Can you do any careers in the city that earn a lot with an arts degree?

[Justpipedreamin]

If you are not an Oxbridge graduate, can you ever manage to get into a lucrative city career?

Maybe something like marketing, or business development?

I'm not very well versed in what the specific types of roles are apart from traders, who earn vast amounts. I don't even know where to research online that does an easy breakdown of different job types.

But surely the people who work for investment banks or hedge funds in other roles also earn very good money, even though it's a fraction of what traders make?

You could offer to draw those funny caricatures as people come out their work?

Yes, if you do a law conversion course.

That's two separate questions, isn't it? Almost all the people I know who work in the city are Humanities graduates (English, History, Classics, Law) and earn more than my Science graduate friends, but then I went to Oxbridge and so did they all, so I can't help with the non-Oxbridge part...

Many of my Classics graduate contemporaries make big city money (finance, corporate management, law). I chose a noble and poorly paid alternative. We were Oxbridge but there doesn’t seem to be any reason someone from another uni wouldn’t be able to do the same thing? I don’t know as I stayed friends with the ones I considered more interesting who don’t do that stuff, so I never met any non-Oxbridge friends of friends.

I don’t know as I stayed friends with the ones I considered more interesting who don’t do that stuff

Haha, so true!

History grad (many years ago), now chartered accountant.

And not Oxbridge, and came to a grad scheme a good decade later than my colleagues.

I hear it's usual for city firms to go to Oxbridge to meet students who are about to graduate, to cream off the young people they like and offer them internships with a view to a job offer.

Is the law not just an old boys club? If you don't know the right people, you won't get a foot in the door with magic circle firms?

How much would you consider a lot?

Accounting seems to be a good route for many.

You could maybe do admin in an investment bank with an Arts Degree.

If you're serious about it and want to work in finance go and get qualified.

A lot of money?

I'd consider anything over £80k a vast amount of money, really. Maybe that's not much for the world of investment banking and hedge fund management, but in terms of the rest of jobs out there, that's a big sum.

Things like pharma companies pay in that league too for lots of varied roles, but you need at least a BSc for virtually all of those.

Yes. Law conversion course. Get into a magic circle firm. Work all hours. Partner by 35.

Or you can start as a graduate at KPMG PWC etc with many degree subjects, not just finance. Partner at 35. £360 k a year. Boom.

You will work like a dog though. They own you.

I’ve got an Arts degree (in fact the artiest of all the arts degree, Fine Art).

I now earn peanuts (I own my own company, some excellent months some shitty ones), but I used to earn a decent salary (not mega loads, but comfortable) as a technical project manager (£55k) then delivery director (£85k) for a tech agency.

Get qualified in what though?!

Do you mean do an MBA or somesuch? Or law conversion as mentioned above?

Ok so My husband earns more than 80k he has an art degree (well two actually ) . He is a creative director in an animation studio.

Why investment banking? Is it just that you want to earn bags of money?

If you want high earnings as an employee, then learn to be a visual designer for apps. Have you heard of "user experience" design? Often abbreviated to UX. I know arts/humanities graduates who retrained as computer programmers. They can make a decent wage, particularly through short term contracts paid on daily rates.

You are unlikely to ever make seriously big money working for other people, even in an investment bank. You need to own your own business for that in my experience.

I'm an old fart in my 30's already so probably have to accept I will never be well paid.

Very interesting to hear all the different paths people can take if they figure their shit out early enough, though

Law conversion is basically an extra yr at Uni - Accountancy you go through a few yrs of exams whilst working. Law or accountancy are usually the two - I have the MBA but wld say Accountancy if you are numerate is possibly the better option from a dealing with numbers point of view - the other big money one is tax lawyer

It might be worth having a look at relationship management rather than sales (business development) - it won't bring in stellar cash but, if you are good at it, would certainly be a comfortable six-figures at some point up the ladder.

Traders don’t make the mega bucks they used to and the hours (and culture) are pretty awful. Plus the work is pretty repetitive

Financial PR/comms is vey well paid and the usual route would be a solid humanities degree, although there is a degree of flexibility if you show the right attributes

The starting salaries aren’t great - low 20s for a recent grad but if you’re good and work hard, you will progress quickly.
There is no reason you can’t be on six figures in your early 30s and then £150k+ as a partner of a good agency, or director of Comms in-House
The head of comms at a big bank or FTSE50 will be on £250k+

Much more civilised hours than law, investment banking or trading as well

My dad was a partner in PWC and always preferred graduates with arts degrees over, eg a BComm. I've no idea if that was a widely held view or just his idiosyncrasy.

It depends what you actually want to do? There are many different roles from Banker to accountant to HR to comms etc in the city but it depends what suits your skill set?

Some will want oxbridge but others more open minded and learning.

Whilst the oxbridge lot may be able to pick and choose other degrees will be more tailored to career eg -

Marketing, English, business studies or history for marketing and PR

Accountancy, business studies, maths, finance for many banking roles

My husband has recruited for people into the city though he's not in the city himself but in that world, he is blown away by the calibre of people out there but equally tries to look beyond just oxbridge skill set and finds people from Aston/Warwick/UMIST often more rounded.

@loveka

'You will work like a dog though. They own you.'

Yep. they're called 'lifers' for a reason. It's more than a little difficult to make partner. You give more than a pound of flesh and sacrifice a great deal in the process.

My background is in PR, but it's a weird mix of luxury beauty brands and charity clients. Plus it's all very low level stuff, I have no impressive portfolio.

I feel like I'd be laughed at by financial PR agencies. Maybe if I'd been more corporate, I'd have a shot there!

It's a shame, I wish I'd had this realisation about 10 years ago. Everyone cuts you more slack in your early twenties if you don't have a good career path outlined, but when you're the wrong side of thirty...well.