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.

Another grade 7 civil servant. I did the full technical training (Tax Specialist Programme) and I am paid over £67k. There are opportunities if you look for them in the civil service.

I think you're derailing the thread.

The OP has stated that she's got a degree and a PGCE, but has ended up in an entry level civil service job that doesn't pay enough for her long-term aspirations.

She's asked for advice on how she can improve her life, not a pity party revolving around your perceptions of social justice.

I've posted advice based upon my experiences working in IT.

If you have any relevant advice on how the OP can increase her earning power, I'm sure the OP will be grateful for your input.

@Redvelvetdreams1 - take a look at that job advert I posted. It really doesn't seem to have any real skill requirements beyond MS Office and a willingness to travel. It's the company's own equipment and they won't expect you to have any prior knowledge of it. Due to the industry, it's probably mostly men and they might be looking to hire women.

£40k-75k - it's worth a shot.

If they ask, tell them you're on £60k and you'll need £75k given the requirement to travel.

Sorry if I’ve missed it but why not teach full time? I’m on around 55k, for that I teach full time and private tutor an additional 2.5 term time hours per week.

Post graduate governance qual and work in the private sector. Worked way up and now 13 years qualified and well paid. Got here by long hours and slog and currently finding my senior role joyless. I also don’t want to move further. Currently paid £75k.

I was earning ‘a high salary 50k+’ in my first job, sales and marketing role within a global branded company.

Also a civil servant.

I joined as an EO in 2017 and have been a G7 for almost a year now earning circa £60k. The civil service paid for my level 7 qualification.

CTU is boring, it's training. As someone else said the bulk recruitment is to reach the increase in compliance officers that the government has committed to, to close the tax gap. It's not a reflection of turnover.

However, if you don't like the role then apply for others. Choose a profession, seek out a role that will pay for development and get your head down.

@ThisOldThang Then don’t contribute to the so-called thread de-rail with your condescending nonsense.

Your advice is terrible. You cannot just make up your existing salary, companies will verify this. Ridiculous.

Compliance Team Unit or a Corporate Tax Unit, or counter terrorism unit ?

I’ve not read the whole thread, but have read your answers. If you have a PGCE, why aren’t you teaching? You’d get to high £30ks relatively quickly and getting to £50k+ is common if you do leadership roles. Is there a reason you’re not exploring that?

I had really good jobs post uni but got married, had a baby and became a SAHM with a husband on a fast track all consuming trajectory in banking going from 34k - £250k within about 3 years whereby it was clear only one of us could have the big job. Did a few part time local easy jobs for a few years and went back into proper career type work in 2018 on about £30k. Quickly pushed myself forward to a more senior role on 50k and then had a severe personal tragedy, took a year out and took an easier role on 43k. asked for a payrise 6 months later to £45k and then decided I was underselling myself and moved from voluntary sector to local government back to £50k. Very quickly got irritated by seeing lots of younger women out earning me when I clearly had more experience. Applied internally for a couple of roles making it clear I didn’t feel happy at the level I was working. Moved up to £62k and now at £65k

Will aim for the next level in about 18 months to 2 years which should take me to £75k and to be honest I imagine I’ll stick there

its not a bad salary for local government but obviously not as much as similar level roles in private sector

to earn money OP you have to move. Stating where you are you’ll get drip fed a bit here and a bit there and you have to drive yourself forward

Actually, if it sounds plausible, they don't verify.
It only happened to me once, when they asked to see previous pay checks.
But earlier in my career I was actually advised to this by a headhunter: I had been in the same company for a number years and been promoted internally and was woefully underpaid, to the point where it didn't seem credible that I had all the responsibility I did for my pay. Headhunter basically told me to add on about £20k to my figure when I was talking about it to other companies, and I did. And since it was what the market rate was, nobody questioned it.

That’s great for you. Lots of companies absolutely will verify this, usually via reference. I think advising the OP to add 20k onto her existing salary in the hope that no one will notice she’s lying is unwise.

For me it started with getting a qualification that I knew would always be in demand and was transferable. I qualified as a Chartered Accountant working in practise then moved into industry, initially moving around departments via internal promotions then into more operational management and finally project management / business improvement roles. Working in the private sector, being willing to ask for pay rises (and having the evidence to back it up) and changing employers also helped. I've now done a complete 360 and earn about a third of what I could earn elsewhere. I've moved to the voluntary sector and absolutely love my job.

@Redvelvetdreams1

Sorry, what does 'streaming out' mean?

I did an engineering degree, worked in non glamourous summer jobs each summer through uni.
Got a graduate training program place. Moved to a totally different part of the country each year for 4 years in a row and put a huge amount of time into work and any career development or learning opportunity I could find, including a lot of the ‘rubbish jobs’ like meeting minutes, or writing up plans, or slides for other people that got me exposure to a wider range of stuff.

Worked for my chartership. Worked on site based jobs that many being away from home half the year.

Got to the point where I was a chartered engineer with a solid chunk of broad experience and some specialist expertise. Used to be responsible for signing off on things that could kill 156 people if they went wrong, or cost £1.2 million a day in lost revenue. That came with a lot of extra hours beyond the 37.5 on the contract, and a lot of dealing with crap.

