To ask your salary, profession, location and years of experience

[Nosey77]

I know I am being really nosey and it's not very British to talk money. I was inspired by another thread where people are asking questions to all sorts of careers.

I was just wondering if people could take part and say what they do, how much they earn and where they are. Also, could you also provide advice on how to enter the profession and whether you recommend it. Thought this might be more u self than just go ogling as I get real life opinions and have found the other thread really insightful

Please let's not make anyone feel bad for what they are. I'll start

Retail assistant, 3 year, Leeds, £6.50ph. Whilst I actually enjoy it, I'm looking to leave. No advice needed - just hand in tour CVs

Admin in a accounting department of a large global company. £15K, but only been in this role for 4 months. Have done the work for 11 years on and off. Have a degree, but its not needed in this role.

Id love to help people in the NHS (paramedic, nurse, mental health, physio therapy are areas I am considering), but unsure how to go about it. Also not sure if its worth it in the current climate.

A bit of some of these salaries, but I realise that to get a big salary you have to work hard (harder than I want to) to get them. Ive had a fairly stress free work life so far without making any sacrifices so Im happy really.

Teacher - prep school
South East
£41,000 p.a + fee reduction
BSc + Pgce
15 yrs
Love it - creative and energetic and perfect for my school aged offspring

cookie not an unreasonable thought. My DH is often away for a couple of nights in the week, and usually gets home at or after bedtime for the youngest. I know he feels like he is missing out. I wouldn't like to do that, although the kids have been really difficult today and if you'd have asked me that at 3 pm I'd have gladly gone away for a month!

Lots of men and women find technology can make it easier - you leave work on time even if that looks bad and then once the children in bed or as needed you have your phone and email. I got up at 5am to work today (happily) as I'm busy with work.No live child is damaged thereby here as they are teenagers and will be sleeping late!

You have asked politely. I will politely, as Dizzee Rascal put it, plead the fifth.

Cookie a reasonable question if addressed to single parents of either sex. When DD was seven, I looked into boarding schools because I was paying someone at both ends of the school day to look after her - and her (private) school ran from 8am to 5.30pm - her father is in another country, pays no maintenance and has no contact. I'd been overseas and offered a great job in London (live in Kent) and needed to put a couple of years in to re-establish myself. After that I worked locally for several years on much less money, took contracts in London and the mortgage is paid off. In an ideal world I would have seen more than DD and like many others, suffered massive guilt thinking that I wasn't performing either role (accountant and mother) to the best of my abilities, missed pretty much every swimming gala/sports day/school play - but DD is well balanced, bright, I have (as someone above said) always valued weekends and holidays when she is my top priority. You do what you have to do, given your circumstances.

More of DD - not more than.

Yes, you do what you have to. In fact it is parents who are teachers who tend to miss every sports day. As a lawyer I never missed one as i am in charge of my time whereas their teacher father cannot just leave school and attend other school events so it is not always high earners who have the problem of going to school things. It can be the low paid who have less choice.

I work from home on many days including today and for myself now but those early very hard work first 10 - 15 years has paid off and all that commuting and in my view made the lives of our children better, not worse, not least because their parents are happy. Children tend to want a happy parent so parents should probably try to work out whatever works for them that achieves a reasonable balance with which they can live.

I would have seen more than DD and like many others, suffered massive guilt thinking that I wasn't performing either role (accountant and mother) to the best of my abilities

Yes you did an excellent job You did what most fathers are applauded for doing. But mothers ... < / irony on > oh well, they can't possibly like the situation, and of course they feel guilty, because oh yes, it's natural that men work for spondulicks and are praised, but women who work for spondulicks are asked "How do you feel as a mother?" < / irony off >

I object even to that question being asked, because it starts one feeling one should feel guilty. Then feel guilty for not feeling guilty.

Why won't some women give other women a break, ffs?

Also, in my own experience, I was the child of a large family (even back in those old days) with a SAHM. I always say that if I had been one of two children, or an only, and my mother ad worked outside the home, I would have seen more of her & had more time with her. I was widowed unexpectedly when my DS was 3. I had to work very long hours, but my job (university lecturer) has some flexibility, and as others say - weekends were always just him & me (and our extended family on both sides). He's a lovely, high achieving lad with beautiful manners & very balanced and self-confident. And he's very fond of his old mum.

So enough of the guilt-inducing questions, please!

Please explain how you can combine a high flying legal career working 8am to 8pm with being a mum?

Erm...wow! Plus everything hedges said.

I'll try to imagine your question wasn't as disingenuous and unpleasant as it sounds and give you are realistic answer.

First I have a great DH. He works much shorter hours and one of us is always home to see the DC in the evening.

Second I have an awesome nanny who manages the day to day running of the DC lives - organizing "play dates", shopping for uniform, getting them to and from ECAs. I also have a housekeeper who keeps on top of the house and cooks two meals a week.

Thirdly, despite seemingly working longer hours than many, I have an enormous amount of flexibility. So yes there may be nights when I'm on a conference call at 3am because somehow we need to make it work across three continents but I rarely miss a school performance, music exam or DC doctors appointment.

I did work part time for a few years. It's not a popular view but I genuinely felt it was the worst of both worlds.

On paper it was great, the reality was I dashed from the office to pick the DC up from school, ferry them in a frenzy for 2 hours, supervised homework whilst cooking dinner and trying to bung clothes in washing machine, yelled at DH to pick up milk and then pick up work again after 8pm when DC were asleep. Then spent weekend doing laundry and food shopping. All for 40% less salary.

Realizing that I could work for a FT salary and pay other people to do the domestic heavy lifting so that when I got home I could have quality time with the DC was a massive turning point.

