To ask women for the steps you took to get to 100k

[madasawethen]

If you're a woman making 100k or over, what steps did you take to get there.

Job title(it can be general like manager, solicitor)
Training
How long it took?
Any tips or advice for others who want to get there?

I no longer make 100k because quite frankly it's not worth it. I have a lot less stress and more job satisfaction on less than 30k.
• Job title - Director of Finance
• Training, mostly on the job, I started at 19 as a part time accounts assistant whilst doing my degree, once completed (age 21) promoted to financial controller, managing a few staff and handling more budgets, accounts etc. Promoted once again age 23 to finance manager, managing the department and overseeing all the budgets and accounts. Promoted 6 months later when my boss stepped down to director of finance. Left age 25 to embark on a teacher training course. End salary was just shy of £120k once bonuses etc were taken into account but my children matter more than money. I'm much happier now.

I'm a lawyer, not particularly senior yet but work in magic circle firm and that's just what they pay. Not entirely sure it's worth it though, my pay will keep going up but I work much longer hours than I would like, once I'm a few more years in I will ask for fixed reduced hours for which I would take a pay cut. I like the work and the firm but I want to have time for a life as well!

Sorry pressed send too soon, tips...
• Be relentless, you have to want that career, • Learn to be assertive, it will help you with your confidence levels,
• Take any training or CPD offered to you, I got all my accountancy qualifications paid for so the only student loans I needed were for my degree which I started before working.
• Do you have the mental strength to deal with the stress etc, I've seen many women get burnt out dealing with work, husbands and children.
• Why 100k?
• What career do you have in mind and what is your current career?
• Do you have any children, make sure they come first, you can strive in your career later on in life but your children are only young once.

Following out of interest

What's a magic circle company?

Degree in Modern Foreign Languages, 2 Postgrads that are not directly relevant to what I do, but helpful
Started out in a related technical field. Learned by doing (late 1980s).
Went freelance in 2005, have done a few formal training courses on things like relational databases and SQL in the interim.
I work in IT project/programme management as a freelancer.
However, I am in Europe and my USP was being an English native speaker with fluent (spoken and written) other languages.

Job title: Vice President, (insert specific area of biotechnology)
BSc, MSc and PhD all in relevant area of life sciences
~12 years academic research
senior role in big pharmaceutical company
move into biotech, where I've been for a decade

It took a long while to earn over £50k (I was about 44 by then), but have since been promoted twice and got to £100k by 50.

Tip: when things get difficult, plough on or move on.

Compliance manager. Always worked in Financial services (banking etc) as traditionally male domains always pay better than traditionally female. Trained in finance first, (accounting) then took jobs that interested me. Stayed about 4 years in each job, got high profile/well known companies on my cv. Always worked hard, but never really long hours (ie intense days, but finishing at 6). Got the best pay rises from changing companies rather than internal promotions. Always got on with people but never really networked or played politics as this didn’t play too my strengths. Stuck out sh1tty situations when really tempted to leave, ie always has a new good job to go to. Good luck.

What is your current career ?

I earned just under was on £98500 when I packed it all in.

I was CEO of a not for profit. Had the travel, the lifestyle, the salary ( I am based in north east).

I woke up at 3:50 every morning thinking about work. I had trouble getting to sleep at night thinking about work.
I thought about work when I was on holiday, I thought about work when I was having chemo.

I was fucking miserable in the end and took early retirement. 8 am not rich by any means, comfortable I suppose.
But I enjoy being alive.
I didn't for the last 5 years of my working life.

Honestly, I would roll my eyes when people said 'money isn't everything' when I was younger. .....it REALLY isnt😊

Name changed for this...

• Non tech leadership role in a tech company
• total earnings mid 6 figures

Tips:

• consider if same skills earn more in a different sector. Pre tech industry I earned 30-45k. Switched to a tech company and doubled that within 5 years.
• change company and negotiate. The biggest salary leaps come by changing company, not by rising up internally.
• I learned quite late that many high earners have significant bonuses or earn shares in a company, it's not through direct salary alone, around half can come in equity. Again, sector specific.
• advocate for yourself. What are you good at? What are you worth to them? How hard might you be to replace (remember recruitment firms could cost a company 20-30% of your salary to find your replacement, so it pays for a company to pay to keep you). "What would a man do?" - they'd ask for more.

I have worked my arse off, taken risks and worked in entrepreneurial and unstable industries, but it's been interesting and it brings me enormous pride to provide for my family in an uncertain world.

I'm a solicitor.

I got a 2:1 in law from a RG university, and a training contract that kicked in as soon as I'd passed my postgrad, so I've never had any sort of gap year. I worked in a law firm in the City for six years (two years of training, then another 4), and decided I wanted to move inhouse.

I found an inhouse role that felt absolutely right for me, and took a £20k pay cut to about £55k to do it (this was 15 years ago). That felt like a big gamble given that now-DH earns considerably less than I do, and we hadn't bought a house, but I did it anyway. Very quickly, the stressfree, quiet inhouse job changed as the business I worked for was preparing to be sold by its parent company, and I worked extraordinarily hard with no certainty that there'd be a job for me in the new business, to make that sale a success. I would start work at 9.45am and finish after 11pm, 5 nights a week, every week for literally years. I was 30ish, with no kids and DH never quibbled about my working hours, so I could do it.

The effort paid off, and I still work at that business - my salary is nearer £200k now, with bonus included. It can be stressful, and I still work hard, but I have two kids, one with SEN, and my role gives me enough flexibility to never miss a school play or parents' evening, and I'm a school governor too. DH works part-time from home, which means I can pull long hours as needed even though we don't have a nanny, and my parents who live 200 miles away are our primary childcare support. I don't think I have much balance, but at the moment it works for all of us.

