I'm A Consultant & Freelance Psychologist Making $87K — & Quitting My Full-Time Job Changed My Career
In our series Salary Stories , women with long-term career experience open up about the most intimate details of their jobs: compensation. It’s an honest look at how real people navigate the complicated world of negotiating, raises, promotions, and job loss, with the hope it will give young women more insight into how to advocate for themselves — and maybe take a few risks along the way.
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Age: 34
Current Location: Los Angeles, CA
Current Industry & Title: Healthcare, Psychologist
Starting Salary: $48,895
Current Salary: $86,713
Number Of Years Employed: 11
Biggest Salary Jump: $39,312 in 2012
Biggest Salary Drop: $61,000 in 2017
Biggest Salary Negotiation Regret: "In the past, I was a bit headstrong and wanted to just find something — but I didn’t spend enough time networking or considering different ways to get more. Being a student and going into internships and postdocs you just kind of take what you get. It didn’t really seem appropriate to negotiate. And, though salary wise it’s not always an option to negotiate individually because of unions, I wish I had felt I had room to negotiate other things sooner."
Best Salary-Related Advice: "Don’t take a job you don’t want unless it’s absolutely necessary. When I was newly licensed, I jumped at the first position I could get even though it wasn’t a great fit for me. While I learned some good life lessons, I wish I would have held out for something that was more in line with my career goals. From there, demonstrate your professional value and your commitment to the quality of work you do — even if you don’t love your position or your supervisor. Focus on what you’re bringing to the team and make sure you’re showing you’re an asset at any opportunity."
“After completing my doctoral psychology program I had to send out a lot of applications and interview for internships. I was matched with an internship out of state in North Carolina and I was on the fence about it. I owned a condo in South Florida and wasn’t sure if I wanted to leave. But even though this internship was my last choice it paid the best and would mean I was able to pay off some student loans and build up my savings. So I took it.
“Once I started, there were a lot of high demands and there was a lot of micromanaging on my team. I didn’t really get a lot of respect or freedom and the environment didn’t feel very safe. The internship was helpful in showing me what I didn’t want to do, and I thankfully got some guidance from some supervisors. This culture combined with being in a new location on my own took a toll on me. The first six months were really tough."
“After my internship, I did not get a post-doctorate position, which are usually offered only annually. So I left my job and moved across the country to California to explore post-doctoral training opportunities and different organizations.
"It was a challenge not having income, and I had to live off my savings for a year. Thankfully, I was able to defer my student loans during that time, but it was stressful going without income for so long. I would just watch my account balance go down and it was scary."
“After five months of looking for work, I finally found a position with a major healthcare organization in the San Francisco Bay Area that I was interested in. The hiring processes are all on a yearly schedule, so I had my first call in January and several other interviews in February and was finally offered the job at the end of that month.
I was offered $18,833 and the position included benefits. I accepted since there wasn’t really an opportunity to negotiate. I felt so lucky that someone wanted me that discussing pay flexibility didn’t even cross my mind. Because I was living about thirty minutes outside of the city, I was able to make ends meet and figured I was investing in my future.
“I was at this job for about a year and a half, and even though I became licensed during this time, they said they couldn’t increase my pay. After they told me this, I started looking for staff positions since I didn’t see much room for growth.”
“Once I became licensed, I was really eager to get a better salary since $18,833 really wasn’t much to live on. I wanted to get locked in somewhere I could grow. I was on job posting sites every day and really talking to people in my network, and I finally found a job at a sister facility a bit further north.
There was an opening because a psychologist was on maternity leave, and I got connected with someone at the facility and was able to transition from my role into this job. The job was a part-time position, and it was a per diem with a bonus in lieu of benefits since it was just a fill-in for someone while they were on leave."
“Within eight weeks, a staff position opened up and I was able to jump into that job. I stayed at the same salary but I got benefits. This job was a longer commute from where I lived, but I was relieved to have a real job after having so many temporary positions, especially considering I had over $150,000 in student loans waiting to be paid. I finally felt like I had something stable.
“Everyone at this company was very nice, but after a while I realized just how long the commute was every day. We were all working in the same room doing triage and crisis work. The room had previously been a large storage closet, and it was very crowded and dark. This experience made me realize how important it was for me to have natural light and a private space. After six months, I realized this wasn’t going to be a long-term thing.”
“I had applied for a pain psychologist position the year after I first got licensed. They had wanted someone with more experience and hired someone else, but she ended up leaving after nine months. Once I realized this position was still open, I submitted an application online and reached out to the hiring manager who I already knew from the previous time I applied. I let her know I had submitted an application.
