Would you recommend your career to someone starting out?

[GettingBetter2024]

My daughter is thinking about A levels and degrees and we're talking about careers a fair bit.

I'm quite limited in my circles (mainly teachers and low level learners).

I know very few teachers who would recommend teaching
Doctors often don't recommend doctoring..

My kids are bright (likely to get good grades/ uni etc) and would like to earn better than me (not hard tbf)

Those who would recommend your career - what do you do?!

Insurance - fell into it at 17 as a stop gap and 20 years later I'm still here and honestly wouldn't want to do anything else. It may sound incredibly boring but it's a fascinating industry. It's not all household, car insurance online etc but a huge variety of sectors and complexities.
So many varied roles from technical mathematics to relationship management. Financially can be incredibly rewarding, not on a par to banking but not massively far off with less hours in most cases.
Many insurance companies and brokers are now offering graduate and apprenticeship schemes.
It's also a very stable career, you don't often see mass redundancies or restructures.

I work in comms, you have to be bloody mad to thrive.
A lot of the young people who have joined in the past five years or so cannot deal with the pressure and leave very quickly.
TBH, I am on the verge of giving up as work/life balance is untenable.
That being said, I have loved it: the variety; the challenge; working with like-minded colleagues to deliver great results etc.
However, I think I am maybe getting a bit aged and don't have the "fuck this job" attitude of the younger people. I am interested in doing more research into this area to see if I can try to marry up younger workers' preferences and the industry's mad expectations

Mmm.

Teaching - if it's at a private school the pay is better, the class sizes smaller and children generally better behaved. I've only one friend in that scenario and she's doing well and enjoying it. I wouldn't pigeon hole all teacher jobs.

However back to the Q - I'm a qualified town planner, I help design and build villages, urban extensions etc. the largest one I was involved in so far was 10,000 homes, secondary schools, parks, shops, services etc.

You learn loads across different disciplines- highways, ecology, topography, hydrology, geology, build phasing, cost control and viability, educational needs, liaise with many statutory bodies including natural England, historic England, highways England, etc etc. sometimes you need to divert utilities, or agree contracts so there's some legal work.

And when it's built you're able to visit and think, I helped make this happen. I absolutely love it. The pay is good, there are loads of disciplines to choose from as above, if you want to specialise rather than project manage as the planner.

Grad salary started around 25-30k, managers 50-70k, directors 100k+. Then you get big bonuses, company car, bupa healthcare, pension, flexible working etc. im a Director 15yrs in, age 39.

Surprised by how many are recommending finance. What specific finance jobs are particularly interesting? DC1 is good at maths but doesn’t, I think, really know much about what finance jobs there are out there.

I work in academia. While I love my job, I wouldn't recommend it as the field has got really saturated and therefore competitive. I know many colleagues on very precarious contracts, going from fixed term post to fixed term post, from one part of the country to the other.

DH and I are both accountants by training and I work in an investment bank now. I think careers are just too varied to describe and I’d never cover them all in one post. This is just a flavour of the careers some of my friends and colleagues have had:

• DH works with businesses and does their financial forecasting, helps the sales teams understand how they can maximise revenue etc. he chooses businesses which supply products he’s interested in (he worked for a brewery for a long time).
• I work in financial crime for an investment bank. Very few of my colleagues in this role are actually accountants, far more lawyers instead. In previous roles in banks, such as operational risk, there have been more accountants. But when I work with external consultants in my current role, many are accountants by training.
• A friend works in tax strategy for a large corporate.
• Another friend works for HMRC.
• One friend did corporate finance (M&A).
• Another friend does accounting and payroll for smaller companies. This is probably closer to what most people think accountants do and similarly to my DH she chooses companies that interest her. She’s had good discounts at a couple of employers that were travel agents/ holiday companies!
• One friend works for rich families in their family offices. His job is really interesting and lots of travel on private jets. But he’s at the beck and call of some very demanding employers.
• Someone else does tax planning for ex pats.

This is just a random selection based people I’ve been out for dinner with recently, but gives a flavour for some of the jobs that are out there.

