Are you being paid enough?
Thanks to the data gathering carried out for our 2016 Life Science Salary Survey, we know that 48% of UK respondents believe that their salary does not reflect their current career level. Even though the majority were satisfied with their current level of compensation, this still shows a significant lack of confidence within the sector and discord between employees and the companies they work for.
Anyone in employment, in and out of the Life Science industry, will periodically question their salary. They’ll often wonder if the amount of responsibility they have is being reflected in their present pay grade. With the massive media push of “New Year, New Me” swinging round at the start of every January, it’s no wonder that the New Year is the most common time for people to ponder their work situation. People will often look to make a drastic change within their lifestyle out of fear of stagnating and becoming inactive either physically, mentally or in their career. There’s no question that the most motivating factor for a job related change is money. However, in many cases employees lack the knowledge and/or confidence to take the plunge.
Whatever your situation, it’s best to consider your true motivations when considering your current job. Are you really looking for better career progression? Or gaining more experience? While money is quite often the headline ‘make or break’ factor within a job it can be all too easily overlooked when the salary allows the employee to live within their means. Which begs the question, ‘Are you paid enough?’
Recognising the need to compare salaries within the Life Sciences industry, Clinical Professionals first began creating a salary survey guide back in 2011 as a way for candidates to assess current pay and benefits. We compared several different factors to determine if the salary and benefits package is appropriate for experience level, location and position across our different specialisms within the Life Science industry.
For instance, 60% of medical communications respondents believed their salary accurately reflected their level of experience and less than 50% of medical communications respondents received a bonus within their benefits package.
As a sector, medical communications fared better than others such as Clinical Research. Here only 46% of UK respondents believed their salary was in line with their skill set and time in industry and just 30% of Clinical Research respondents received a bonus.
Many of the other sectors featured in our salary survey tell a similar story from Clinical Research to Regulatory Affairs, Commercial and many more. It reinforces the notion that there is a lot of doubt as to what salary is appropriate for particular levels within the different sectors.
The salary survey also looks at the SBSP (salary banding switch point) which is the ideal salary for career satisfaction. This figure was calculated for each individual sector and for the Life Science industry as a whole.
This year the overall SBSP was £52K, a £3K rise compared to last year. However, in the medical communications sector it is significantly lower at £42K. This shows that medical communications is a sector with higher career satisfaction, possibly due to the great opportunities for progression.
Across all sectors of the Life Science industry, workers are expecting a pay rise in the next year and medical communications is no exception with 64% of medical communications respondents saying they expected an increase in pay level within 12 months. This expectation inevitably leads to a need for negotiation which is where our 2016 Life Science Salary Survey can provide able assistance. It acts as evidence for any claims relating to appropriate pay or benefits.
If you would like to assess your value within your company and how you compare to the medical communications industry as a whole, please click the link below to fill in your details for a complimentary copy of our latest salary guide:
www.pharmaceuticalsalarysurvey.com
If you’re in the medical communications sector and would like to know more about our services and would like to talk to someone about your recruitment needs, please email apply@medcommsprofessionals.com or call 0118 9522792. For other sectors within life sciences please email info@clinicalprofessionals.co.uk or call 0118 959 4990.