To ask how you've reached a high salary? 50k+

Trained in a niche profession, set up my own consultancy, created my own way of delivering something a lot of people wanted at a fair price, worked 60-80 hours a week for 20 years....

Completing a masters degree.
Also, keeping an up to date portfolio detailing evidence of continuing professional development. I’ve found that this is viewed favourably when applying for promotion. Especially when other candidates simply expect years of experience to be enough.

Job hopping is how you get ahead. Maybe it's different in schools but in the private sector it's normal and you often have to leave a company to move up.

I'm on £49k as a teacher-top of the pay scale, not SLT and no TLR.

I bloody hate it though 😂

HMRC is huge with plenty of vacancies. You don't need experience to progress in the civil service as such, more to be able to think and make sensible decisions.

What degree do you have? Do you qualify for any of the science professions (statistics, economics, operational research, data science)? The all start on HEO with progression to SEO in a few years.

Otherwise get on the tax professional program. It's hard work but will get you to G7 then after a few years you segue to a consultancy on mega bucks.

Earning £30k is a piece of cake and it's not difficult to earn £40 to £50k either. I'm a Housekeeper and there are loads of jobs paying £40k plus. You get some experience under your belt and then go and work in a big house or estate. The sky's the limit if you become a Manager or Head of for UHNW individuals. Likewise as a Nanny. You can often live in too, still with a £40k salary, which gives you plenty of disposable income. Same with all the trades too. Plumbers etc earn way more than £50k if they're willing to put the hours in and graft. You don't always have to be in professions or corporate roles to earn decent enough money.

I started in the civil service as an admin officer. I retired 15 years ago at a salary of 50K+. Of the 39 years I worked there, I spent 14 of them at a local office, because I was a single parent and couldn't really travel.

After my child was old enough, I moved to a Regional Office and then to a Head Office.

You could, if you have fewer restrictions than I had, make that salary jump much quicker than I managed.

Who do you work for? Asking for a friend 👀

If your in the ctu you are training at the moment and haven't actually started the role yet. They are taking on so many as they need the people in the roles not because people are leaving. If you do hate it then you can always look for another role but until you are out of training how are you going to know?

Changing industry and company! I found my diary from 2021 the other day and on the 1st Jan I was earning 30.5k having been at a professional services firm for around 5 years - I took a sideways move into another department then a promotion and was on 40k when I left in spring 2023. I moved to a legal firm for 65k, then recently moved to a better firm for £87k (after 18 months in a job). I just turned 31. I will stay put for a while now as the maternity package is excellent and I can see myself being happy here. I don’t want too much job hopping on my CV however if I hated it I would move. I really believe in selling yourself in the interview (you know way more than you think you do!) and usually leaving company gets your more money than long years of service! Find an excellent recruiter with links into places you’d like to work and they generally give you CV advice also - start on LinkedIn. My experiences are private sector.

I work for a very large publicly funded organisation with lots of opportunities for progression. I started on £30k when I was 28, got a promotion 3 years later to £45k, then another promotion 4 years later to £64k (plus £6k car allowance). With yearly pay increases I am now on £76k plus £6k. There is an annual bonus (not guaranteed) - last year mine was £8k.

I worked hard in each role, put myself forward for any opportunities (even when I didn't think I was ready) and did alot of self learning both about subject areas and business/management

I'm also 34, I earn just over £32k, but for me this is absolutely fine. Okay I do have a DH who earns more than me, although only 15k more, but for me this kind of job role is fine. I'm not the most junior in my team. Nor am I the most senior. I have a degree and another qualification which got me into this field of work, but I'm not overly ambitious. I'm quite happy to have this semi-career type job.
Remember that a job is not just a salary, but what suits your life.

@Redvelvetdreams1 No promotion prospects? I earned a lot more than that in relative terms when I left the Civil Service.

We have a lot of teachers apply to join the civil service when we recruit. I’d be wary personally of teaching, lots of extra hours without pay.

50k is more than achievable as a teacher and behaviour isn't bad in all schools. Just be selective about where you apply and insist on knowing what the school behaviour policy is in advance (anywhere with a centralised detention system is generally relatively good).

This is the way to do it if you're not in a profession with an obvious career trajectory, like law. Start with a post school or university job, show your value in each role and work your way up the ladder. You can do that in the CS I assume. I have a good albeit non-vocational degree, but I am in my 75k role now due to starting at the bottom at 20k after finishing my degree and doing a very good job in each rung of the ladder so they kept promoting in me. Happy to stay where I am now!

I'm 53 and achieved it by not leaving my job. We get annual pay review and if you stay long enough you get well paid.

I'm top of the teaching main scale in Scotland. £50K.

https://www.eis.org.uk/pay-and-conditions-of-service/salary-scales

Shift work, unsociable hours enhancemts make a huge difference to salary.
In social care.

Honestly if salary is your primary objective I would say aim for private sector work. Outside of some top pay scale jobs in NHS and civil service public sector pay is worse.

Could do do private tutoring?

I concentrated on industries where there’s a lot of room for progression at every stage of my working life as I gain ever more knowledge and experience, and have actively sought out new stretch opportunities to get that experience and knowledge in all my roles. I also approached (and still approach) my career with the attitude that I have to fundamentally have some level of liking for what I do; but that it’s also just what I do to afford the lifestyle I want - I’ve never had the view that I need to do work which deeply fulfils me, or gives me a sense of purpose, or makes a difference to the world: that’s what I do in the rest of the life my work pays for.

If you have experience and skills gained in a CS role then you can absolutely take those elsewhere and apply them to another sector or industry, even if you’re only currently on a low pay grade. I did a year with the CS towards the beginning of my career and found the hierarchy stifling - this attitude that you had to move in a particularly way through the “ranks” regardless of your actual attributes and specialisms as a purely process driven approach. Not sure if it’s still that way, but it certainly didn’t strike me as lending itself to progression on your own terms.

in the civil service its a case of bidding time and applying for multiple positions internally and bouncing up the scales. Using expressions of interest and the framework.

I'm in a niche role and am one of the few in my team without a PhD.

The Home Office (London zone). It’s just gone up by 5k in the recent pay rise.