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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder how you get that amazing career

161 replies

Mrswhiskerson · 24/01/2011 23:17

There are a lot of people on here earning fifty k plus and I really admire them, a high flying career is what I have always wanted. i'M currently working as a clerical officer banking money filling in invoices on oracle etc and I am wondering what the next step is I want to have worked my
way into a really good well paidjob by the time ds is five , he is six months now. I would mostly like advice on what qualifications are best to take and what are the well paid jobs like? Is it having loads of money but no time ?

OP posts:
A1980 · 24/01/2011 23:27

What sort of job do you want?

That's a good starting point

MsKLo · 24/01/2011 23:34

Earning that much money definitely means you work very hard

bubblewrapped · 24/01/2011 23:37

It also means you have to know the right business environment.

Appletrees · 24/01/2011 23:39

Be an entrepreneur? Work very hard at school? Don't write application letters in the way you wrote your post, definitely!

(am always writing posts with no punctuation, lower case etc so am assumig you are being swift and lazy like me!)

FabbyChic · 24/01/2011 23:40

My son will leave uni this year going into what you call a well paid job.

He will start at 8am maybe 7am in the second largest international bank, he won't finish until 8pm maybe later.

The only spare time he will ever have will be weekends. When he was doing his inturnship he went in on weekends too.

The well paying jobs mean you have no free time, take work home, take calls at home, be constantly on call.

I've had one, causes burnout after ten years.

Appletrees · 24/01/2011 23:41

Can you do an OU in maths or something to impress on a CV.

Can you get some work experience during your holiday in the work environment you fancy, and not asking for pay, just to get your knees under and make contacts.

Appletrees · 24/01/2011 23:42

know what you want

research the job, research what's needed, research the company if applyig

Idlewild · 24/01/2011 23:45

Agree with MsKlo. It depends on what you do obviously, but in my experience you do have to make lots of sacrifices. In case of DH and I this means working most evenings and many weekends and taking work calls while on holiday.

Good for you being ambitious though, Good luck!

bubblewrapped · 24/01/2011 23:45

I could have been earning a fortune now, but I chose a life over a career, because in the job I did, a balance was not a possibility.

I sometimes miss it, but then I wouldnt have the happy home life that I have now.

I was fortunate to be a young employee when computers first appeared in the workplace, and I had a natural aptitude for programming.

BarbieLovesKen · 24/01/2011 23:46

Are OU courses not basically worthless though?

I really dont mean to offend anyone but I've heard time and time again that they are a complete waste of time and worth nothing really. (DH was going to do one so I was interested)

pombear · 24/01/2011 23:47

Dive in, ask the questions of the person who's advertising the job, even if you think you may not qualify completely for the job, contact them and talk to them. See what they want, and what sort of person they're looking for. I ended up in a bizarre career change simply because I contacted the person advertising the job I thought was interesting. Talked to them, admitted I didn't have all the qualifications needed in the advert, but was extremely keen. It has taken me, in the end, to a career path I'd never have imagined. Ask, talk, promote yourself and believe that there are opportunities out there - they just have to be sought, talked, and tweak yourself to suit them! This is not an 'hey, inspirational thread' type of post - I still pinch myself that I got there, but much of it was talking to the right people, and pure hard sweat in difficult roles.

DilysPrice · 24/01/2011 23:48

Know what you have to offer, and develop your USP.

tigerbear · 24/01/2011 23:53

OP - there are roles you could into without having to necessarily retrain. I spent 8 years working in recruitment and was on £35k basic plus commission - in my last job, this added up to another £15-20k per year. While I did have a degree, most of my colleagues didn't have any qualifications, and had worked their way up.

In recruitment, the sky is the limit - it depends on how much you want it, whether you're good at sales, as that's essentially what recruitment is, and be prepared to work in a cut throat environment.

