To feel a little inadequate? Is 30K a decent salary?

[ShareaTear]

I feel like I’m completely surrounded by very high earners, and feel a little inferior, which I know is my issue and I need to get over it.

I have just completed a degree, which has opened some doors to me. I’ve started working in a related role with a salary of £30k. Is this a good starting point for someone straight out of university? Or should I be earning more by now?

Far more information needed. What’s the degree? What’s the role?

You feel inadequate after finishing a degree? That’s an opportunity a lot of people will never get, or achieve. Well done.

Depends what part of the country you are in.

Seems ok to me but I’d be more interested in a) can you pay the bills b) does it have good prospects for training and potentially to earn more in the future?

How old are you?
In the SE that salary wouldn’t get you very far at all

Impossible to know without more info.
Ie, what's the role/industry, is it a first job out of uni or are you older with more general skills and experience?

Also depends where you live as to how far it'll get you and what your peers salaries are likely to be.

I think it sounds ok/good, is your salary likely to go up?

Mumsnet's "AIBU" is the worst place to ask this.

It's full of people who came out of Oxbridge and either in reality (or in their online fantasies) went straight from a 2.1 to law school and then onto a £57,000 a year training contract at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

Three years later they're on £150,000 a year in their late 20s and yet still have time to come on here and chastise people for not trying hard enough in life to afford the thing they're agonising about on here.

I'm sorry @ShareaTear but you're not going to get a clear answer.

Unreal.... that's what you took from the OP's post?! Really?

In my native North-East it’d be considered bloody good!

I think that is a fairly typical new graduate salary. But it does vary a lot by degree subject and role, obviously. I can also imagine that if you are older and have done the degree late in life then it might feel low as plenty of people with experience would earn more than that without a degree.

30k for a graduate is great. Are you being unrealistic

Sounds fairly typical

I’m 40 years old, and have completed an accountancy degree. This job is in finance with the possibility of training to become a qualified accountant.

My youngest has recently started school, so the timing is perfect, and I have spent a few years out of the workplace.

I'm 15 years out of uni, on that salary and surrounded by people mostly between 30k-45k. I'm perfectly comfortable, chose a sector that really doesn't pay big money and I knew that going in so perhaps that makes a difference.
You're not actually surrounded by people earning huge salaries, you're just focusing on them. When you go out you are surrounded by people visibly working and earning minimum wage or not much more.
What matters is either matching your lifestyle to your salary, or having a plan to increase your salary for the lifestyle you want. If you have just graduated presumably you are at the starting end of your work so it sounds very good as a starting point!

Congratulations to you for achieving a financial path that suits you.

I think as others have said, it all depends really on your overheads and your life setup...

but honestly, I think £30k is a good salary. I hope it unlocks for you more choices etc. Good luck.

Missing the key info of where you live. The semi professional role I’m paid £55k to do in the SE would probably be paid £30k up north and considered an ok salary.
But in general if you’re paid enough to live without watching your spending too much in this economic climate you’re doing fine- particularly as a new graduate.

I'm an accountant so can give you some insight.
I have been qualified for 6 years and I'm earning 75k . WFH 4 days a week and 10% bonus.

I didn't go to uni but did AAT
When qualified I earned between 18-27k (this was 5 years ago). When studying my CIMA I went up to 33k, part qualified £47k and Qualified 55k. I have worked my way up since.

Alot of it is determined by job title in finance... If you are an ap assistant that's great money, if you are part Qualified accountant it's not great..

I'd say it's a little on the low side for a graduate salary.

National minimum wage for a full time job is roughly £25k from April 26.

Average wage is around £39k.

BUT a lot depends really. Is it a "training"/"apprentice scheme" job where the employer is paying for your ongoing, maybe professional, training, time off for study leave & exams, or providing in house training?

What's your trajectory for pay rises, promotions, etc?

If your starter salary is £30k, but with training, promotions, etc., you'll be on £40k within a couple of years, £50k-£75k within 5 years, then it all seems good. But if you're still going to be on £30k next year, and maybe only £40k in 5 years, then it's really not good at all.

You also have to look at other "perks" - do you get a better holiday entitlement than the legal minimum? How much employer pension contributions are they making? Do you have enhanced sick pay, maternity pay, etc.?

The issue is you are now a trainee accountant as you don't have the professional qualification. Once you are qualified your earning potential will be higher. Arguably you would have been better off just doing an accountancy apprenticeship rather than the degree

Its a good graduate salary. You just graduated (regardless of age) and have good prospects with it. Well done you.

d

Once you’re qualified (say about 3 years) that will probably jump to about 55k. Two years after that, you could get promoted to manager level and be on about 70k. Dependent on location / firm size. Well done on doing a degree with young kids, that can’t have been easy!

I sounds alright and well done for getting the degree and the job

How much experience do you have in the role prior to completing the degree?
a degree is great, but honestly, it’s nothing in comparison to the earning power you have through experience in the workplace and role