I dare say I get to spend an awful lot more quality time with my DC than many.

But appreciate I'm being massively unreasonable for using that hideous phrase "quality time" not once but twice in last post

Please explain how you can combine a high flying legal career working 8am to 8pm with being a mum?

I don't believe for one minute you would ask a man that question.

High flying jobs and motherhood have always been possible if enough paid help can be employed.

I should say High flying jobs and parenthood!

Architect. London.
7 yrs experience. 7 yrs training.
36k

Starting to wonder why after reading other posts.

High flying jobs and motherhood have always been possible if enough paid help can be employed

And High flying jobs and fatherhood are always possible, usually because there's unpaid help ie a SAHM. Yet no-one blinks an eye; it's "normal."

Inhouse, yes ( re part time being a poisoned chalice) and these types of questions tend to show how much women are conditioned in sexist homes to assume women cannot earn a lot and have families and that then perpetuates itself. Mirian Gonzalez (London lawyer wife of Nick Clegg) put it well earlier this year - all she wants is what men have. Simple enough requirement.

By the way I never felt guilt which is unusual. I suppose the few days when you have to prize a toddler off your leg to leave the house and then it screams are hard but then it can be the same process when you want to go to the loo without the toddler attached to your leg and you don't work.

Can I also say that once the youngest children are teenagers it's all dead easy - work and family life or it is here. Today I have driven one to a tube station because I've no meetings and am working at home but other than that and emptying the dishwasher and washer there is nothing domestic to do or child related. I might well chat to the other one later on - yesterday he wanted my views on power and control of people and equality issues which I am always happy to share but my work will be uninterrupted by children today and it is much easier so when you decide if to carry on work when children are under 5 do also consider the 20 - 30 years of working life once your children are teenagers and older - that can be a golden age for many parents at peak earnings and career stage with fewer commitments at home when you reap the rewards of the harder time when the children were younger. Playing the longer game and considering what I hope in my case will be a 50 year career ( I am up to year 30 now as I started at 22, graduated at 20).

Anyway sticking with the original question/post
salary, profession, location and years of experience
Quite high, lawyer, London (moved from the NE where I grew up as more money and jobs in the SE just as 150 years before my ancestors moved to the booming NE England where there was work a plenty) years of experience 30.

MarchelineWhatNot From what I saw there was 1 PA earning £60k - all the rest of us are between £20-£35k- why are you shocked at this?

Telecoms Project Mgr
15 years
55k

Sorry have been so busy ! Thankyou again for all the participation

herethere that is my new favourite quote ! And I really think that is the route I'm going into now. Now, my research on that sector begins.

To anyone in finance, would I have to study accounting and do the professional exams (ACCA. ..) if ultimately I wanted to work in corporate finance or global transaction banking(those sorta of jobs as listed by herethere)? Do I need to start a new thread for this ? Lol

Human Resources Advisor in NZ
FTE equivalent to about 22K (if I'd stayed in the UK would be on at least 30K, if we'd moved to a bigger city such as Auckland or Wellington I'd have walked into a 40k role but we chose to move here for family)
Been in this field for about 12 years although basic admin/temping initially. Have 2 post-grad qualifications in this field. Would recommend it but only if you intend to live somewhere with decent population and business size as I am currently underutilised and to be honest a bit bored but decent roles are only full-time which isn't my preferred option at the moment.

nosey
It depends what branch of 'corporate finance' you want to work in. It is a wide industry.
Some parts would be ok with ACCA or similar, others would want CFA, which is much, much harder, and requires you to be either working in the industry or doing a relevant finance degree to be accepted onto the course.
Banking wouldn't want ACCA, and depending on what area, CFA would be desirable. But getting your foot in the door is going to be the hardest part.
Private equity will want you to have done 3 or 4 years with the M&A team of a major investment bank (sorry Hedge, but the days of them coming from Accounting backgrounds is long gone... It is M&A and an MBA these days...)

I don't want to out myself but I work for a company that is probably one of the most highly desired by people who want financial careers, and most of our associates come to us with masters or MBAs. Often our interns do as well, and we get hundreds of applications per place.

Investment banks now expect some sort of post-grad qualification as standard, preferably from one of the major European or US business schools (Insead, LBS, Harvard).

I don't know many people who have 'fallen' into those careers. The hours, the pressure, the type of work means you would probably have had your eye on it for a while and be reading the FT every day for fun. You need a mathmatical mind and not mind modeling on excel spreadsheets at 9pm on a saturday night

Starkers1 & MarchelineWhatNot - that would be me I earn over £60k and am a PA. I work for one individual 50% private and 50% business. I am on call for him 24.7 and deal with everything from his wives car breaking down on holiday to a staffing crisis at the office abroad which involves call at 8am, dropping what I am doing and getting on a plane. Its not for everyone but as someone said if you can afford it pay for help - I am the "help" Holidays basically mean I am not in the office but am still on call. The benefits are, as he knows I am available all the time, great - if life is quiet I can get away from the office and work from home get my hair done two lots of 3 week block of holiday, shares in the company, private health care and a fab pension.

Downside - every man I have met is extremely dismissive of a "secretary", thinks I sleep with the boss (yuck!) and finds the amount I earn and travel intimidating and that I must do more to earn that - . I have also excused myself from social engagements to deal with a "crisis" he can be a bit of drama queen!!!

I love what I do and have made IMO sacrifices in that never married/LTR or had a family as it would interrupt the career progression/have never met anyone who I have wanted to make compromises for - however I am financially secure and that gives me immense pride in myself.

What I do is not everyones cup of tea - but I love it!

xoxo