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?

There aren't many who make it to partner in a Big4 by 35 nowadays. I was one of the youngest in my peer group at 36. And definitely on well short of £360k a year.

Accountancy - you can be on 40k+ once qualified in industry in the north of England, so definitely higher salaries in the city. Tough to get into, although more Big 4s are taking those from different backgrounds.

I work in a support function within Big 4. My line manager is on about 45k and her boss around 70k. Both in regional offices, and we pay a premium in London. It's the sort of job that doesn't need a specific degree, more someone who is good at people management, project management, problem solving & building client relationships. I'm brand new to it and on around 30k.

DH is a mechanical engineer and earns 85k. Quite a few of his colleagues came into engineering later in life and from different routes. I did an arts degree and can't really get my head around what he does though.

Then don’t apply straight for a financial PR agency
Go for boutiques and specialists with a wider range of clients and start working on corporate accounts.

If you do that for 2 or 3 years, you could realistically start applying for the big corporate agencies with strong financial comms divisions

A degree is mostly a prequisite but university now is less important. Smart? Good. Oxbridge? Less so. Go out and grab your opportunities

I work in the city and am on a very good salary, I have an arts degree (and not a good one!). What they will pay for is experience/skills/ ability - it is not high pay for the sake of high pay. If you can present the sweet spot of skills/experience/ability, then you can get the pay, even in admin and back office roles. PR in the city is very different to lux goods for example because of the regulatory environment as well as the subject matter.

UMIST hasn't existed for about ten years Jakeyboy so not sure where your husband is finding these well rounded people.

PS OP you sound as if you you are hunting for a career that has an easy entry, there are some of these but (ordinarily) they all, without fail, require hours, dedication and loss. There is no shortcut I promise.

I'm literally just thinking out loud and seeking thoughts. Pipe dreams are allowed too.

Well goldman Sachs actively recruit from non finance backgrounds they are keen on the mind not the degree subject. Most of my high earning friends in the city are Bristol it durnham it Edinburgh grads actually! I’m on £££££ with a philosophy degree!

Look at fashion PR marketing etc but be prepared to start and bottom on a pittance and claw your way up. £100k salaries frequent but after 10 years not 2...

My best mate did a history degree .. has just started work with the ministry of defence on 30k a year and in 2 years upped to 50k

And that's her first grad job

DC has BA in politics, philosophy and economics and is an accountant with one of the big 4 firms.

Although I have an MA and am currently earning 15k .. this is an entry level leading to 60k employment after 2years...as I'm 22 this is fine by me .

No degree, went into accountancy as an apprentice. Ended up on £90k in the city but left at age 29 - there is a lot more to life than money. Now on less than half that wage but have so much more free time and a genuine work life balance.

Do you want 80k starting or to rise to that after years of experience? Don’t forget that working in the City means you need to pay London/ commuter house prices. Do you already live within commuting distance of London?

No, law is no longer an old boys’ network, in my firm (not magic circle but solid City) we don’t give interviewers details of the candidate’s university. Clients are demanding diversity these days.

Strategic illustration, a friend does this in City for big banks, salary over £100k

Big money Law isn’t necessarily an old boy network but it would require hugely expensive requalification, a hugely selective application process that is looking for the absolute best of the best, and for you then to work like a dog for ten years.

Much better to go for a less well known career - there are thousands of people in the city earning very good money despite the fact that even their spouses have not a scooby what it is they actually do.

For you, the most obvious route is to move sideways into financial PR and marketing, planning your moves step by step, year by year. Were you any good at PR? Did you enjoy it?

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.

They start wining and dining them from first year in particularly in Law

They also go to other universities but because of the proximity to London different city law firms will usually have some kind of social event at Oxbridge every couple of weeks.

I work in the city (though offshore at the moment). Banks are just large corporates so need all support functions - internal and external comms teams as well as PR specialists. Start at a more niche firm who appreciate ability to roll up sleeves and get stuff done over years of experience. Or consider going in through a Gov, regulatory agency (FCA, BoE) or trade association and then transfer later on with more financial services experience. You just need a coherent reason about why you are interested than money which I'm sure you have. There are also specialist post grad qualifications you can do around securities trading, investment management or financial advice which would help figure out whether you have any interest in the subject at all.
But there are plenty of other roles which don't need specialist qualifications - HR, supplier management, compliance (don't need to be a lawyer), risk etc. We have people from a wide range of backgrounds and in my immediate dept I don't think we have an oxbridge degree between us.

You won't get a job in an investment bank or anything of the sort with an Arts degree.

You'd need to take the CFA Level 1 at minimum.

MBA is useless if you have no relevant work experience.

I find these questions really odd. You can do anything "in the city". You can be a receptionist, HR manager, PR, office manager, accountant, lawyer, IT person, sales person, recruiter, insurance broker, anything.

It's just a bit of a non question really.

I work in financial services, have a law degree and came into financial services directly in my early 30s. I am from a non traditional background (first in family to uni) not a red Brick uni etc). There are routes in for arts and non oxbridge, main ones are graduate routes, management consultancy and accountancy or working in a key area (risk, compliance) in a smaller firm. You can come in from other industries at a later stage but we do tend to look for experience in big corporates and / or other regulated industries. I love my job, I work with brilliant and demanding people and I am paid very very well. BUT I live in London close to where I work so housing is expensive, childcare eats up 50% or more of my take home pay as a nanny is the only option and every week is a 60/70 hour week and even then you feel behind - I left work at 11 pm last night and I am off back in again now. You talk about not focusing in your 20s but it sounds like you had fun. I'm going to be honest I don't remember much of my 20s as I spent so much of it at work. They own your soul

I find it interesting knowing what's out there.

If you don't know anyone working in the city, it can all seem a little mysterious. Yes there are probably sites out there that explain how it all operates and all the difference functions but I chose to ask on Mumsnet because I like hearing from people who have opinions and offer interesting titbits of info here and there.

Christ am I not allowed a bit of dreaming? It's fun to have a think of gosh I wonder could I ever do anything well paid. The world of finance interests me far more than say fashion, hence asking about it.

As I said earlier I know I'm too old for most things anyway. I'm still able to chat about it and learn about it. I don't know what some of these things mentioned are ie strategic illustration, I enjoy hearing about things that are new to me.

I do actually think I will look into some of the corporate communications roles though. In agencies that also do other things.

Social science degree (from a good uni), then part time Real Estate masters while on a grad scheme for a real estate company in the City/West End. Chartered Surveying qualification, now early 30s and earn around £100K pa.

The real estate qualification did involve financial stuff but not CFA.

Or in my office there are marketing, PR, Comms, HR, Research, property management, and various other roles which you could get into from an arts degree. Community engagement for property developers is another one.