To ask how you've reached a high salary? 50k+

[Redvelvetdreams1]

I'm on 29.5k which is the most I've ever earned in my life, and I'm 34. I have a degree and a PGCE but here we are.
I'm never going to be a millionaire, but I just don't feel like I'll ever know what it's like to be well off. I live alone too but fortunately only have myself to support.

I'm an EO in the Civil service, which i hate. I'm not trying to be rich, but I'd just love to have a comfortable salary and be able to save comfortably, go on proper holidays and not just a £19.99 ryanair flight (I know I'm lucky to even do that) afford to learn to drive, and just know what it's like to not have to check my bank account daily and count every penny.

However I know this is the reality for most people. Maybe I can go back to teaching and try to make it up to SLT, but school behaviour is horrendous these days which is why I left.

I'm just feeling a bit lost. I know I'm lucky to even have a job, but without sounding arrogant I considered myself as intelligent, I gained qualifications, can speak other languages and a lot of people my age are earning quite a bit more than me.
Just interested to hear anyone's stories and any advice on where to go from here.

If you’re staying in civil service start going for promotion. Lots of opportunities and better money

I pursued management and then leadership roles.

I'm a 29yo truck driver earning over £50k delivering concrete to civil builds - working on HS2 for foreseeable future. Salary fluctuates with overtime worked and optional weekend shifts which are paid at minimum of six hours at circa £30 p/h even when we just do 1-2 loads and are done in a couple of hours.

Basic day rate is £160 for nine hours but after that I'm on 1.5x hourly rate. I work about 10hrs most days bringing it to just shy of £190 per shift, but it averages out to over £200 once you add in the odd bit of overtime here and there.

I sometimes do the odd week or two on nights which are paid at just over £300 for a nine hour shift, plus any overtime paid on top. I'm contemplating doing more night work although wouldn't want to do it permanently. Thinking of doing a month or two at a time. The drivers working solely nights are getting £1500 a week before tax just for the basic nine hours so making a fair bit with overtime and bonuses (usually 2% of earnings) on top.

I originally worked in a graduate 9-5 and hated it so decided to drive trucks whilst I thought about what I wanted to do long term - it's fun (to me), in demand, and only cost me £2k to get straight onto ~£40k as a new pass. I've now done a lot of construction specific courses which are generally piss easy - typically sitting on zoom being told not to run people over/obey site rules.

It's longer hours than office work (9-10 hour day usually with some much longer shifts when things break down) but I spend a lot of time waiting for the customer to be ready (e.g. drilling foundations) and most shifts I climb into the bunk and have a cheeky nap. Otherwise I'm driving to and from site listening to Spotify or podcasts.

Probs going to make between £60-70k this year as piling work almost finished and lots of track and tunnel work next. I'd never go back to office work tbh.

Virtually every teacher I know is looking to quit the profession given the stress (almost uniformly caused by terrible parents and parenting). That couple with the fact you have a quasi-monopoly employer, the government who set wages below market levels means I wouldn’t recommend that.

70K take home, school pays my tax
Annual return flights
Medical and dental fully insured
Housing paid
Free private IB education for children
End of contract bonus one month salary for every year worked

I am a teacher by the way but I do not work in the UK, I work in Asia. Late 40s.

I don’t think HEO requires much experience. It’s still very low down the pecking order. In my department HEO roles are filled by people in their early 20s with very little experience.

I wouldn’t go back to teaching if I were you. You can earn more with less stress in the civil service. G7 is ~£60.

I am a secondary teacher and have told my kids the same. I had to go part-time a few years ago to deal with the stress and workload while I consider my next career move. I catch up with marking and planning work on my days off so that I can have my evenings and weekends back but obviously I’m on half the pay so we don’t have holidays abroad or any luxuries. Not where I expected to be when I chose this career 20 years ago.

I had a pretty quick climb in the civil service, did 11m as an ao, then 10 as an eo before I got a temporary promotion to her which I managed to turn permanent during the 9m job. I then went on maternity leave and a career break so haven't yet returned. But keep looking for opportunities, find a mentor, sign up for training and any other opportunity which will help. If you do well, work hard and keep grabbing anything you can then it won't take you long to get up to seo or g7.

