Payrises and Moving Jobs

Hi all. I have a bit of a problem and hope you can give me some advice...I have been working for a BB IB for three years, and I am heavily underpaid for my skills, due to departmental politics. I say this, because my pay has been near-frozen ever since I joined, and currently I could go to back office and get a pay increase. The reason I have stuck it out so long is because the work I am doing is interesting, builds useful skills and opens plenty of opportunities for other interesting, well paid roles. My current role is hedging Firmwide IR and currency risk by trading derivatives. I have had a chat to my boss, and he agrees that I deserve a payrise, and has given me glowing reviews ever since I joined. I also recently took CFA level 3 (and it went ok..so I'm hoping for a pass).

There a number of internal and external roles I am considering. If I move internally, I will not get a payrise initially, but I may in January (part of the annual process) in a new role.
If I moved externally I would definitely get a pay rise, but obviously there are risks of a big initial bump and then more freezes in future years.

I have a meeting with my MD next week to discuss my future path and a payrise, as I am currently not happy. I suspect my MD will offer a pay increase, but it would still be less than I would be able to earn in pretty much any other role. My question - if my MD offers me a payrise that is insufficient to stop me looking for a new role, would I be disrespectful if I said:

"Yes I will accept the payrise, and yes it will make me less likely to move, but it is not sufficient to make me guarantee I will stay."

I really do not want to reject a payrise, as my pay is a sick joke. I don't really want to burn bridges if I can avoid it. Should I reject an offered payrise if it is insufficient, and I would try to move internally anyway (where I would keep my very low salary for at least 6 months, and would risk another MD offering me a tiny payrise in Jan)?

2 Comments
 

Unfortunately you are only worth what someone is willing to pay you, it is not valid to point at someone else who does similar to you at another bank but get's more - go get their job if that is the case? Not hiring? Well that's how it works. It's something I learned in the first couple years of work...I suggest you adopt this mentality otherwise you'll go crazy.

Whatever happens just say thank you and if you are not satisfied look for a new job. I probably would have started looking around after your 2nd pay review, or lack thereof. And if you can't get the job that you want, it just goes back to what I said above. Harsh, but that's life.

 

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