I’m curious about work, qualifications, and income and how they all relate.

[DoubtfulCat]

My dc has been asking how to become rich. I’ve no idea (🤣) but as I was musing that question I thought I would ask a few more:

What do you do as your main source of income?
What salary or income does this bring you?
What qualifications and experience do you have?
Did you have material and/or cultural capital support growing up and as a young adult - eg parents’ networks, paid tuition fees or ability to stay living at home and save on rent, support in mapping out a career path?

My answers:
I’m mainly a wellbeing practitioner in a school.
My FTE salary is £27,407.
I have a good joint honours BA, a postgraduate teaching qualification with 20 years’ experience in teaching, a Level 6 qualification in what I do now (which is related) plus over 2000 hours’ experience and CPD in that field. I also have experience in running a business, marketing, administration, bookkeeping, customer service…
I had cultural capital growing up but very little material support (I took loans and had a tiny grant at uni as they were phasing those out then), and no help with how to embark upon a career rather than get a job.

I love my work, I am super fortunate to enjoy working at what I do and rarely dread having to go to work. I don’t feel the pay matches the value of what I do. I don’t think it matches my expertise and experience. For me, I think it’s worth the low pay because I burned out before; however, it would be nice to get to the end of the month before the end of the money.

I work in another job as well which tops up my income. It’s as a lecturer in FE and there, my FTE salary would be £41,080. I don’t love the admin side of that job or the pressure, and I don’t think the pay there reflects the qualifications, skill, and demands of the job either. It has a reasonable pension (but not one of the old-style kind) but we are expected to take our holidays (during the college holidays of course) as booked leave and be on site if we aren’t on holiday. We get 21 days holiday FTE.

I’m curious about other people’s experiences in these areas. Are you willing to share?

I have a number of degrees including a PhD. I now work in a senior position in the civil service, not in the UK. I earn about 100, 000 euro. 29 days leave. Really interesting work.

I am an AHP and at the top of Band 7. The salary is fine for what I do but I am annoyed that this is literally my ceiling unless I go into management and stop clinical work which I categorically don't want to do.
No money growing up but yes to "cultural capital". Two degrees which I did as a mature student. Before then, I was on on a similar salary you are now (albeit it was 15 years ago and so would be far above the minimum of age at the time) with 🙂‍↔️ qualifications beyond NVQ3.
I am very lucky that I always enjoyed what I did before and after my qualifications. The only job I hated was working retail job in school holidays. As an adult, I always prioritised interesting jobs over money which is probably why I will never be rich. And that's OK.

I sound similar to you op in terms of qualifications and background.

I have a BA, PGCE (taught primary for 3 years), MA (left primary and wanted a qualification to match career aspirations).

I work at a London University in digital education, I'm middle manager level and earn c. £61k. If I got promoted to being in charge of the team, I'd earn c. £71k. Director would be c. £81k

At this uni, I earn more than a lecturer but less than a senior lecturer (£71k). I think professors here are on £81k.

I absolutely love my job and sometimes I wonder if I'd like to be a lecturer- would need a PhD for that though.

I think it's much more about sectors/role than qualifications. Look at growth sectors on ONS (pharma, fintech, shipping and trade etc) unfortunately some of the roles that are most meaningful and involve supporting others (like your work and mine!) require qualifications and experience but this doesn't translate into high salaries. Look at academia, where lecturers are require to have PhDs, masters etc and the start post docs on £38k... it's crazy!

Also, some careers like law were considered high paying secure careers but the amount of law grads going for a very small amount of training contracts/AI mean it's no longer a safe choice. Same with computer science... the labour market is very complex so worth doing some research.

Late 30s here, work in a niche bit of investment management. £300k-ish a year. 8am-6pm, no weekend working. Love what I do - want to work in it forever.

1x BSc, 1x MSc from the very best universities. One similarly high-earning DH who also supports my career (I think choice of partner, if you want one, is one of the most important things for your career).

My family were pretty frugal - except when it came to books and learning. I was taken on weekly trips to the library but even beyond that, whatever book I wanted I was bought. Also got taken on lots of museum and castle trips. Reading is still the number one thing I love to do.

I work hard but also feel extraordinarily lucky - one reason why I do and have always done volunteering in my spare time.

local government here in quite a niche area - no qualifications bar GCSE's but my work experience landed me my role. £55,000 and if I get to the next band I can earn up to £70,000 but that's as far as progression goes in this particular specilism.

62k local government, degree and masters. About to start 2nd masters funded by employer. Took 5 years out of work to be a stay at home mum.
next job role coming up for me which i’ll be applying for would be 77k to start with.
went to local school got very average GCSEs. Single parent household mum had an extremely strong work ethic and influenced the way I work for sure.

What do you do as your main source of income? Full time civil servant senior grade (not SCS, G6 to those who know them!), WFH, specialising in compliance and risk.

What salary or income does this bring you? £85,000. Excellent pension.