Doctor

5 years undergrad
2 years foundation jobs
7 years specialty training

Exams exams exams (all at my own expense)
Fees for GMC, indemnity, college membership etc etc

Lots of sacrifices. A healthy bout of PTSD from working through covid.

Not sure it's worth it really

Director.

Joined a grad scheme after a first degree from a good uni. The company paid for my masters degree in a technical/financial discipline. I also did a professional qualification at the same time.

Gradually got promoted although got sidetracked for a while until I realised I found a better paid career track (fewer women!) just as interesting as the less well paid track and managed to slide over.

Moved companies after getting made redundant, got a big increase in salary and now on about £150k incl bonus.

Love my job, suits me very well and is extremely interesting, but it is quite pressured and stressful with lots of accountability for results (but so are lots of jobs).

My career path is quite outing so not posting it here but I now earn 7 figures and sold a business for considerably more a few years ago.

I got there by always saying yes. In all my jobs I took on extra responsibility often without reward, whether it was volunteering for the pupillage committee in my early days in chambers or taking on DEI responsibilities in an in house role.

When I was setting up my company I took a NED role to gain more experience which served me extremely well.

Someone told me to think of opportunities as rocks that you collect as you walk your career path. You don’t know that they’ll be useful and they can sometimes be burdensome to carry but at some point you have enough to build something meaningful.

Following… In engineering with no hope of earning anywhere near 100k so will watch with interest

Engineering/Architecture background. Two post grad degrees, stayed within the same company for years taking on various roles and responsibilities. Went into the senior management/head office side so not really doing a ‘technical’ role anymore. Moved companies for a big promotion (unfortunately it’s the only way where I work to get more, despite loving my previous company).

Relentless networking and horrendous unpaid overtime previously to get ahead. Very difficult with young children, but now the role has more flexibility. It seems the only ones who can get high salaries for site based roles (hours are incompatible with young children) seem to be older males with a full time stay at home wife. They also are very old school and favour the bums on seats approach - despite everything working well during covid. Also very unwilling to be flexible and change with the times. It’s very sad as I loved doing a more technical site role.

Director of a department in a financial technology and data company. Master's degree almost 20 years ago with a MBA more recently.

The one single thing that had the most impact on my salary was to change companies. I nearly doubled my salary and it allowed me to position myself as a more senior individual.

1. Be born intelligent, studious and academic.
2. Work hard at school and get high marks at A level
3. Go to an RG uni, get a 2:1
4. Join a "big 5 (now 4)" accounting firm at 21.
5. Pass association of chartered accountants (ACA) and gain 3 years of work experience to become a chartered accountant
6. Work hard, get promoted up the ranks, gain experience.
7. Be a work winner for my firm and deliver ever more work without doing it all myself by developing and recruiting staff.
8. Change firms if they don't value you.
9. Learn to handle stress.

Hours can vary. I've always started at 9-9.30am but can finish between 4.30pm and midnight depending on deadlines and workload.

I've taken 2 year long maternity leaves. I work 4 days. I used to leave at 4.30 2 days a week to get the dc and work late on Friday. I now WFH 3 or 4 days a week.

Learned to code. Took course. Got first job. Keep moving up ladder. Become Senior Developer.

I joined a couple of movements to encourage more women into tech, but the resistance is very exhausting. They often come along to taster sessions and free classes just to say "oh this is hard, I can't do it" and dismiss all our advice. It's weird. Like... Just try? You came along, after all!

Earn £100k plus. Work 4 days per week. Lawyer in a company. Not too stressful but then I have years of experience of making risk based decisions for clients. Was exceptionally stressful and long hours when younger. It helps to be very good at your job and I deliberately don’t do an even bigger job (prob double salary…) as that would be less compatible with kids.

@namechange100kQ Analysis perhaps? I've known some Business Analysts on brilliant salaries because the value they bring is the clear difference between a successful product and a flop. Yet I've heard outside of tech and software they can be treated appallingly. Same with UX Design.

Come to tech, people. We value you here.

Comms Director 100k plus
Good degree in MFL from RG University.
Joined grad scheme and climbed up the greasy pole. Relentless work. Made a lot of money for the company. A couple of strategic job moves, plus numerous company takeovers and I found myself with a rare skillset in a big organisation.

Eventually packed it all in because I couldn't stand toxic corporate culture any more. I once loved my job but right at the top I wasn't so keen any more.

I will keep the details vague but I work in investment management as a partner
path - studied math and economics and finance, joined an analyst program at a bank, worked my ass off, literally 100 hour weeks at times. Moved a few times (US, Asia) and changed jobs to buy side where I am now.

I make quite a lot, but still have to work long long hours. I have anxiety as well as sciatica. Have to travel a lot and put up with a lot of nonsense male behaviour. I am in late 30s.

Unfortunately this is not a career that you can get into as a mid-career person, it has a very defined path and high pressure so a lot don't make it to high levels, but even as a mid-level professional you would earn 100k+ easily.

My top tips:
don't be scared of the male dominated fields and don't opt out. I think A LOT of girls just don't see banking as a career options so don't even

General tips: be confident, I have interviewed both men and women for various positions and one big difference is that men are super confident about their abilities (even when they don't know something) whereas women sound meek and uncertain. Obviously it's a known fact, but still a huge hinderance to women's progress in workspace

Read “How women rise” for practical tips on behaviours.