Job with 50k salary... Feeling weird...

[Frostysunshine]

Okay so this is a strange one, I've nobody in RL to ask for advice, so I'll give you a brief back story... I'm having a bit of, what can only be described as, a quarter-life-crisis at the moment. I'm 25, I graduated from uni two years ago and have been working as a teacher since then. I enjoy my job, but I always have this niggling feeling that I will get bored of it eventually, and bored of the poor pay if I don't want to become a head teacher. But at the same time, I battle with the fact that relative to my parent and partner, it's decent and stable money (28k) and that I wouldn't be guaranteed this money if I left and did a non-teacher job. So basically I worry that if I leave i wouldn't know what to do or what I'd enjoy doing, and I would definitely have to take a pay-cut and may never out-earn what I do teaching anyway.

So to my feeling weird part... I was staying with a friend on the run-up to Christmas, who was telling us about someone who we went to uni with. We all went to a pretty low-rate uni, this person studied business there. After graduation, they were working in restaurants and bars, alongside a part time office job and applied for a job on a whim. They got the job and have ended up on 50k within a matter of months.
I can't put my finger on why it's impacted me so much, but I can't let it go. Not so much about them, but more-so about what the hell I'm doing with my life. My partner earns less than me, he's trying his best to persue promotion and we are scraping to buy a house together. I feel like I'm failing him and myself because I can't gun for a payrise/promotion in my job. I just can't let go of the fact that I could be earning 50k VS the reality check that I keep trying to give myself that it probably doesn't work that way for most people. I'm feeling like I'm failing to provide at the moment, and I'm worried that if I stick at this job I'm going to reach 30/40 and wonder what I could have done/been earning at this point. My degree is in education and psychology (regret), and so I feel like I'm pretty pigeon-holed.

I need some realistic advice because I can't let this go and I have nobody to ask who might offer helpful suggestions.

I'm hearing lots of local horror stories about teachers up the payscale being pushed out because of budget cuts, and how it's going to be harder to move up the payscale and through UPS because of these crappy busgets, and that worries me MASSIVELY

A lot of this is just noise there will always be a role for primary school teachers and the senior leadership roles. Being aware of the political environment is very important, but the skill is to identify what opportunities may arise from the changes as they occur.

I completely disagree this is just ‘noise’ as the replies on the current thread about teachers earning £47k show.

I trained for 3 years as a graphic designer and struggled to find a decent job at the end of my course. A friend of mine left school at 16 and went straight into an admin job at a government office. One day her supervisor asked her to knock up some leaflets for the office. Off the back of that she was promoted to their graphics department and was doing the exact job I’d trained for and earning superb money. All without student debt or any passion for the work.

I admit I was bitter at the time (not that I said anything to her) but learnt over the years that life is inherently Unfair and you have to make things happen yourself. There will always be those who sail through life with lucky breaks but for most of us it’s only persistence and hard work that will get us to our goals.

What general job (not specific eg a lawyer) would you walk into on £50k?- that's not realistic.

I work in an affluent industry and had promotions very quickly working extremely hard but it still took me 3 years to be on this.

Degree isn't relevant in my industry as long as you are creative, can write well, good tech skills. If I was you I'd try to think about your skill set and what you would be suited to, then pick an industry with good prospects.

frostysunshine I don't know where you are based but I managed to get up to 45k aged 27 by moving across to the private sector in inner london (to a very high performing popular big-name school - avoid small private schools as they are just as badly off as the state sector at the moment).
These schools have heads of department, year leader etc type roles even in the primary/prep age groups.
Plus I then do 11+ tutoring which can get up to £50 per hour, sometimes three times a week. Which even after tax, adds up.

Also agree with another PP who said don't actually believe everything you hear about others' salaries. I have a lot of friends in accounting, banking etc finance jobs who I assumed from their chat earned 200k or so. In reality, at this age, only one of two of them actually get that. Most are more on 50-100k. People exaggerate and it is easy to assume other jobs pay higher. Teaching, with the holidays (and opportunity to earn more in them if you want), stability and lack of travel or expectation to work ridiculous hours (many friends on 100k type salaries work until midnight most nights).