Im sure there are jobs out there with high pay and no crap to deal with. My current one has far less crap than my previous ones, and still >£50k pay, but the experience from the previous jobs is a key bit of why I’ve got this one. So there were necessary evils along the way.

I think there’s a bit of reality of what you’re willing to tolerate in exchange for what. That balance sits in different places for different people. Eg. In teaching, 7 weeks in a row of poor behaviour and then a weeks break away from pupils might seem a way to make that manageable to some but not for others.

Generally, you’ll need to find something that uses your skills and experience. Your uni careers department might still support alumna.

Best advice I've seen (arrived too late for me) was that if you're irreplaceable, you're unpromotable.
The bosses who gain payrises and bonuses on the back of your hard work will never give you credit.
My break was a somewhat eccentric man who hired three of us, all very similar and usually underappreciated overachievers - none of us have looked back since that point.
My reflections are that I wouldn't ever apply for a job where someone is embarrassed to advertise the salary, always take notice of adverse comments about an employer and counter-offers rarely lead to happy outcomes.

ps Last time I was looking for work, I was very keen on a role paying £60k less than the one I have now - my earnest enthusiasm baffled the jaded interviewers. If you're turned down, doubt them before yourself.

Do you have good business writing skills by any chance (not sure what EO role means)?

I ask because I'm in bid writing and it's a very in demand skill right now, starts at £50k at a big firm and I was offered the job without direct experience because I knew the subject area a bit and could write. If you work for a gov department, that would mean you might have knowledge for bidding for government work. And my pay is rising this month, not because I'm amazing or anything, but they're trying to stop writers being poached by competitors.

I'm an EO but after 3 months in the role I applied for a HEO expression of interest and now have 9 months working at HEO together me into permanent promotions. Definitely worth looking at what your department has. But yes, moving around a lot is still the best way to progress in the Civil Service.

I gave up teaching, moved into school estates management, worked as a caretaker for a bit (which actually paid a smidge more than teaching!), did some more training, elf and safety, fire, asbestos, now run my own little business as a consultant estates manager to schools and earn over £100K

Especially unwise unwise she works for civil service and all grade salary’s are public knowledge

I've heard complaints that FCDO won't let people change roles if they've been in their current post for less than two years - not sure if that's still the case.

My first job out of uni was an EO in a Whitehall department on £25k back in 2013. I have a maths degree but bungled applications to banking etc and this CS role was not relevant to my degree and skills. I found the CS to be very unambitious and frustrating so I used my CS experience and maths background to blag my way into tech consulting in the public sector. I then transitioned into consulting in the finance sector and now I work for a fintech company on a little over £100k.

I think I have been underpaid for my entire career compared to my peers, which I used to find very frustrating. I still think I am underpaid because I look at salaries for the same role in the US and they are 3 times as much at least. It’s outrageous how little people get paid in the UK, and so often the culture here is to moan at the apparent entitlement of people expecting to earn more. We need to want and demand more!

I could move in the UK and get paid a fair amount more now, but my job has good flexibility, I enjoy it and I’m planning on having kids soon anyway so it works well for me for now.

OP isn't at FCDO, it's HMRC. It is not possible to block moves on promotion. It is sometimes possible to block a level move, but is not common or standard. If she applied for a HO post and was successful, her manager would have no power to stop her from moving to the higher grade role.

I’m roughly the same age as you and earn £50k.

I basically just worked my way up the career ladder by doing as many courses/exams as I could and applying for promotions/moving jobs every few years but I always stayed in the same field and have become more experienced over time.

Deciding to switch careers it’s a slight setback as you’re starting at the bottom of the ladder again but don’t get disheartened. There aren’t really any shortcuts just keep working hard and you’ll get there eventually.

don’t give up x

I’ve just reached 50k+ at 35. Never thought I’d get here!
I have a BA from a RG in a humanities subject and an MSc from a RG in the heritage sector. I worked in catering/retail for about 6 years post university, each time beginning at the bottom as a trainee and becoming a manager through promotions. I then saw a team leader role which was a pay cut in a university sector role and I took it to get a m-f job as I was sick of weekends. Worked that for a few years. At this point I’d never topped 30k and was 30. Then the manager position of the building I worked in became available and I stuck my neck out and got it - picked over one of my bosses who also went for the job. My previous management experience had paid off despite being a totally different sector. I’ve done that for a few years and with pay rises and yearly increments just tipped over 50k. I’ve now been offered a secondment in a different department which will be 55ish when I start and closer to 60by the time it finishes.

what I’d say is I know it can feel totally hopeless, but don’t be afraid to put yourself forward. The times I’ve made a leap is when I’ve stuck my neck out. Gain skills, even if you don’t think they’re particularly relevant. I can drive a forklift, and have a list of qualifications I never thought I’d have. Continuous professional and personal development because you never know which string on your bow might come in useful. And sometimes you need to take a step back to go forward. By going back to the start at times, I showed I was willing to put in the graft.