To ask what your job is if you earn £50k plus

[CareerInspirationRequired]

Just that really!

I'm in a job that I fell into many years ago. Its OK but I'm bored. It's a professional job that many people would think earns about twice what it does. I'm on approx 30k (people are always shocked to learn this) and will be forever in this job (no real promotion open to me). Its a sector a LOT of people want to work in and in which some people will work for free. The result is we are actually paid very little - and people outside the sector are always shocked by this.

I'm considering a career change, but have no ideas what to. So if you're earning 50k plus sell me hour career. I have a degree, an MA and I'm sure lots of transferable skills.

Senior manager in the NHS

Can you not stay with the sector but seek promotion through the same or another institution OP?

Self employed.

Organisational Development/early careers/learning and development. Part of a wider HR team. 30 years experience.

Most people start with an admin type role in HR, then do level 3 and 5 qualifications and move up to advisor level, then possibly a level 7 for a managers or head of dept role.

Love my job - wfh and very flexible.

Freelance copywriter and creative. I bring home anywhere between £55k-£90k a year.

My side hustle 🙃

I find the sector difference for similar roles interesting. Equivalent professional roles from care to retail to health to financial services (can argue about relative positioning) pay wildly differently though the expectations and stress may vary.

Business Analyst, northern city.

Do you have a PhD OP? And are working as an academic? In that case I would have expected. a higher salary, certainly you can progress to eg senior lecturer. If that is your background, at the research end of things, then former academics I know have tended to go into 'industry' of their related field. Social science is broad. Civil Service or local government may be options, or senior level in community or charity sector. But the 'best' way would be making a link with what you've been doing.

People I know who are high earners all had about 10 years experience before making 'big' money, or else came in through grad schemes with impression qualifications. Realistically, even if you have a great degree, I think its unlikely that with 20 years work experience you'd walk into one of those schemes, the indirect age discrimination is too strong.

So: accountant, solicitor, data scientist (has science based PhD), computer/IT specialists (relevant degrees and basically years and years of experience becoming more and more specialised), senior management in charity sector (that took about 20 years experience though). Essentially you either need a career where you can earn a lot a few years in, and they often do need tremendous aptitude, like IT, or one you can transfer into at management level where your experience is relevant.

I had one friend who worked as a research coordinator in higher education, didn't have a PhD but v experienced. She went into the civil service at a senior level and has since been promoted twice and is loving it and earning v well.

IT usually pays pretty well. I work as a Sr. Account Executive (sales) and if I meet my quarterly targets I will earn a tidy sum. If I don't meet my targets I can be quickly out of a job though!

I’m a senior executive assistant at a hedge fund, salary is 67k, bonus typically in the region of 25-30k.

@Lapsidasicle

Social research consulting. Public sector clients.

Social science background, I work with academics in the social sciences on a lot of my projects (they freelance outside HE).

Thanks for the suggestion. How do you get into that and what does it involve? I don't have coding skills, but have flirted a bit with SQL and covered stats and research methods for 3 years as a part of my undergraduate course. My skills are a bit rusty from my degree (was about 10 years ago) and kids have killed my brain a bit, but I think it is more to do with being in a rut and being bored. I definitely feel a bit like I'm spreading myself thinly at the moment, but I'm also on autopilot most of the time and need a boost from trying something new.

I should have stayed on and did a doctorate (I was got the highest grade in the year, but couldn't afford an MSc) and I miss the other aspects of my undergraduate degree. My peers have all done much better than me too, so I have totally underachieved!

We both have healthcare related jobs. I get approx 75k for 60 hours a week with loads of oncalls etc and never really stop, the other half gets a few quid under 50k to work from home 35 hours a week flexibly and once the laptop is off it’s off.

Do look closely at how much a role will take over the rest of your life.

The quality of life affordable for a sum varies hugely depending where you live. We are very comfortable on a combined income of 125k in Northern Ireland, we wouldn’t take jobs in the south east without at least wanting to double that.

Run my own business within the creative sector, own other businesses with dh in construction, both earn £100k each. We limit it to £100K so we pay higher rate tax but not additional rate. London.

Sales Director - £100k, age 48
No A levels, no degree, just a lot of experience, hard work and some decent raises from being poached, although only worked for 5 companies over 33 years and same one for the last 17

I've taken on ex academics as marketing writers as they tend to be experts in their fields. So if you are a strong writer, it might be worth considering getting a few freelance assignments to see how you feel about that? While many writers don't get paid well, those willing to work hard to retrain are always in demand.

IT in a customer management role for £72k. If you work for one of the bigger tech companies the benefits structure and pay can be pretty generous and the hours are flexible. However on the flip side there’s an expectation to work out of hours, weekends etc without any overtime when required. Basically you have to live your job.
DH is in IT sales, minimum of 80k basic but if you don’t meet targets you don’t tend to last very long.

Running your own business has amazing rewards if you put in tons of work, e.g. working 100hrs a week and reinvesting most profits for the first 5 years. After that taking a Sunday off every week.

We own asset rich companies that are now worth in the region of £35m. Employ over 100 staff. Built up over 13 years from an initial investment of £50K that was half savings and half borrowing on credit card.

@TheyWentToSeaInASieve interested for a family member. What's the market structure for reputable freelance work, please? Is it through agents or some form of intermediary/online market?

It sounds as though you have a pretty identical job to me OP.

How do other universities compare in terms of salary for your role? The university I work at seems to pay considerably more than others (excluding London universities) - one of the reasons I have remained here for over 16 years now and not taken up roles elsewhere. Could you move to a similar role in another institution for a pay rise?

Do you have a transferable skill (i.e. data analysis, experience with policy etc)? Or a specific area of interest/research you mainly focus on which might relate to other employers?

I have decided to take the leap from academia (mainly due to uncertainty over contracts which I just can't bear living with any longer). The Civil Service seems to have a lot of roles which I could certainly use my current skills in - social researchers, data analysts, roles in policy - salaries ranging from 30k upwards depending on grade (and I gather there's more opportunity to move upwards than in academia - this is certainly the case for me anyway). They also have departments specific to my research areas so I can remain working in an area I'm interested in.

Technology Consultant

I’m a facilities manager fell into it by accident four years ago. I used be a administrator/PA. it’s hard work due to sheer volume of work but I love it

@DIYandEatCake

I have to admit, I’m reading this thread utterly gobsmacked. I honestly had no idea so many people earned so much. It must feel amazing to have so much money coming in. We’re comfortably off (partner and I earning around the figure being discussed between us, no debts, own house, savings), but are careful and haven’t had a foreign holiday for over 10 years etc etc. Starting to think I should seriously think about sorting my (non-existent) career out - mind slightly blown this morning!

@DIYandEatCake I’ve been wanting to change career for a while, my specialist expertise is going to be no use at all in a few years time. There’s no potential to earn a lot in my industry either unless you go into sales.

I’ve just applied for a course on the code first girls site.

@thedancingbear

Embezzler. Varies from year to year.

😂

In London it's reasonably easy to earn £50k-£60k in HE, e.g. as a Department Manager or as an area specialist, e.g. financial support, assessment misconduct, timetabling, REF. I think it can be harder to move beyond that but plenty of roles at that sort of level.