth the long term sacrifice. Now, if these agencies are a step up, then definitely go meet them. Money + better agency = win.
So, let’s put the money back on the table. £6k is no small number, and it’s always good to know your market worth. Now considering all the above, if you’re at an agency you like doing work you’re proud of and with great leadership, you should be confident in speaking to them about money. But in my opinion and experience, it’s not always best to say ‘another agency is offering me more’. It can work, but I’ve seen plenty of teams misjudge this approach and end up on the outs.
What I’ve found successful is putting together a strong case based on your performance. So things like pitch wins, successful campaigns, doing work that the agency holds up as the bar, awards etc. Put that forward confidently and frame it as, ‘I’ve achieved ABC and based on that I’d like to discuss a salary of XYZ.’ You could also mention that you believe that number is fair based on the market research you’ve done.
One thing though, you say you were hired last fall, which means you’re only 6 months into the job. To be honest, unless you’ve done some amazing things, I think you’ll find it hard to get a jump like that so soon. You could maybe frame it as a post-probation chat perhaps. I think what’s always good is to set goals with you CD/manager, that way your pathway to money is clear. But go for it, there’s nothing wrong with having an open conversation, at the very least it’ll open up a positive dialogue with your manager around money.
Anyway, I’ve written way too much. Good luck 👍
Great advice. Your former bosses advice was also aces. May borrow that one
CD1 has all the advice you need. I’ll just add that 5k is not a lot of money in the long run. One day you’ll make that in a week. Prioritize making good work so your book can make you bigger bucks later on. Plenty of people take lower paying jobs because they’re happy and making good work. I know I did. And now my book is pretty good so I can freelance and work 9 months a year.
What the hell, have a conversation. I give the same advice to anyone, whether they’re a junior or an ECD, who’s thinking of asking for a raise; leverage is everything. Get a serious offer from someplace else first. You might even want to go work there, based on the people you met, the quality of the work, etc. in any case, be prepared to take that job before you talk to your employers. “Hey, I like working here but XYZ is offering $$$. (Always exaggerate the offer by at least 10%.) If they say no, go. Give them a couple days to think about it (no more, or that other offer may evaporate). Good luck!
(Recruiters are offering us that right off the bat, with no mention of our current salary. We chose to ask for that range based on what we were being offered at our paid placement)
I’d probably approach it from a performance standpoint before bringing up recruiters. Having recruiters hit you up is not the same as having an offer on the table that your current employer can match.
But if you have examples of ways you’ve helped the company or ways that you’ve grown in your role since arriving, that’s grounds for a raise. I’d start there. Build a case and go for it. But you probably won’t have much luck mentioning recruiters without other reasoning.
You need an actual offer to counter, and if you ask for a counter you need to be prepared to leave if the answer is good luck.
Yes, the market is crazy right now and agencies are hungry for talent. In the past 18 months I’ve probably countered half of the talent that’s requested one on my teams. There are a number of factors at play but there have been 2 relatively junior employees who were shell-shocked to hear we weren’t coming to the table with one.
You’re very new, if you’re liking the work ride it out for a year, year and half then either negotiate at current place or translate the more meaningful experience to a bigger bump than $6k. If you’re unhappy and hate the work don’t sweat the counter and just find a new job.
Everyone here has great advice so I’ll just beg of you this— never feel sorry for an agency’s financial situation again, and definitely don’t put it above what you need! You will get gaslit like this your entire career…especially if you’re a woman. Keep pushing.
Aim high, aim high, aim high. I know it’s hard but next time you’re thinking about low balling yourself come back here and we’ll pep you up.