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.

It could be worse. I am in my 40s and I work for a charity in a senior role. I earn less than £50k and can’t progress any further (other than becoming ceo, which I don’t want). My job can’t be replicated in the private sector. I love the job but hate the money, and even more so when reading how much other people earn :(.

I'm also a G7 in the Home Office and I'm on £63K but I do not get London weighting. I know each government dept pays differently, my job in the MOJ would pay several thousands less as would the DWP. But a 6 in my dept would get at least £12Kpa more than me.

@Redvelvetdreams1 The answer is nepotism and cronyism. If you have friends, then you will be directed towards jobs that pay high salaries and you will be treated favourably in interviews.

I will get a bunch of responses to this comment with people sobbing and saying "no! I worked hard." Well, I worked hard too. I guarantee that I've worked harder than almost everyone on this thread. I don't have friends, so I never socialise, and I never took part in the drinking culture. My weekends since my early 20s have been dominated by working and studying. But because I'm not in a friendship circle, that means I have an extremely high rejection rate from interviews (statistically, more than 19 out of 20 interviews are rejects for me) which is why I work in a job with a relatively modest salary (given my qualifications and achievements).

Stay, find enjoyable roles and work yourself up in the Civil Service.
In ten years you will be doing better. Two months is not a very long trial.

Private tutoring alongside existing job. Takes a while to build up and get a reliable client base but worth the time and effort. Started my business alongside a teaching job and it’s my full time job now.

Well you certainly don’t sound like a good team player! Not sure I’d hire you either if this was your tone in an interview!

I'm in admin for a west end firm. £60k then £20k bonus plus shares.

Recruitment agencies are - good start.

But I'd do private tutoring to supplement your income. Look into the overseas market: a mate earns packets doing evening work teaching English to Japanese students on zoom.

@Durhamgirlie Well you certainly don’t sound like a good team player!

I am. I will work all hours to get things done if it means helping others in the team. Most people who claim they work hard pack up their stuff at 6pm and refuse to work any more. Not me.

Not sure I’d hire you either if this was your tone in an interview!

It isn't.

Wow!

I started my own antiques dealing business aged 22 and now aged 28 I make 55K average. So self employed.

Oh you are living my actual dream, I would love to do this :) amazing :))

I agree, noone has ever verified my salary...

I’m 37 and on about 60k if you include my 10pc annual bonus and I’ve done it by jumping around. I started low, very low, in 2011 on 14.5k as a junior. I stayed there two years, next place six years, the next three years, then a couple of short jobs (one wrong move, one temp contract) and now my current job.

I left jobs I liked and that were comfortable with great colleagues because I was focussed on what I wanted to earn. I always had aims - 25k by 25, 30k by 30. Then it was 50k by 35. My current aim is 70k by 40.

I made a disastrous mistake with one job which was a big jump in salary but that I hated and left after four months. I then had to take a temp position which paid less than I had earned in the job I’d left for the disastrous one. It worked out in the end but stressful at the time.

To earn better money you have to take risks and push out of the comfort zones. I’ve now reached a salary that I’m comfortable with and have a job I like, so I’m not planning any more moves. I am looking to climb within this time.

You know that moment when your boss mentions something novel that nobody else is keen on picking up?
That's when to ask what's in it for you.

Sadly, if your workrate vastly exceeds that of your colleagues it is likely to be considered unbelievable by interviewers.
Additionally, some useless managers believe that lightning doesn't strike twice - so a £2m unexpected profit may even lead to redundancy.
Apply for a job paying twice your salary and see what happens - you literally have nothing to lose.

I started off in consulting and then internalised at an investment bank - I work with people from all different career backgrounds though (definitely don’t need a finance degree). I would look up any business change manager, PMO, strategy roles if PowerPoints are your thing! Ha. Hours tend to be 8am-6pm - happy to answer any questions you have :)

The number of replies on here from public sector (not teachers) saying how they are getting pay rises and bonuses would make you think that we have an amazingly efficient public sector. When productivity and effectiveness of the public sector has never been worse.

No wonder the country is up the creek, borrowing billions and taxing private sector into the ground to keep this Ponzi scheme. Except now stagflation is kicking in and the well is running dry.

Can I ask what you started as? I’m a MSW and a band 3. Not sure how I can progress up the bands without having to retrain…

@Anniedash you are misinformed. My training for my role as a tax professional was longer than my degree with many more exams. It’s hardly a promotion out of nowhere or just a ‘pay rise’.