What qualifications and experience do you have? I have a degree and a postgrad that weren’t technically necessary but played a big part in building my earlier career which then enabled me to side step into this one. I now have a variety of professional qualifications my employers have paid for over the years.

Did you have material and/or cultural capital support growing up and as a young adult - eg parents’ networks, paid tuition fees or ability to stay living at home and save on rent, support in mapping out a career path?: I benefited from a family that was loving, supportive and secure so don’t want to minimise how important that is to build confidence in a child. But my parents were not academic themselves, did not do well in school, working class jobs, didn’t really know how to support me in that regard. I very much had to find my path. They never talked to me about money, they couldn’t have dreamt about the kind of salary I am on now. It wouldn’t have factored into their minds. I didn’t have much in the way of financial support, no big pay outs, but the safety net of a home I knew I could always go back to, not insignificant! I was eligible for full loans and bursary for uni.

Timing, rarity of skills/knowledge and choice of industry are important too. And a big dollop of luck.

I had zero support from home, a f who didn't believe in the education of women, and I came from a FSM family. However, a good school, I went to poly & graduated with a business degree.

My year out in industry, I worked for a fledgling software distributor before the IBM PC was even released. I learned a massive amount.

So after I graduated, I was one of very few people who had trained in PC to PC communications in the early 80s. My first job was with a systems integrator on about twice national average salary, which would be about £70k in today's money. The PC industry was growing exponentially.

Then went in-house to work tech support for a trading bank, and got a 0% mortgage at 25. Went back to systems integration once my mortgage had shrunk a little, and worked another 10 years before switching to marketing and taking an international job.

International jobs are always better paid because people with children generally don't want them, and they play havoc with intimate relationships as well as being hard work physically because of the constant travel. I did that for seven years then came home at 42 and had ds.

Then on a fairly average salary but by then I had no mortgage, and so everything was easier. I was able to send ds to private school.

My early pension payments were in line with my early salary so were high. Then add 40 years compound interest so my pension is reasonable. I retired this summer.

I'm not going through the list as such but I will just say I have an excellent degree in languages from a very good university but it was high-pressure and burnt me out. I don't think I'm alone in that happening. I've had a few jobs I've really enjoyed in buying and financial services but never found one particular career path. Currently working part time in publishing around DS.

You do not become rich as an FTE in any company really bar maybe investment banking.

People who are doing "the best" in my circles work in family businesses or set up their own. You also pay way less tax via a company/sole trader vs being a fte employee.

A good education is a light load to carry and no one can take it from you. But its not the be all and end all.

What do you do as your main source of income? I work for a company
What salary or income does this bring you? £130-220k pa
What qualifications and experience do you have? As and Bs and an Russel group 2.1
Did you have material and/or cultural capital support growing up and as a young adult - eg parents’ networks, paid tuition fees or ability to stay living at home and save on rent, support in mapping out a career path? Yes and no. My parents had FA but I got a full scholarship to a top 10 independent school. This made less difference than you'd think. I have a very mediocre career in my 20s...There are no "connections" unless your parents are already in the club.

I’m an accountant. No cultural capital (holidays were to Benidorm, and I can probably could the number of times we ate out at a restaurant before I left home at 18), one undergrad degree, two professional qualifications funded by work, earning £120k on track to earn £300k+ within the next 5 years.

I’m on £160kish a year as in house legal counsel in a specialised area after over a decade in profuse practice.

I have an undergrad, masters degree, law school qualification and professional qualification for my specialism of practice.

I benefitted a lot from support from my parents. Private school, uni paid for, they supported me financially until I started working which wasn’t until my mid 20s given the number of years I studied. The expectation was that I would get top grades and a top job with all the support they gave me and I did what was expected. I was also able to use my dad’s connections to get work experience in law firms when I was younger to have legal experience for my CV.

My main income is salary, I do have investments and savings but they have been depleted by international moves, IVF and divorce. Still, I count myself lucky generally.

I would say law is one of the few jobs these days where grades and qualifications like a degree really matter. And it did pay off for me but I’m not a millionaire by any stretch and I still rely on salary rather than investment income etc. I’ve found people who take risks like entrepreneurs and hedge fund managers etc are the ones who get the truly huge pay outs in life, but I have always been risk averse (lawyer!) and am happy to keep working for a comfortable salary.

Most of my friends who are lawyers, bankers, consultants etc came from similar backgrounds with similar academics.

PRIVATE practice. Not sure what profuse practice is!

I have a degree but never used it and worked my way up from the bottom. I’d say the 2 key things that have helped my career:

-Don’t be against putting the time and hard work in to what can be considered as shit jobs e.g. retail & call centre work

-Be flexible with location and don’t tie yourself down too young. The best thing I ever did was apply for and accept a role/promotion down the other end of the country and start with 3 weeks notice as I didn’t tie myself down to my existing location with things like relationships. I was 26.