I left a good Uni with a mediocre arts degree in 1993. Took a job I hated ( tech support £10k ) for a large IT company to pay off my depts. managed to increase dept by buying a house and car too soon. Trapped in the job but managed to move into a team I loved. Worked hard and was positive, took on a project, smashed it, got put on a mgmt development programme. Got a group leader position 2001 - £35k, then passed Management school 2002- £50k. Rode out an acquisition and two maternity leaves, moved into director role 2012 £75k. Made redundant in 2018 so now working part time in a job I love for local government £25k 🤣. Basically I worked by arse off in a job I really didn’t like very much ( although enjoyed being good at it) throughout by 20s early 30s. Had kids late and coasted for a bit but because I was experienced still earned the dosh. Menopause hits and - life is too short for this sh*t so I’m back at basic wage and loving it.

104k, that’s with an IT company overseeing delivery for global clients.

it’s taken 26 in the industry to work to this salary, with a few stagnant years in the middle where I didn’t think I would ever make it over the 50k mark.

starting at the very bottom and working my way up. A few big jumps with new jobs/company moves, but downside is VERY long and unsociable hours and travelling at the drop of a hat, which can be exhausting, plus lots of work from home in the middle - I miss office life and the camaraderie/social aspects of it. Part of me would be happy with a little less money, and more work/life balance!

I work in events, have previously worked in local government think-tank. I've been in this industry for 10 years now, started on 22 then got headhunted and went up to 25 after 6 months, then 28 after 18 months, then jumped up to 40k with a big job move into a managerial role. Earned 40-45k full time in a variety of roles until I had my son, then got a new job on 44k for 4 days a week. When I was ready to go back full time, got a fully remote role at 55k+ 10% bonus. Would recommend going into the private sector and job hopping if salary is important to you. I tend to have long stints followed by a couple of short hops - 6 months, then 3 years, then 9 months, then 6 months, then 3 years..... staying in something that isn't right isn't worth it, and employers understand that in interviews if you frame it as 'I'm looking for the right fit'.

All I’d say is be careful what you wish for here.. I’ve been a COG and understand how hard teachers work.. this isn’t about that, but I work in the private sector (not a hugely high earning part of it) earn around £115k, and that’s self limited as prioritised less travel/responsibility while child 10-16. To answer the OP choose a job with a clear career path, you can move sectors and industries but research based on what you want to achieve, go for opportunities wherever possible, don’t use “job sites” unless it’s very specific ie teaching; network, LinkedIn, training opps where you meet people.. is how you progress! But I and everyone I know work way over 50hrs a week, travel (my “less travel” choice still involved 2 days travelling out of country 3 weeks out of four, and that includes weekends if you have to start at 8:30 on a Monday in a different country, and there is an expectation you do your job the hours are irrelevant. Catching up on weekends is normal.. On the plus side I have flexibility.. so if I juggle my time and projects I can go to the school play, watch sports matches, sometimes on calls etc.. so pros and cons but the private sector takes its pound of flesh it is definitely not high salary fixed hours it’s high salary but all the hours required most of the time! I wouldn’t change it for the public sector but it’s not the utopia people think it is, it’s hard work, fulfilling, interesting but exhausting sometimes and there is always someone coming for your job and no unions!!

There's some good opportunities in the VOA. (An agency of HMRC - we value property for various tax purposes) Come in as an EO with an unrelated degree , do a Level 6 apprenticeship, gain MSc and RICS qualification and end up as a chartered surveyor. You can then get a job as SEO tech level starting at around £52K.
It's a hard slog for 2.5 years but worth it.
You have to stay in the job after qualification for a certain amount of time too, so it's a big commitment.
I enjoy working at the VOA, it's hard work but varied plus you get to inspect property sometimes and see inside workplaces. Recently I did a breakfast cereal factory which was challenging to measure but really interesting!

I’m on around 80k, I’m an assistant head teacher in London. I’ve worked my way up, from head of department to here. Behaviour varies massively in different schools. It was hard work to get here but totally achievable if you are an effective teacher and leader. However, if you disliked teaching enough to leave this won’t be the route for you. I think start with your interests and take it from there, more likely to progress in something you are genuinely interested in.

You’d probably have to work in the private sector. My first job out of university in an investment bank paid £30k back in the early noughties. Two years later I changed banks and doubled it and kept going in a similar vein.

I also choose my career quite strategically because I wanted to earn decent money and not struggle. For most of it, the work life balance hasn’t been great and that was the trade off.
Covid was a game changer in terms of flexibility that would never have been possible before and now I’m glad I stuck at it when so often I was close to quitting, because now I have both a very decent WL balance and a well paid career. I was on the verge of jacking it all in in about 2019.
Point being, if you want to earn good money, as a general rule, you’re not going to earn in the public sector.