"The position was a lot closer to San Francisco and had a 4-day work week so I was excited by the idea of having more money with fewer hours. I was given an interview and was able to show them how much I had grown in the time since I last applied. I was able to share my visions for the position and my accomplishments over the past year. I think that they really wanted someone who was invested since they had gotten burned with the last person they hired, and I was able to prove to them that I was invested in being there.
"I was offered the position and even though I didn’t ask for any changes in pay, I was happy with the offer, especially because I would be making more money and working less, and I felt I was receiving more responsibility and autonomy. With help from my parents, I was also able to buy a house close to work which meant an easier commute. I really loved this job and stayed for almost three years.”
"While I was in my last position I met my now-husband who works in film. During this time, he was looking for better career opportunities and wanted to move to Los Angeles. So we decided to move there together. Though I loved my position and the hours at my job, I knew that LA would be a great place to live. We wanted to buy a house, and I knew the city would have a lot of opportunities for him, so it seemed like a great choice.
"There happened to be another pain psychologist position open in LA with my same company. I interviewed with them, and they thought I would be a good fit since I was so experienced so I came into that position working full time. Even though the company was the same, it was a different union, and it ended up having a lower hourly rate which was adjusted for cost of living. In one way, I took a pay cut but I was working more hours so I was making more money, and it seemed like a safe change.
"After paying off the rest of my student loans, we bought a house in LA and moved down. But the more time that I spent at the new office, I realized it wasn't what I'd hoped. I had this expectation that the team would be similar to my close-knit, collaborative team in the Bay Area, but this office had a completely different vibe. The people I worked with kept me at arm's length and only wanted to talk to me when there were problems. On top of this, I was supposed to be working with someone else but they never ended up hiring anyone so I came in with a job-and-a-half of work to do and it just wasn't what I signed up for. It was a lot of stress."
“A year in, I was miserable. I wasn’t happy with the commute or work conditions and I was getting burned out, so I started exploring different alternatives.
"On top of the problems related to office culture, there was a lot of union-related stress. The union would negotiate on our behalf, and we didn’t really have a say in the specifics of our salary. We got some pay raises but I felt removed from the process and wanted more agency in what I was making and doing at work.
"I was eventually able to find a part-time consultant posting in the same company. Even though it was a huge pay cut (about 25% less) it felt like a great opportunity, especially since I would only be working 24 hours a week. Still, I was hesitant. I spoke to the recruiter and tried to do some negotiating. I tried to use her as a go-between and asked her if I could get the salary any closer to where I was, but she said she wasn’t authorized to do anything more so I told her it wouldn’t work out.
"They ended up calling me a month later and told me that if I was still interested in the position it was still open. At that point, I said I would try out an interview and see what it was about. I really wanted more autonomy and freedom and I really got along with the people I would be working with, so I went for it.
“It was financially scary for about six months or so, especially since my husband has a less consistent income because of his film work. Still, this new job had more of what I was looking for in terms of content and work-life balance, so I was happy. I realized after leaving my job that I had really been feeling overburdened with work level and stress. This felt like a much better fit. My husband was supportive, and we figured out how to make up the difference in income.”
“In addition to my EAP role, I decided to start my own practice to make up some of the income I lost when I switched to consulting. I set up a website, got professional photos done, got on Psychology Today, and updated everything I could to try and attract new business. But, after six months, I still wasn't having much luck and I realized I didn’t have the network in place yet. I decided I needed to get a better lay of the land so I explored other options.
“I was able to find a freelance position with a tele-health provider that was completely online. I had plenty of experience, so I talked to them and it felt like a great fit. This role gave me more referrals, and I was able to streamline my freelance work. Thanks to this freelance work, I was able to start building my savings up again. I am still doing freelance work and get to work from home and set my own schedule. It's a true dream job!”
“After just over a year at my consulting job, my supervisor called to let me know I’d be getting a pay increase. I was floored, I hadn’t asked for a raise but she said they were impressed with my work and had promoted me to the next rank. Even though it was tough making ends meet at first, I’m glad I took the chance to do something I really enjoy.
“Looking back, I am kind of shocked that I would be so brazen to take such a huge pay reduction, especially after just buying a house. But I am so glad that I took the opportunity and trusted myself to take steps to get to a new career.
"I now have flexibility and freedom to try new things and feel like I have upward momentum again. If I hadn’t left my pain psychologist job I might have just stayed there for 30 years until I retired. Now I feel there are so many possibilities!
"Eventually, I want to start my own practice again and am still working on building my network. I am still freelancing on the side and, thankfully with my EAP job, there’s always stability and upward movement, so I feel like I have more freedom to experiment. I think things will only get better from here.”
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