If your DC want to make money, it is simple - STEM/law degree, one of the core professional services industries for placements, postgraduate scheme with professional qualifications (ACA, CFA, SQ1&2 etc.). Work long hours and then by 30s be on solid money. By 40s a director (average is £150k/pa in friendship group + bonuses).

This seems to be the common path in my friendship group. And here I am a poor civil servant!

Lawyer here too. Similar salary but Management Level in a Regional Law Firm. State school, decent University (First Class) and a post grad law qualification (but everyone has those and you only need to write your name on the paper to pass). Lots of hours when younger in the City which has since paid off.

I'm the only person I know from my time in the City amongst my female friends who still work in law. Everyone else married a lawyer and quit when they had kids as their husbands did the partnership thing at a national or US firm. They are all deliriously happy not working.

I'd not advise a career in law and will be putting my kids off as much as I can. If I had my time again I'd be a teacher.

I have also worked for a short time in Investment Banking and would put the kids off that too. It's very rigid in terms of location requirements, frustrating in terms of it's patriarchal set up and very much stuck in the dark ages in terms of presenteeism.

I think one of my kids will be an academic (who wants to be left alone in a room with books forever) and one will work for the security services 🤣

@DoubtfulCat Interesting questions on this topic (which does turn up regularly, but I like your angle and asking for context).

I was born in another European country to parents who were in working class jobs (dad a lorry driver). I was the first person in our family to go to uni. We did go to museums, I was reading and going to the library though mostly with friends. But no cultural capital as such, or like those with families with several generations having gone to uni. No help with support through uni or money afterwards.

Despite always being very naturally academic and driven (my parents never even asked if I'd done my homework!), when I came over to the UK I worked for a while then applied to a London uni as a slightly mature student, but didn't have a clue of 'rankings' so it's an ex poly (though this was when there were no tuition fees).

Completed a BSc degree, got a First (even published my undergraduate dissertation in a respected academic journal). Was approached by ex company for a new grad role so didn't have to do the milkround. Worked my way up and then got sponsored by them to do a MSc.

After that moved into a client-facing consultant role (executive search in a niche field) in my early 30s and was earning £200-250k within a couple of years, including bonus/commission. Great job, really, mainly 9-5.30pm, though I often worked longer as that's what I'm like. Lots of interactions with senior clients even as a relative 'newbie' and travel abroad. Exciting times!

When my first kid came along, I set up as an independent and worked part time from home mainly (only about 30 days per year) earning £50-100k. Now retired in my early 50s, supported by partner.

So, I didn't have family connections at all (they lived abroad), no cultural capital as such, didn't go to a 'good' uni but I was academic, always wanting to be the top of the class and very driven.

Also had a stint working in tele sales when I was in my mid-teens and I think that helped enormously in being able to strike up a conversation with anyone. Not afraid of coming up with ideas even as an associate or new into a job.

Not sure if I would be able to make this journey now though.

To make money, you need to work with money: corporate law, corporate banking. Or marry into it.

Just realise that I was earning £480 in today's money back then in my mid 30s (£250k). Mad!

And that wasn't investment banking, law, medicine or management consultancy. There are other avenues to explore!

Work in “tech”, now in strategic leadership roles having started in project management. Salary £150k plus and have been north of £100k for 10 years.
BA from a decent uni, have a random selection of qualifications in Project Management, Business Analysis, ITIL, coaching (basically I’ve never said no to any training offered regardless of what it is - I also have a forklift truck licence!)
Parents were working class, encouraged reading, sport and music but were allergic to spending money so the only time I went to the theatre was with school, ditto museums. Didn’t set foot in London until I was 22! We ate out for birthdays at Toby Carvey etc.
My education was a great base but my transferrable skills and ability to “get shit done” are what have moved me up the ladder. Turns out common sense is actually quite rare and people will pay a premium for it!

30,000 as a welfare rights offficer.
Work is interesting and techically complex but not especially well paid.

To be fair, it used to feel like pretty good money but there's been wage stagnation across the charity sector, so it's not so great now.

Background as a second generation hippy. Giving me a certain kind of social capital in very specific circles, I suppose.

I have raging ADHD and enough self knowledge to know that it wouldn't be compatable with a management position.

Im happy enough with it all though.

In my experience it matters more which sex you are. Everywhere I have worked bar 1 office, all the bosses were men despite not having top degrees, all heavily supported but multiple women who were running the place and getting paid less than half the salary.

I strongly suspet this feeds down to Uni's where they have to temper expectations aroubd what kinds of jobs can be expected. These old white men aren't retiring.

I have a BSc, MSc and PhD in biological science. Uni was fully funded, masters and PhD were sponsored. Started out in academic research on 20k in the late 90s. Moved into industry (biotech) at the age of 40 on about 40k, got promoted a number of times quite quickly and was on over 100k by 50. Now on 170k. There is a lot of money in biotechnology but it's competitive and brutal with people being let go at a moment's notice. Interesting and fun though.

Tell your DC that in order to become rich, earning a decent salary is only part of the equation. You also need to live within your means and invest for the future.