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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask what your high-paying jobs are?

289 replies

patienceandprudence · 26/09/2021 13:56

My DD is in uni doing History. We’re working class through and through, and while she we were chatting about jobs she said that more than anything she’d like to earn a good amount. I’ve no idea what to suggest and DD only came up with a role in the Civil Service.

I always see people on here with high-paying jobs. What could she do with a History degree?

OP posts:
maddening · 28/09/2021 16:39

She could follow academia, my Uncle is a Professor of English, as a v working class son of immigrants he got a 1st at UK uni, he got a scholarship to do his masters at Harvard, then completed his PhD back in UK and his doctorate and is a professor at a UK uni.

user265499 · 28/09/2021 16:46

@Thatsjustwhatithink to be fair it is a thread asking about high earners specifically, and whilst the median is £31k that does still mean there will be hundreds of thousands of people who earn more than that and it's not too unbelievable to think some will be on mumsnet and will be attracted to a thread like this.

maddening · 28/09/2021 16:46

Professors can be on £80k

TheKeatingFive · 28/09/2021 16:50

Professors can be on £80k

That may be. The job market nowadays is DIRE though.

I don't know anyone in my cohort of PhD grads who has a permanent job in academia, 10 years on.

My degree is English. But similar job prospects.

Thatsjustwhatithink · 28/09/2021 18:18

[quote user265499]@Thatsjustwhatithink to be fair it is a thread asking about high earners specifically, and whilst the median is £31k that does still mean there will be hundreds of thousands of people who earn more than that and it's not too unbelievable to think some will be on mumsnet and will be attracted to a thread like this.[/quote]
I thinks that completely correct, and I've offered up hopefully ways to be a higher earner. But realising that a large proportion of the population won't be is good expectation management.

user265499 · 28/09/2021 18:56

@Thatsjustwhatithink I know what you mean but I think I had the opposite upbringing, the expectation I'd earn just average so was never encouraged to look at salary or my options, I think it's great the OP and her daughter are thinking about it because it can be difficult to get to a high wage if you don't aim for it. History has a lot of options but does require some extra thought and experience to really utilise it.

allycat4 · 28/09/2021 19:52

Civil service has amazing pension, flexible working, job security etc! Work hard, reach DG or even perm sec level and you're sorted!

Anyoneforcoffee · 28/09/2021 21:06

@RobinPenguins

This is a really good video on having passion for what you do. It's something I completely agree with. And I say that as a tax lawyer. 😂

twitter.com/goodtaxtakes/status/1441912980703092737?s=21

Hard agree with this!

And third agree!
VestaTilley · 28/09/2021 21:38

@patienceandprudence six figure jobs do exist outside London - Head Teachers, hospital consultants, directors of companies (eg Finance Director), CEOs of medium/large companies, senior execs in local government - but graduate entry for most graduate schemes is around £27k.

She’ll need to work hard and graft for years to get a six figure salary- unless she’s doing History at Oxbridge then does a law conversion and gets a training contract with a magic circle firm.

She should aim high though- plenty of working class people earning shed loads nowadays!

citycitycity · 29/09/2021 14:00

@Rannva can you recommend and courses?

CecilieRose · 30/09/2021 11:35

I'm surprised people are saying about software devs being in demand from bootcamps. I did one several years back and didn't really get anywhere with it. Perhaps it was bad timing but it felt like the market was getting really saturated at the time. I was decent at React, also had some back end skills and could build apps on my own but was made to feel at interviews like it wasn't enough and I wasn't good enough.

wink1970 · 30/09/2021 12:00

Not surprised that only 1 person has mentioned Sales, as it is often looked down on, but big-ticket/long-game sales is very highly paid, and is more about technical knowledge than phone bashing.

£190k here (bad year last year)

MynahBird · 30/09/2021 12:17

Interestingly, I have a history degree and work in an education role. My base salary is 125K with various bonuses. I did have to leave the arts behind to achieve this though; I work in biotech.

TheKeatingFive · 30/09/2021 12:23

Not surprised that only 1 person has mentioned Sales, as it is often looked down on, but big-ticket/long-game sales is very highly paid, and is more about technical knowledge than phone bashing.

