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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if you earn £50K+ what do you do?

545 replies

Poppi89 · 30/03/2020 18:51

I have seen a lot of posts on here where people say how much they earn and I am shocked how many people earn over £50K, so I was just wondering what it is that you do?

Also, do you think it is more important to have a high income or a job that you enjoy?

OP posts:
cuckooplusone · 31/03/2020 20:57

Finance director in education, I work with a great team and enjoy my job

Gobbycop · 31/03/2020 20:59

I'm a cop.

With overtime I've earned 50k, it's normally in the 40s.

BunnytheBee · 31/03/2020 21:02

I’m a lawyer and earn £50K. I love my job. I really enjoy it. I know I’m incredibly lucky in that sense.

TheClitterati · 31/03/2020 21:07

I manage producers. I enjoy my job & it is family friendly.

Original poster
Poppi89 · 31/03/2020 21:42

@Fizzorgin I should have maybe started this thread before January!! Grin
Probably not the best time when everyone's jobs have become 1000X more stressful

OP posts:
sandalsinthebin · 31/03/2020 22:11

Another software developer here. Been doing it for 15 years in a niche area. I earn 60k. I could earn perhaps 2 or 3 times that if I went contracting but I don't want the potential stress, constant travel and being away from home. It's ok as jobs go but it is so boring sometimes. I sort of fell into this career. If I had my time again I'd be a midwife.

Piglet89 · 31/03/2020 22:22

Lawyer - financial services company.

I wanted to be an actor, really - but my parents insisted on my studying academic subjects at school. They vetoed my choice to do GCSE drama.

I do like the intellectual challenge of my job but the company is UNBELIEVABLY tight.

sst1234 · 31/03/2020 22:23

A slightly different view which some may find controversial....if you are a high earner, it’s more luck than hard work or talent. I don’t mean to put anyone off from hard work because luck alone won’t suffice if you are not prepared to persevere with resilience. But....being in the right place at the right time matters far more than hard work or talent.

KimchiLaLa · 31/03/2020 22:25

I earn 60k as a PR manager and I don't see it as a high salary. Husband is a banker and in that context it's a pretty shite one

BunnytheBee · 31/03/2020 22:28

if you are a high earner, it’s more luck than hard work or talent

What a ridiculous statement! I think luck comes into most things but you can’t say it’s more luck, for example, every lawyer in our office might earn at least 40k going up to £150k plus. Every secretary might earn max £25. There might be some luck involved (I think I’m lucky to work where I do as I’ve worked at places that pay less) but the main difference is the education, qualifications and experience.

maddy68 · 31/03/2020 22:29

Assistant head

.hate it. Not worth the money. Completely looking to get out asap

nowaitaminute · 31/03/2020 22:36

if you are a high earner, it’s more luck than hard work or talent

Or a simple answer of working up the pay scales I'm a teacher...and every year my pay goes up regardless...10 years on the scale and I'm on over 52k that's not luck it's logic Hmm

sst1234 · 31/03/2020 22:37

It’s not ridiculous, it’s a viewpoint. Ever heard of someone having an opinion different to yours?

Original poster
Poppi89 · 31/03/2020 22:48

@maddy68 Do you know what you want to do next?

OP posts:
LemonSock · 31/03/2020 22:54

Nonsense, @sst1234. I’m a senior academic. To get to where I am, I did four degrees and a post-doc, published, applied for jobs, moved around a bit on short-term contracts, published more, got a tenured position, and have been gradually working my up from senior lecturer to Reader to Associate Professor to Professor. Being in the right place at the right time is not something that has contributed.

BunnytheBee · 31/03/2020 22:55

It’s not ridiculous, it’s a viewpoint. Ever heard of someone having an opinion different to yours?

You presented it as if you thought it were fact or a rule its more luck than talent as if that’s always the case when obviously isn’t. That’s what made it ridiculous. There would have been nothing wrong with saying that you had become a high earner through luck or you know many people who had but just generalise massively.

mochajoes · 31/03/2020 23:08

I do see the luck angle. I was lucky that I was born to parents who had the time & resources to ensure I had a good education, opportunity to succeed & the knowledge of what's out there. Yes hard work is needed to succeed but opportunity is not so easy to engineer. There's a reason my dcs outstanding primary has a 200 metre catchment.

LemonSock · 31/03/2020 23:14

My parents are functionally illiterate, and tried to dissuade me from university — my school hadn’t sent anyone to university in years. I suppose I was ‘lucky’ in that I was born at a time when it was illegal to take your child out of school at 12, as both my parents were.

missyoumuch · 01/04/2020 02:44

Why when asked what YOU do, tell us about your DH?

I was wondering the same thing. Not interested in hearing about people's DH especially comments about how great it is as a wife to spend all the money Hmm

if you are a high earner, it’s more luck than hard work or talent
There is a luck element - if you're raised in a stable household with educated professional parents, the chances that you will follow the same path are far higher.

However I have friends who came from the same sort of background as I did, same level of education, but chose to work in education or the charitable sector. They obviously earn far less than those who went into corporate law or finance. It's not a luck issue - they chose the career path that they wanted to, and it happens to be one that tends to pay less.

CookieDoughKid · 01/04/2020 08:03

If you are a high earner, it’s more luck than hard work or talent

I didn't do two degrees, have 20years of industry experience and get through 7 interviews and a presentation round to 5 people by luck to get my current job especially as my first degree was 2:2. It's down to sheer graft, studying late at night to get the latest industry certification and making use of my network for job opportunities and proactively ringing round to see what's available.

The luck I had was at school when a Maths teacher decided to give me free lessons after school to tutor me as my English was poor being a refugee and it was Maths that got me to where I am today.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 01/04/2020 08:26

sst1234
There is an element of luck but like others I think you have over emphasised it. Yes I am lucky to have been born into a home where there was enough food, where education was valued, in a stable country.
However, I didn’t feel lucky to lose a parent as a teenager, luck didn’t make me do my degrees or professional qualifications, nor move away from my home city to London to find work.
It’s a damn sight easier to be in the right place at the right time if you have acquired the skills and experience people are looking for.

bingoitsadingo · 01/04/2020 08:28

I assume people talk about their husbands because they assume the OP was interested in which jobs pay well, regardless of sex. Not that hard is it Confused

mochajoes · 01/04/2020 08:37

Unfortunately @bingoitsadingo we have a gender pay gap & women are very underrepresented in high earning jobs so I do it's a bit irrelevant to talk about what men earn in the jobs they do.

mochajoes · 01/04/2020 08:38

do think!

missyoumuch · 01/04/2020 10:02

@mochajoes exactly. As a mother I am interested to learn what other women particularly mothers do to reach and achieve a high income. Men have a totally different path and fewer obstacles related to becoming a parent. Very different circumstances honestly.