To ask what you do for a living and how much you earn?

[Kallo3]

Just being nosey really, I feel like most of the women on mumsnet are really big earners. I need help managing my money a bit better I think.

It is sad that there is so much disbelief. I'll honestly tell people that my current role is a mixture of qualifications, experience, and luck. Luck in that the job that led to this one unexpectedly gave me a lot of knowledge of a very niche area that allowed me to progress upwards quicker than I would have, if at all, otherwise. My mum actually did similar, I don't come from a family of millionaires, we all work/ed for what we have.

Agreed

really struggle with this - there really seems to be a view here that women can’t have earning power

Shock horror - women do work in traditionally male dominated sectors and they can earn a good salary

That is outrageous, you are invaluable. I'm in Scotland so the support roles are different but on behalf of teachers I than you and could not do my job with you and your colleagues x

I don't think any of the above comments are anything like you've described

IT project coordinator £39k

sales £13.50 ph plus commission plus pretty good benefits.

I don’t think people are lying. The salaries people are quoting sound perfect reasonable for the industries they are in. What’s more concerning is that peoples expectations of salaries are so low they don’t believe women can be high earners

Headteacher, secondary school £102k

I wish we could do an AMA with a London/Surrey mortgage broker (i.e. who sees salaries regularly) to quash the idea that big salaries are made up.

I wish we could do an AMA with a London/Surrey mortgage broker (i.e. who sees salaries regularly) to quash the idea that big salaries are made up.

Senior academic 42k. Plus the odd couple of pennies from a book that I wrote a chapter in.

I wish id had this knowledge before choosing a public sector job. I had zero careers advice.

Me too, 24 hrs 7 days a week every day of the year.

How many years were you a teacher?

I find them quite motivational, tbh.

I graduated into the 2008 financial crisis and had an absolutely shit time for nearly a decade. I genuinely just started to feel like I could never make more than £25K, that all my academic achievements meant nothing, that there was no way out. It wasn't until I broke up with a long term partner and ended up flat sharing and meeting new people through that that I realised how accessible so many careers are if you understand how to sell yourself. I'm autistic and really just didn't get how to do that. The minute I got even a little bit of support, from friends and a disability advisor, I doubled my salary within six months by changing career. And a mean a really bare minimum level of support - having someone to read through my CV and cover letter and give me tips about what to mention in the interview. I'd never had even that ever before.

When everyone around you is in dead end jobs making shit money, it can be really hard to see how to move beyond that. I enjoy reading about what other people earn and what they do. I think we should talk about money, salaries and careers much more than we do. Keeping quiet about it results in entrenched privilege and people, especially minority groups, not aiming high because they don't think it's realistic.

Now I see that it was completely possible for me to have been on over 80K by the time I was 35. I'm intelligent and I have the skills and qualifications to back up that kind of salary. I just didn't think I could. People who grow up with wealth and privilege just expect to be paid well. People who grow up poor feel grateful to be even a bit richer and feel cheeky asking for even a small payrise. This keeps poor people 'in their place' and keeps entitled rich people in cushy jobs, earning excellent money for doing fck all.

Rant over :D

Senior scientist (Instrumentation specialist) in a pharma lab - £31k.

For the folks who think people are lying because you don't see it in your circle, this is the ultimate result, I wish there was a way to improve transparency.

Don’t be so obtuse. What a wanky comment.

This.

I spent my entire twenties being fed bullshit about how I couldn't expect to do much better. About how you need to work ridiculous hours with crazy pressure if you want to be paid well. It's all absolute crock designed to keep poor people, especially poor women, in their place.

It wasn't until I hit 30 that I realised just how many people are paid a shit ton of money for doing very, very little.

Book publishing freelancer. About £40k, slightly variable year on year. No paid hols/sick pay/pension/other perks, obviously.

Absolutely- I used to work in professional services and there are lots of women earning six figures (including me before I took a step back). It’s ridiculous that some people on mn think it’s only men that can earn well.

@LilyMarshall Me too. I work in payroll so have an idea what people around me make. However, I also live in Northern Ireland and salaries are pretty low here. While most people on my payrolls earn more than me, none of them earn close to the larger numbers quoted on here.

(I earn £25k from my main job as assistant accountant, but I earn £6k more from my second job (also payroll/accounts).

Public sector back office administration, shift work, no supervisory responsibilities, 20 years experience. Just shy of £30k

I have A levels and didn't go to university I drifted into this job, but it's very flexible around childcare, and the pension is so good I can never leave...

I earn around £36k as a self employed music teacher working in schools and at home. Around 30 hours a week for max 36 weeks a year.

25 years ago I had a £40k salary package working for an oil company based in London. Gave it up when I had first child due to PND. Had I stayed in that area of work I’d expect to be on six figures now. Glad I’m not doing that type of work now though!

Accountant, 40k, East Midlands.