I am a product owner and work in tech, although I don’t have a degree (at all) and deffo wouldn’t describe myself as “techy” - ok more than the average person but I am their to make decisions on behalf of what customers clients need, shape the work the development teams are doing and manage stakeholders.

i would 100% recommend, I am from a very working class background and didn’t even know anyone with an office job when I left school. I found this job later on (late twenties) after working as a business analysts and getting profession qualifications.

both jobs can be highly rewarding and interesting and cut across a wide range of sectors. I work in health tech.

BAs at the top end of the scale can earn 60-70k per year and a good experienced PO about £80-90k (and more if they work at an exec level).

A business or marketing degree would be a good starting point, and then a grad scheme (NHS have a good one).

As well as good pay, your perks are hybrid working, really progressive work cultures with tonnes of flexibility, loads of industry support and training.

downside - can be intensely high pressured (deadlines, high risks - look at the IT issues behind the post office scandal).

Business development in a professional services firm. People start out having done a range of degrees. Reasonably high pressure but if they can cope with that, the salaries can be good and the work can be interesting.

University researcher, totally recommend it.

I've worked for the public sector for almost 30 years and would NOT recommend it! Encouraging my kids to move into the private or third sector

Corporate law - strongly not recommend

A right mixed bag
I’ve got ADHD and have been a :-

database designer - no
hrml/xml coder - no

worked as part of a behavioural health team - yes recommend

designer for print - no too stressful
photographer - no not now

user interface / experience designer for mobile & web - yes recommend

psychotherapist - yes recommend
Property developer - yes recommend

Thanks @karmakameleon - that’s a very interesting range of roles.

@GettingBetter2024 have a look at Tim Minchin’s graduation speech. It has the best advice. Work hard at the thing in front of you. Be micro-ambitious.

They trained me up because I was hard-working, and curious. To repay that debt, I have encouraged and supported two women who wanted to transfer from admin to engineering, and I have continue to mentor others who have made the same career change.

@GettingBetter2024

I work in the Civil Service and I'd probably recommend it. The government is currently shitting on us in the papers every other week, but I'm proud of the work I do delivering valuable services for the public. The roles are varied, from policy to ops to coastguard etc - you can do almost any job you can think of in the CS. Pay has not kept pace with inflation, but the pension is decent and the working conditions generally ok. It's pretty good.

I'm a sign language interpreter. I would recommend it. It costs a good deal of money to train and it's hard work, but worth it. Well paid at the point of being fully qualified, and lots of scope to specialise in particular areas. It's a job that requires a lot of self-care. The burnout is real if you don't take care of yourself but I personally wouldn't want to work in any other field.

Does learning a language appeal to her?

Veterinarian.
Don't advise. I actually enjoy parts of my job more than most vets (I'd say most regret doing the degree), but I wouldn't choose it again. Too stressful, pay is poor for the level of responsibility, constantly dealing with stressed members of the public. I'm thinking about re-training in something not public facing. Some days even working on a production line sounds appealing..

Back in the dark ages I trained as a Nursery Nurse. I LOVE my job even after 45yrs. I've worked in schools, nurseries, hospitals, for SS, private homes, maternity services.

For the past 23yrs I was able to work from home as a childminder alongside having my own 2, and I've loved every minute of it. Job satisfaction is great. Sadly the pay is not. But there's a lot to be said for the freedom it's afforded me over the years.

Even with the tight finances at times I wouldn't change a thing. Would I encourage my children to do it? Maybe, it depends what they are looking for out of life. For some people it's not always about the money.

Can you tell me more about this? I'm currently working in HE in an admin role, but have looked at FE jobs.

I worked as a Nursery Nurse many moons ago and I loved it.
I then moved into HE. I'm now baffled at what to do next.

I think if someone was very creative, patient and empathetic I would definitely recommend this job. It opens so many doors.
I'm glad you're still loving it. We need more practitioners like you 🙂

Sure, I'd be happy to give my two cents! I think whether or not you'd recommend your career to someone starting out totally depends on what floats your boat. Some jobs are a total slog, while others are like getting paid to hang out doing something you love. Personally, I'm in the tech field, and I gotta say, it covers a wide range of careers and industries. There's coding if you're into that, design gigs if you've got an eye for aesthetics, or even project management if you dig organizing chaos. It's not all rainbows and unicorns, but hey, what job is? It's all about finding something that clicks with you.

Barrister here. I'd recommend it if you didn't want a social life