The public sector has suffered pay cuts in real terms after years of no pay rises at all. We don’t get bonuses.

I'm 39, and a clinical psychologist earning circa 60k (top of NHS band 8a salary). It's taken 8 years of uni including an undergraduate degree, an MSc and a PhD to qualify, and I've been qualified for 9 years now. Hoping to be in a consultant post (band 8c, circa 70-80k) in the next 5 or so years. It's been a LOT of hard graft along the way (academically as well as practical experience on the job), and the job itself can be intense and emotionally draining, and as an unqualified and trainee psych I spent many years earning below 30k (initially even below 20k) just to gain the relevant experience for uni and career progression. All that said, I do love it and can't imagine doing anything else.

Can I ask in what field you started off as band 5? I’m a band 3 and trying to figure out how to move up. I’m a MSW and also have a Fine art degree which I’ve done nothing with!

If 19/20 interviews result in rejection then you are not interviewing well.

I am anti-social, I don't go to drinks or parties, I don't have loads of work friends though I am friendly and professional with my colleagues, I went to a bog standard comprehensive, have no rich family members or contacts and don't have any qualifications beyond A-Level.

None of that has prevented me from progressing, I get the jobs I interview for, if you don't then you need to critically assess your performance in interviews.

I started in retail on minimum wage when I was 17, with nothing in terms of qualifications.

Got promoted a few times (still shit pay, - 95p per hour above minimum wage, and then a £20k salary - but I was gaining management experience), then took a job managing a warehouse for a different retailer on £24k. I got really good results (because I worked my ass off!) and was given a bigger warehouse to manage (30k) and then a supermarket to manage (£46k) My job already involved overseeing lots of different functions, but I really dug into the ones I wanted to make my specialty - recruitment, employee relations, payroll, H&S. I did as much training as the company would offer, watched all the videos no one else did, and read a lot in my spare time! I helped all the peers I could by giving advice, taking on extra ER cases and hearing the trickier appeals and HR really became my area of expertise.

I leveraged that experience to land a job as an HR manager for a tech company for almost double the salary (£85k) - I found the work really easy compared to what I was used to but it was interesting working in a corporate environment. I also really worked on my 'brand' - networking, building my LinkedIn/posting regularly and completing an HR qualification alongside working, and after a year of that was approached by a headhunter looking for someone to head up the EMEA People team for a tech startup based in the US which was branching out. I took the job despite the risk of working for a startup (£140k) and then the following year negotiated a pay bump (£210k) and role change to running EMEA Operations as my role already encompassed overseeing lots of other functions (finance, real estate) but I wasn't getting credit for it.

This job I'm in now was somewhat a fluke - the salary is so high because US salaries are generally higher and what I earn matches counterparts in the States. I also have taken home large bonuses the last 2 years because the company is doing very well. But overall I knew from the start of my career this was the general direction I wanted to take it - I wanted to earn lots of money in tech, without needing to learn to code! I also had my wonderful son around the halfway point and nursery fees almost made me drop out of the rat race, so I needed to earn more ASAP which was a big motivator - to buy a house solo in the area I grew up would've needed a 100k+ salary which also spurred me on.

I think you are asking the wrong questions and not focussing enough.

If you just want a job that pays £50k plus with no thought as to whether you will enjoy it or if it fits with your skills then this will not be sustainable.

The odd thing is you work for the civil service - there is a pretty well defined career and promotion pathway - have you investigated that? Look at the competancies needed for the SEO/G7 roles and work out how you can get there. You may need to consider departmental moves.

If you want to earn more quicker then as people have said you may need to consider leaving the CS and then coming back at a higher level.

I work for a non CS public body and earn roughly the equivilent of G6/G5 salary. Non CS public bodies can be less hierarchical and easier to progress in, but they often need more niche technical skills. Also the pensions are often not as good, so it is a trade off.

I have been looking on CS jobs and there are virtually no HEO jobs atm, none of any relevance to me anyway sadly.

I did my masters in Occupational Therapy. Fine art degree is surprisingly helpful in this field. I then worked in mental health as Band 5 and progressed into specialist physical health service at band 7. I have a pretty awesome job, fully remote and very low management involvement.
There are now apprenticeships in OT and physio so have a look at those if you don't fancy doing masters.