Do you know anyone who has worked their way up to a really good career in e.g. McDonalds?

[Doubleknow]

Or one of the jobs that people often throw about to insult young people who aren't applying themselves "you'll end up working in a supermarket all your life".

My DC both early 20s, both had a difficult start to adulthood when their Dad suffered a traumatic illness and subsequent death while they were doing GCSEs (DS2) and Alevels (DS1).

Both got decent results but didn't stay in education afterwards.

They both have these kinds of jobs, which they took initially just to have work, but have both progressed to junior manager roles (different employers) and seem to be enjoying it.

I'm wondering what their career paths might look like if they stay there, and what advice I should be giving?

I've offered many times to support them if they want to return to education, but they don't.

I know several people in this caregory. A bit out of date now, though, so not sure if their trajectories would be possible today?

A friend’s husband actually did get a shelf-stacking job in Tesco from the age of 16 and was an area manager by 30. He is mid 40s now and has a high up executive level job for another retailer.

I also have a friend who has risen up from Saturday girl in JD Sports at 18 to store manager by early 20s, then area manager, and now works at a senior level in Buying for a big fashion brand - she travels a lot and seems to earn very good money.

The manager of my local Nando’s is 24. He started out when he was in sixth form as a part time cashier/server. I know this as he was one of my students 😆

I know someone who worked their way up from Saturday kid to regional manager at Gregg's.i was there for a while myself and they were great to work for. Pay was good as was maternity pay etc I just left because I couldn't face so many early mornings and wanted a bit more if a work life balance, I earn less now but my hours are better for my family.

Not McDonald's, but someone I know left school with absolutely no qualifications but managed to get a job in the lowest Civil Service grade (one of his parents was quite senior, so that may have helped!). Over 20+ years, he worked his way up to Grade 7. He then got a very senior position in a private company and earns six figures. He is extremely self-confident & can BS for Britain so that's probably helped him significantly.

Absolutely nothing wrong with starting at the bottom of any industry and working your way up, it's an excellent learning experience.

This is a lovely thread. It's so nice to hear of hard work being rewarded.

I have no startling ones but friend of DH started in a High street store at 16, managed the branch for years and moved on to assistant regional manager/manager of a group of pharmacies. He was a really excellent people person which largely helped.

An exbf of mine dropped out of college, worked in McDs and quite quickly I saw him in the manager uniform (we had split by then so not sure where he ended up).

I know someone who started out as a HGV driver and worked his way up to being a director on a multi national board in the industry he started out as a driver for. He’s semi retired now and does consultancy.

Where I used to work had a big thing of ‘growing their own’ There were a lot of women who had started out in admin type roles and the company paid for them to do a degree and just to the technical side of the business and they’re partners now.

The people who I know that did this are people who didn’t really achieve what they were capable of in school for one reason or another.

My ex husband worked his way up to a management role (from fetching trolleys) with a supermarket. He had a great salary and pension and then gave it all up to go to uni. Since then he has been pissing about being self employed and earning very little comparatively.

In my case I started out in a trainee admin job after leaving school at 16 and am now a lawyer. It took many years of studying while working and having kids but it’s absolutely possible.

Just remembered a girl I knew who started as a YTS girl at our local Chamber of Commerce in the mid/late 80s, doing the menial work of filing, making coffee, taking the post, etc. She stayed there all her working life, working her way up, and for the last ten years or so, she was the Chamber's Chief Executive, running it. It was our city's C of C so was a big, influential organisation. Not a bad career for a YTS girl!

I know someone who started cleaning cars at a car showroom and ended up buying the dealership and being incredibly wealthy.

Also someone who started as a part time receptionist in a a school and ended up as the business manager for a multi academy trust.

Likewise, I started as a school leaver doing a crap menial office dogsbody job in a local crap accountancy practice (father and son!!). I did A levels by evening class, then started doing accountancy exams by self-study and evening class, all paid out of my tiny crap wage. Once I passed the first level of accountancy exams, I left and got a job in a bigger accountancy practice actually doing accounting work, and then when I passed the second level, I moved firms again to an even bigger firm as an "audit senior". I then qualified as an accountant and moved firms again to an audit manager position. After a few years there, I moved into industry as a finance director. Then, after a few years, I started my own small accountancy practice and ended up employing a few people as it grew. It's hard work doing the studying in your evenings and weekends alongside a full time job - ruins your social/personal life, but it paid off in the end. Not bad for someone who left school at 16 without a single O level!

I just remembered - my sister! Again, this was some years back, but she left school with 3 GCSEs and got a job as an office junior on a pittance pay for a local car dealership at 17. Got promoted to receptionist, then sales coordinator and by 21 she was the showroom manager at their biggest, swankiest branch in a very posh area of London.

She actually did an Access course and went to uni at 23 to train as a speech and language therapist (!) but she was on a great trajectory at her car place!

Oh! The good olde days when young people had opportunities to better themselves without the obsession about going to Uni and employers demanding degrees for even menial entry level jobs. Shame we can't turn back the clock. A return to cheap and accessible adult education that didn't involve degrees would also be good like we always used to have.

Loads of people in the supermarket industry (I worked in it myself for 10 years). The shop floor entry point is seen as a positive a lot of the time because people really get to know the business and the customers.
Slightly more randomly I went to school with a girl who took a ‘gap year’ job on a cruise ship after A levels - 25 years later she is very high up with one of the big global cruise companies having never left!

Depends what you class as a ‘good career’. But if you enjoy working in a shop or a cafe and can pay your bills I really don’t understand the problem. Even if you don’t climb the ladder there.
Teaching assistants are in a similar bracket imo and get paid terribly and nobody says ‘be careful or you’ll end up being a TA’ it’s nuts.
Likewise bus drivers and refuse collectors get
paid well where I live and there are lots of perks that come with those jobs.

My uncle started out as a coffee boy working in an office and worked his way up to senior partner earning tons of money. He is in his 70s now though, he doesn’t reckon it would be possible now without a good degree as a minimum.

Yes, I have loads of examples, but then that’s because I’m from a working class background myself. Too many examples to write here to be honest about people’s humble beginnings and lack of university degree. It’s not that unusual. If you’ve got the drive, the cop on, and good comms/soft skills, you can do just fine. I tell this to mine all the time.

My own mums timeline was NHS cleaner, NHS nursing assistant, NHS nurse (seconded by NHS to complete her degree at 40 years old) senior MH nurse, consultant nurse, home manager, area manager, national manager. She did switch from NHS to private sector to get the 6 figure salary - but not bad considering she started off as the cleaner.

I know someone who started as a cleaner in the NHS hospital, worked up to a pharmacy stock manager.

My son left school with less than sparkling gcses and got a job in morrisons. He's now one of the managers there and they'd like him to progress further. He basically always worked harder than he was expected to. There's no shame in working in any job.