Totally agree with this, Sales is a brilliant option if you have the right personality

LaProcureure · 30/09/2021 13:29

I agree that Law is a good option, but go for the Bar instead! As long as she has good A levels and a good degree, then after conversion and the BPTC (only 2 years together) it’s perfectly possible to get into chambers and again perfectly possible to earn over £100k even outside London as long as you don’t do crime! She’d have to work hard, but at least it’s for yourself and you don’t have to sell your soul to a big corporation to make the money (most barristers are self-employed).

And after ten years or so, if she’s had enough, she can go to the Bench and get herself a decent pension…

CecilieRose · 30/09/2021 16:19

@wink1970

Not surprised that only 1 person has mentioned Sales, as it is often looked down on, but big-ticket/long-game sales is very highly paid, and is more about technical knowledge than phone bashing.

£190k here (bad year last year)

I'd like to know more about this.

I'm quite shocked at the salaries on this thread. I graduated with a good degree from a decent uni but just flailed from one poorly paid job to another until my early thirties. Any attempt to apply for something better just got me nowhere, so that just further fuelled my belief I was rubbish and that good money wasn't possible.

Flowersandjellybeans · 30/09/2021 16:23

History is a sound generic degree that a good score and some interesting extracurricular activities should place her well for entry on to grad schemes. I’d look at the larger companies you get a really well rounded experience across multiple business areas.

I’m biased as I work in it but IT is generally in demand, well paid and there are lots of interesting creative routes; product manager, scrum master etc not just IT helpdesk or software engineering

wink1970 · 01/10/2021 16:01

@CecilieRose you're welcome to PM me.

CosmicUnicorn · 02/10/2021 16:05

25 years in the NHS and I’ve only just reached £40k. 1st class BSc and MSc with numerous qualifications in quality management. Referred to as a senior manager but my pathetic salary, for what I’ve done and still do, makes me want to cry a river when I read some of these posts. I’m 49.

CosmicUnicorn · 02/10/2021 16:06

PS. My 13 year old daughter wants to do law!

Xenia · 02/10/2021 16:10

Law. I chose commercial law when I was about age 14 (!) so it was long in the planning and then I chose London for work and specific types of firms. It was a long process. With a history degree in year 2 of her dwegree she would apply to law firms as they recruit years ahead - this is the biggest mistake potential lawyers make - not choosing to read the firms' websites in year 1 and 2 at university! If she is good enough she will get a paid vacation scheme if she wants to be a solicitor and then they may recruit her as a trainee and pay for her 1.5 - 2 years between graduating and doing courses and SQE1 and 2 exams and then after that they will pay her for the 2 years she is a trainee. In all from leaving school that will take about just under 7 years to qualify and then you are starting in a sense at the bottom but work up from there.

Shiloh139 · 02/10/2021 16:25

I'd also suggest a law conversion course once she's graduated. History is seen as a very 'respectable' degree to have to then go on conversion course.

She'd need to be careful which areas of law she specialises in if a high salary is the primary goal. So unless she does very well and reaches the top of her game, she'd want to avoid typically lower paying areas such as probate, conveyancing, criminal (legal aid fees are dire yet the hours are horrendous), Personal injury. Not sure about family and employment. The commercial/business side of law is where you get better salaries eg commercial litigation, finance, corporate work. Doesn't have to be London to get the big bucks - a good city firm or good niche specialist firm will still pay well with less of a beasting than you'll face in a London City firm or US firm in London.

Vgbeat · 03/10/2021 23:45

My hb is in it security, he's now in 6 figures and no where near London.

Newmumatlast · 04/10/2021 07:59

@XelaM

A lot to me would be six figures.

My brother is in IT and the starting salary for IT specialists is eye-watering. He is 10 years younger than me and earns more (and I'm a high earner)

Depends with IT. There are also alot of IT starting salaries that are very very average. Same with law and things like marketing. But on the flip side all are areas where there are also people making big money.

I would say engineering, law, IT, marketing/PR, medicine, and anything related to construction. But within those think about specialist area. Anything more niche or away from public sector pay will be higher.

I also think it depends on what high paying is. I always thought high paying would be earning more than my Dad and I achieved that relatively early into my career so to me I've succeeded even if I never earn more. When a colleague once told me they would be devastated if they only ever earned 50k I was very Hmm - but they came from a background where everyone they knew was on six figures and I was working class so 40k was an unthinkable sum.

Newmumatlast · 04/10/2021 08:17

@sst1234

All the people recommending Law are forgetting she is studying History.
Conversion course.... a surprising number of lawyers have non law degrees then do conversions. Wouldnt be surprised if around 50%