It more sounds like you had a wave of insecurity and normal jealous moment - I would not worry, just think about how to maximise your teaching salary with tutoring, promotion, job moves etc

OP, speaking as an older woman, and a previous manager of many women, in my experience one of the biggest hindrances is ourselves.
I know I am speaking very generally, but this has been my experience, we seem to be so afraid of failing that we don't put ourselves 'out there'. If a job requires 5 specific skills, and we have 4 of them, we focus on the 1 we don't have, instead of pushing the 4 we do have. Men (in my general experience) would look at the necessary skill set, and even if they have only 2 or 3 will go for it. I think it is becoming more equal now, as employers rely less on just an interview, but require psychometric tests, presentations etc., in speaking to a friend who interviews a lot, he says he finds women tend to prepare better, men still often fall back into their bullshit mode, thinking the gift of the gab will suffice.
OP, it doesn't necessarily matter where you got your degree or what it is, you have one; you have a lot of experience in a very demanding pressurised environment, where you have to deal with many different personalities, do not underestimate the skill of teaching, and how it can apply to other sectors.
Go for it.

It only matters if you hanker after a bigger house

OP talks about scraping to even buy a first house-so, like most people, I would imagine earning more will be a massive pull. Earning more makes things easier and more comfortable.

Be careful with teaching-read that other thread I mentioned carefully.

I’m in my 40s and have been teaching a long time-I have just got to £40k as I’m on UPS3. Nobody else on my school is allowed to go through threshold as our budget is so awful. Most are approaching 30 and are still on M4/5-they have simply stopped progressing up the pay scale. We have a head who isn’t going anywhere and a deputy who isn’t either-there are no TLRs as we have no money so there’s no scope for promotion. Many other schools (primary) are the same. If you do by some miracle get to MPS6 or higher, try looking at other teaching jobs-most ask for NQTs (as they have no money) so you are then stuck.

If you want to leave teaching-I would seriously look now at what else you can do. Grad schemes might still be keen if you’re only 2 years out of university.

Look into the job he got and the firm he is in. Follow on linked in, send in your CV, put feelers out to other companies. But if you seitch make sure it is something you want to do and you aren't just doing it for the higher pay. High pay is all good but you need to be happy and let's face it, you are on a great salary at the moment. Business is a very different career to teaching.

I work in IT, and we had a graduate scheme. It's not easy but if you get accepted you are guaranteed a decent wage with increases (as long as you hit targets), you work in all depts and at the end, if you're happy and the company are happy you can pick which dept you want to work in and are taken in full time. We've just had a lady join our team, full time as an IT project manager, she's got a degree in chemistry. She'll now be on something in the region if 50k with the ability to earn a lot more.

The jobs are out there op, but it's not always as easy as your friend found it. Also trust me, your salary isn't the be all and end all, there are more important things than money, such as work/life balance, feeling as though you are making a difference and enjoying what you do. I've just taken a drop of 25k per year and it's the best thing I've ever done. I'm soooo much happier

I've had an IT job paying your desired salary + and you can end up being called for issues evenings, weekends, holidays and spending a lot of your salary on childcare. You have to weigh up these factors - plenty of us go for the money and then scale it back, managing a team is not easy and brings different kinds of problems.

A quick google found this, I'm sure there are other such options around. The good ones will be very competitive so you would need to have worked out a story of why you deserve it.

http://getintotech.sky.com

How do you feel about your capacity to sell something, especially things which may not feel close to your heart ?

@fedup21 This is exactly my fear. The reality is that budgets are shocking, and this impacts teacher pay. I've got friends who are being told that they need to take on additional responsibilities (which once would have been SLT roles) to move through MPS. It's frightening, because it could get dramatically worse over the next decade, and I don't want to be filled with regret.

I've had a think about my skillset. I know I'm a good creative/factual writer and proof-reader, good at planning and organising, good at diplomatically working with others, I can use a computer, I'm social media savvy like everyone else my age. I know that I've got skills, but it's just being exposed to non-specific job roles in the first place, to know what's interesting and what isn't. I do look at local jobs, a lot of grad schemes near me are law/finance based which obviously isn't relevant to me.

I think that's what I found so poignant about this person getting a high paying job. We graduated from the same university with first class degrees, we coincidentally took the same A-levels, we are similar personality types, we even look similar! It just made me think what if.