If all you care about it the cash, then it's a good way to earn lots relatively quickly, however it is very stressful and I grew to hate it.

pombear · 24/01/2011 23:56

ooh, a double bear advice post! And to temper 'cut throat environment'....I work for a charity! (Waving to tigerbear - no competitive recruitment ad intended!)

tigerbear · 24/01/2011 23:58

:) Pombear

DilysPrice · 24/01/2011 23:59

Also, where do you live? - if you live within a reasonable commute of the City of London then with your existing skills this is a very realistic ambition, but you would have to work 9-5, going on 8-6 at the very least, and do you really want to do that now?
If you're based in (say) Devon then you'd need to be much more creative and lucky.

thebrownstuff · 24/01/2011 23:59

A bit of luck, hard work and preparing myself to take opportunity.

I started off my career in banking, cut my teeth on the front lines. Did an MBA at a top school, back to banking where I worked my behind off and now off the back off the blood and sweat, able to do very lucrative contract work from home, fitting around DCs and MN.

Decide what you want to do, get qualifications/training/experience that's necessary. Do a. lot. of. networking. pmbear is right, believe in yourself and go for it. I've been around the block and the only difference between selfmade/successful people and those that aren't is that the former did it and the latter didn't. Obviously some people get a head start but anyone can do it.

salsmum · 25/01/2011 00:02

This sounds like my job description, no time off, work from home in 'free' day off etc...Unfortunately I'm only an activities leader in large residential home. Unfortunately the wages are far from what I earn [bsad]

huddspur · 25/01/2011 00:05

Get a good education and a degree in a subject that is well regarded from a Russell Group University. Also once/if you get on a graduate scheme be prepared to work long hours and do everything that is asked of you.

macdoodle · 25/01/2011 00:05

Its a bit of a vague question TBH. What do you want to do? What do you enjoy doing? What training do you have?

I guess you could call me a high earner, I earn 50K+ and work part time. Yes I am lucky, but there was a lot of hard work involved. But I pretty much always knew what I wanted to do, its a vocation, and I still love what I do, it is more part of me than a career, I cant imagine doing anything else. I am a doctor (a GP).
I worked very hard at school, went to Uni for 6 years, then 3 years of intense junior doctor training, then I lost my focus, and travelled for a bit, working my way around. Until I found myself again, and worked hard again doing my GP training for 4 years. And gradually worked my way up the GP ladder to a partnership, adding other strings and training to my portfolio allowing me to do extra things to earn extra money.

So I finished school in 1988, and its only the last few years that I have got to where I am now.

OnEdge · 25/01/2011 00:09

Love what you do.

pombear · 25/01/2011 00:23

Ok Dilys has a fair point, fair do-es/does/dos (someone help me out here!) I live near London. But I'd love to live near the sea, to walk a dog on the beach every night, to not do the commute in every day. It's not all about choices, sometimes about what you have to do (single parent, got back up from crap situation, back on to feet, but feet unfortunately have to get on train to London!)

measure up your quality of life/quantity of life before you start to get pissed off with 50K people, why can't you? Do you really want to?!

coccyx · 25/01/2011 05:30

OU is not a waste of time and qualifications are not useless. Why would they be. In fact I think they are well earned as often people doing them are also working /raising a family at the same time

onceamai · 25/01/2011 05:38

How old are you? What qualifications do you have? What sort of childcare do you have access to.

Thirty years ago, without a degree, I started in the City as a secretary, quickly moved onto a syndicate desk and became a eurobond salesman. Think I just kept my head down and produced work quickly and accurately and had a sense of humour. I wasn't pushy but I was in at 7.45 and didn't gossip but was around when the people who had a say were around for a chat at a time when I wasn't expected to be working.

I knew it wasn't sustainable with a family though and after some years at home with the DC I went back to work locally in a uni. Started at the bottom in HR but have done my quals and an MBA in the last 8 years and am now a manager. Don't earn anything like I did but it's local, flexible, pays reasonably and very rewarding in other ways.

OnEdge · 25/01/2011 05:38

I can really identify with what macdoodle is saying. I can't imagine doing anything else and although it is very hard work, I feel like I don't work because I love it so much, it is part of me. If I won the lottery, I would still want to do it. (nursing)

There have been years of hard work in areas that I have disliked intensely at times, but now I have specialised and get huge satisfaction out of being able to help people with my expertise and years of experience.

There is no way that I could put this much effort into a job that I did not love. Also I am self employed, I think that helps I can not imagine working this hard only to line someone else's pocket. When it gets tricky or stressful, I just think about my family and it drives me forward.