If you earn 30k, what do you do?

[LondonDaytime]

I earn that (pro rata), and most people outside of London I know with ‘decent’ jobs earn around £30-40k. Nothing more really.

I’m intrigued to know what other people do for that amount. As I thought it was a decent salary. But it seems it really isn’t in some people’s opinions.

I’m a PA. I could earn about another 10-15k more in the City but I haven’t the time nor patience.

YY most of my family seems to earn about that.

DH earns 35k, admin role for tfl.
DBro earns 29k, paramedic.
DDad earns 30k, school IT tech for the council.

It's not above average for the UK any more. Average (median) is around that apparently.

I Interviewed for a job where I asked for that much as I was advised to. It seemed like a huge amount to ask for to me but they weren't phased by it. That was a customer service helpdesk job.

45k Social work manager in London.

To me that's a great salary. Currently job hunting and most jobs here start at 18 thousand to 24 at most and I am a graduate with loads of work experience.

I've just started a new job - project manager in Bristol. At interview I said I was looking for something in the region of 45k and we agreed 40k rising to 45k after 6 months in role (and had proved myself). I've got 20 years experience and my attitude when negotiating salary was, if they want someone experienced who can go in and hit the ground running with minimal training, you have to pay for that. I wasn't expecting them to agree the higher rate but I'm very pleased they did.
This is my first full-time job afer working part-time while my children were younger. The previous company I worked for massively underpaid me - no incremental pay rises, every 2-3 years a 2-3% "with inflation" pay rise I did some research on what similar local jobs paid before I went for interview, put my Big Girl Pants on and went in with the mindset of "I'm worth it" and it really paid off - I've added over 1k per month to my take home income (although I'm now working longer hours as full-time) and have much better benefits: pension, generous holiday allowance etc.

I earn 39k as a grade 6 podiatrist at the top of my pay scale.
I could earn more but it would mean applying for a grade 7 job and I can't take the stress of a grade 7, I don't want to go to bed every night and lie awake worrying about work.
I earned 5k a month as a private podiatrist but then you have to sort out tax, work all hours, buy equipment, again way too stressful.
I live in a part of the country that is lovely and rural with very cheap housing so my mortgage is negligible and what I do now is a good compromise for me.
I'll be retiring in around 10 years so I earn enough to be saving hard for that as there is nothing to spend money on round here unlike London and other big cities and I'll have a nice house fully paid for.
When I'm retired I plan to do a couple of days private work to supplement my pension but I won't be doing anything fancy, you have to balance work/life and keep the stress down which is why I moved to this area.
I lived in the south-east before and my salary barely covered my mortgage and I had to have lodgers to make ends meet.
Downsizing to this area is great, it's not only a nicer area to live in but everything is cheaper so my new home is bigger than the last one and cost £50k less so my outgoings are small and I can afford to live alone.

I'm always intrigued by PA salaries, which seem unusually high for 'office work' without specific qualifications like law, accountancy etc. Is it that you have to be at the beck and call of your boss, possibly do some of their 'technical' work and be available at all hours?
To get my PA job I took A levels in business and finance, specialising in marketing, law and personnel. My job was administrative but also project based (website management, PR, marketing, event coordinator, travel coordinator). There was an element of do the typing and make the tea, but this covered a fraction of what I did.

Marketing.
I earned a lot more when I worked in an agency role, but it was so stressful and not very secure. My biggest client left, through not fault of mine, and I got made redundant.

My ultimate aim is to work at director level which would be 50k plus, but I’d have to move to a bigger company.

I earn 38k as a children’s social worker. Been qualified 6 years.
It’s a very decent salary in paper, but it is very hard work, I almost had a mental breakdown this year and was off sick with stress. I always work over my hours and weekends, there is no overtime and honestly, some days id rather I earned a lot less for an easier life.

*on paper

£36k as a senior analyst in a charity. I could earn more in a different sector, or if I pushed for a managerial role. I love what I do - I find it very interesting and fulfilling. Managerial role would mean less analysis which be counter to what I actually enjoy doing.

I earn probably mid-30s pro rata for 0.8 FTE. I think my full time salary is 45K if I wanted to work that much. I'm a clinical researcher and academic. I do work in London though, so it makes a difference in salary.

Freelance editor. I'm self-employed, though, so it's worth less than a salary would be as there's no pension contribution from an employer.

I was a dental nurse on Harley street earning that. I was on 21K and negotiated for that after 2 years as I was also the lab tech, the radiographer, the only dental nurse for 3 people, the receptionist and the accountant 🙃🙃

Just over £31k as an executive assistant.

These are mostly what I think of as very professional sorts of jobs. Who on earth are the people earning over £40k?!

(I know people don’t get paid on the basis of how clever sounding their job is, but still...)

Part time Housing manager LA

I'm a nanny earning 33k. I have built up my rate (pay rises not me putting my rates up) with 2 families over the years. I realise I will never get this rate of pay again at a new job but have been on 30k for the last 4 years at least. I've got my university degree whilst working so hope to go into something new next but again expect a big pay drop initially 😬

35k Facilities Manager - I am part time (4 days a week) so thats pro-rata.

I work in Human Resources, not junior but not senior! I earn 31k in the west midlands

Up until covid hit, I was a self employed writer and editor earning £32k. I wrote mainly website content for two major clients - both of whom are unfortunately furloughed at the moment, meaning that I - as a self employed freelancer - have had to take a massive cut and live just off the government grants, which aren't as much as I was earning. Never mind.

I love this thread. Makes a change from previous threads where every poster seems to be earning 100k +.

Self-employed violin teacher here. I think I could clear around that if I filled up my private teaching timetable, that would mean 18 - 20 hours actual teaching time per week, 35 - 40 weeks a year. But as a couple of others have said, no employment benefits or pension. A certain amount of additional time would be taken up with admin and planning - which I hope I will get better at actually doing as I increase my numbers! Currently on less than half that.

@Parsley1234
I went from being SE to employed in May due to Covid
I actually earn more and I went on holiday in October and despite not even taking my laptop with me I GOT PAID - for chilling out by the pool!
Mind blowing

I'm 'one of those' £30K PA's too, in the pharma industry. I think the misconception about PA's is that it's just making tea, photocopying and filing. In my role at least, I have quite a lot of sway in the running of the business. I'm PA to the CEO so privy to a lot of confidential information and we often end up talking through and making decisions together as I'm often the only other person who has complete involvement in/knowledge of a situation. I'm often the go to person when the CEO is away as well as I have the most oversight of a variety of different issues. That being said, I also think that you can use being 'a good PA' to influence your own pay and conditions if you become 'indispensable.' I love my job, I've handled a crisis at 1am and sorted out a travel drama on a Sunday morning, but my colleagues are really lovely so I honestly don't mind at all. I'm also WFH so it works very well!