I think you are being very sensible. Can you contact your university for any careers advice?

It's frightening, because it could get dramatically worse over the next decade, and I don't want to be filled with regret.

I don’t think there’s any ‘could’ about it, sadly. If you’re older or expensive, there is a very real danger of being managed out. I wish I’d done what you are considering. Actually, I wish I’d never done teaching in the first place!

Good luck!

@doadeer what industry do you work in, if you don't mind sharing?

You could look at civil service, particularly department for education and standards and testing agency. They also have media teams for marketing/social media.

Sure, I do marketing for tech companies in London. It sounds like your skill set would be suited to marketing. I write content for reports, websites, blogs, PR, social media; organise events either big trade shows or smoozy dinners; look at Web performance and analytics --- it's a really varied job. There's lots of career progression and amazing salaries

I'd also recommend looking at PR and marketing, especially for an industry that you have a personal interest in.

You studied different things - your pay scales will be different. Business is pretty broad whereas I suppose yours is a bit more narrow?

Considering your degree, why not train as an Educational Psychologist.

I know a couple of Ed Psychs and both earn well over 50k. One works privately earning 100k+.

I was going to suggest EP training, though do you need a straight Psych degree to do that? Is psychology and education different?

It’s a slog though-the doctorate is long and hard!

You don't get 50k at 25 without them wanting their pound of flesh. You do something you value and enjoy and you don't have the pressure of living up to the expectations of that kind of money. Relax !

I was on that by 27. At 24 I made 45K. They didn't want my flesh. It was an easy job just busy

Firstly it’s unusual to have a 50k job, especially at 25yo. Don’t compare yourself to others.

Secondly do you enjoy your job? Because if you do enjoy it then the combination of job satisfaction and stability and a decent enough wage is not to be sniffed at.

OP, I don't have a degree and I earn around that. You don't need a degree to do well; you need to work hard and take opportunities instead of letting them slip through your fingers. I doubled my salary in two years just by actually trying for real and not minding getting knocked back a few times.

Most people don't take chances. Most people don't try that much at work. (It might be that they have other stuff going on.) Just by applying for jobs, showing up, saying yes to things and really getting things done (all the WAY done), you can go pretty far.

It doesn't feel true at 25 but your life hasn't really started yet. Trust me. You've got so many opportunities right now and that doesn't last forever. Seize them.

But a 1st class degree no matter what subject would stand you in good stead for various graduate schemes. Especially with some transferable skills from a few years of teaching. My brother joined the civil service graduate scheme with a history degree and loves it.

Yes this person is making 50k a year but are they happy? Success isn't measured by how much money you make and mony doesn't bring you happiness.

I work for very little money (although I do get my bed and board provided for free) but I love my job and I am incredibly happy. I'll get a higher salary as I progress in my career but it won't ever be 50k a year. I couldn't care less and can't imagine doing anything different.

I think a lot of people are doing you a disservice by saying any high-paying job will suck the sole out of you. Some can, but so can plenty of minimum wage jobs.

I was on £55k by the age of 27. I’m 36 now and on just over twice that. Absolutely, I’ve worked hard but I’m quite senior now and have loads of flexibility. I started working in my industry at 21 and think the first ten years was where I worked the hardest in terms of hours and sweat. I’m now in a senior management role and am paid for my 15 years of experience, not for sitting at a desk from 9 to 5. I’m working today but am currently sitting on my couch while keeping an eye on my work phone. I have a conference call at 3 but will finish up after that. I’m working from home tomorrow too, and will probably do 10 until about 3pm. Next week will be manic and the hours will be a lot longer. Swings and roundabouts.

I got my job because I took risks. I moved 400 miles away to a city where I knew nobody. I took a slight pay cut to get into my current company because I saw opportunity for progression- and was fortunate that I was able to get promoted.

Personally, I’d never have gone in to teaching. I see it as a vocational role. Absolutely, there can be benefits in terms of the security, summers off etc but a lot of that stuff is more important at a different stage of life than it is for your typical 25 year old.

I think you need to take risks while you’re young, because once you’re tied down by mortgages and kids, it’s not as easy.