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.

50K+ is not high, in any career, if you invest a few years working hard. The top rung in most professions would be paid much more than that.

(I’m only a trainee doctor, about 5 years away from being Consultant, and I earn just over 50K)

Good for you @5329871e but £50k is objectively high (the average person in the UK earns about £31k for full time work).

I'm also really not sure it is just a 'few years of hard work' to reach £50k for many people.

As a trainee doctor in most clinical specialities you don't get the choice not to do unsociable hours and weekends. But I certainly boosted my income as a junior from doing extra locum nights/weekends/weeks during leave etc. Can't remember at this long remove from that time what I earned though, but had a good lifestyle with luxury exotic holidays etc etc (didnt have any children then!).

It took me nearly 30 years to build my private practice reputation to the point where it overtook my NHS income, so not a quick way to very high earnings...and maybe impossible really if you start later in life.

I'm just under that as a biomedical scientist (top of band 6) with london weighting plus various extra shift allowances and bank payments.

DH is on 85K as a programmer, but would be well over 100K if he wanted in any way to get managerial (he doesn't)

Both of us have studied at postgraduate level and done many many years in our fields.

Partner earns 130K. Tech industry.

CMO (Chris marketing officer) £100k+

Chief! I pay other people to proofread thankfully!

I work for an ad agency in London and earn just over £70k - I am relatively senior so actually a bit underpaid for my role. This was a career change for me about ten years ago after spending my twenties in a creative but hideously underpaid sector. I didn't have any relevant experience but worked as an unpaid intern for a while and started in a very junior job on £21k. I also had an excellent degree from a prestigious university (though in an unrelated field).

Probably not terribly helpful for you as it is a very young industry and I think that it would be pretty tricky to get into if you are over 30. I was lucky that I looked very young - the person who hired me in my first job thought that I was in my early twenties when I was actually about to turn thirty.

@TakeMeToKernow most firms have banned the classic tweed red chinos now to be more ‘modern’ 😂

@MrsD28

I work for an ad agency in London and earn just over £70k - I am relatively senior so actually a bit underpaid for my role. This was a career change for me about ten years ago after spending my twenties in a creative but hideously underpaid sector. I didn't have any relevant experience but worked as an unpaid intern for a while and started in a very junior job on £21k. I also had an excellent degree from a prestigious university (though in an unrelated field).

Probably not terribly helpful for you as it is a very young industry and I think that it would be pretty tricky to get into if you are over 30. I was lucky that I looked very young - the person who hired me in my first job thought that I was in my early twenties when I was actually about to turn thirty.

I think it would be possible to get in, but you'd have to do the groundwork elsewhere -- taking on projects freelance until you'd gained the experience the agencies want. That's a bit of a gamble, but it probably beats applying for all of the junior roles against newly minted grads.

Finance Manager, Local Government in the NE, £60k. Have been in this role a few years but started this career when I was 22 (now mid 30s) so it wasn’t overnight, and I have 10 years PQE.

Region is context here - £50k is very decent where I live and I would struggle to push above it. Dearth of suitable roles too. I do envy people who 'fell into' or took a punt on an interesting job and it paid off. I feel a bit trapped, despite having a science-based doctorate!

Solicitor.

Solicitor (not London).

Haven’t read the full thread so may be repeating.

There are a LOT of programmes at the moment aimed at training women (often highly educated, more senior women who have had a career break or want a career change) in IT. Various different sorts of IT available, it’s not all coding.

Have a look at the Women Returners “Retraining” page here

Good tradesmen earn over 50K. My electrician and decorator certainly do.

260k communications

Started my own company so usually take home £150k for tax reasons

Senior manager, local government, scotland. I’ve got a specialised skill set but it’s not that hard although can be demanding at times and I’ve got career progression opportunities. I Feel like I do something useful too.

I do some part time associate work in HE too and actually earn more pro rata that way than in my day job now I think about it.

My husband earns just over 50k and he’s in the army. He’s just promoted to staff sergeant after 17 years serving. I earn just over 10k a year but working part time in a shop. Reading some of these professions is making me think I need to put my skills to some actual use!

@BasinHaircut

Civil servant Grade 7 - London. Well it’s just over £50k FTE but I only do 4 days so I’m on £40k so I’m lying really

I could do the same job in the private sector for double though so I wouldn’t recommend a move to the civil service for higher pay!

Same here!

Similar roles in totally private sector 10-20k more, consulting to gov as an employee 10-20k more, consulting to gov as a contractor... downright silly.

Benefits to civil service, whatever the grade, pension and job security. Community of people in similar roles across the orgs.

But like most jobs, they will take their pound of flesh plus paperwork, fear of bad press, not wanting to let the public down, constant police changes etc

I'm always staggered by these threads.
I would earn £50k if I was full time. I do accounts, not qualified (failed my papers).

Director of Education in a small pharmaceutical company. Salary approx 100K plus company equity and other bonuses. It's a great role and I'm extremely lucky to have it. I moved into it from HE, where I was paid a lot less and didn't have much autonomy (or fun!).
My DH earns 200+ as a programmer. He's a proper geeky weirdo who lives and breathes algorithms.

@Biscoffbiscou

Translator

in the UK? Doing into English or rarer combinations of languages? Do you have your own agency?

Sorry to say £50k salaries or income are not my experience at all.
The profession has many positives, but pay is not generally one.

Communications Manager in higher education on £50k. I’m very happy with that but it’s likely to stagnate unless I take on significantly more responsibility or move companies. I have a decent work/life balance at the moment so not keen to chase a promotion.