If you earn 100k plus, what is your occupation?

[CJ2010]

I've posted this here as it is a bit U, but i am curious to know what jobs pay mega bucks.

I've just been looking on a jobs website at admin jobs, most are paying on average 20-25k (in London). With the cost of living as it it, that sort of money will not go far at all.

I've been a SAHM for a while now and have begun looking for work. I'm considering retraining, but only in something that pays well!

So members of the 100k club please spill the beans and let me know your secrets!

DH is a creative type, and can earn a lot through profit sharing. But it's niche and hard to get in to now unless you're a contractor. I'd do it, but I'm shit

Cheeseandpickledonion is totally right.

I head a legal team for a big creative business (1000+ employees). I'm 31, and was a lawyer in the City beforehand, where I worked my arse off. That led to this role, where things are a bit quieter, but not much. During a good week, I work 10am-6pm and do a bit of Blackberry-checking at evenings and weekends. During a bad week, I work 8am-10pm and one day of the weekend. I'd say one week in four is a bad week. The rest are somewhere in between.

In terms of training, I did a Law degree, then a year of post-grad and a two year training contract - so six years in all. My work-life balance is generally ok; partly because my husband is supportive (he works in a similar business and so talking shop is never a problem). Planning for maternity leave will be a challenge though.

Operation Manager for a engineering company !

IT consultant.

Although - I do have two degrees (my background is quite specialised - related to internet banking, is generally how most layfolk can understand what I do) and a husband who takes his fair share of the childcare/emergency childcare, plus the ability to drop things when needed to go abroad for periods.

If I didn't have that (the emotional support at home, the practical solutions) I wouldn't be able to go as far as I have.

I also work horrific hours when projects are getting near their deadlines, though.

I'm quite lucky in that DH also has a fairly responsible job, but his is in a sector which has a huge number of female workers (which is massively less so than my own environment, IT in a bank - most of the semi-technical women work on the support side of things, not project-based). His employer is therefore quite relaxed about home working and flexitime in comparison to my own employer.

SardineQueen I honestly don't know the answer to that question. I did know some "late" starters but by that I mean 28 or so - most are straight out of uni when they start the exams. I suppose you could make a few phone calls to recruitment departments and see what the reaction is??

CJ2010

50k is a more reasonable target for a starting salary - there are plenty of places in consultancy, law, banking, accountancy that will pay a 50k+ package for a new graduate.

By far the quickest in terms of training time to get into would be IT, either in consultancy or in banking, just 3/4 years for a CS, EE, maths or physics degree. Starting package for grad trainees 30k-50k and after 5 years you can go contracting and pull in £500-£800/day on 6-12 month contracts - all at 20% tax too.

Im an accountant and if I put my head down, worked full time and kissed ass I could get to 100k+ in a few years.

However cannot be doing with it. It takes hard work.

You could retrain as an accountant but the exams are a killer - I ruled out actuary training as they would be too much (and I love maths)

My friend used to earn about 100k per year as a sales representative. Her only qualifications are GCSEs and A-levels, she just started at the bottom and worked her way up. Of course, being good at sales is a must as it's mainly commission-based, and she put a lot of hours in too. But she said that also in some ways it was luck as it depended on the territory you were allocated. Her territory was in a very large city in East Anglia, so plenty of scope for selling and making new contacts.

Anyway, in the end she got extremely stressed and almost had a breakdown so quit, had a few years as a SAHM and now has a part time job earning a tenth of that per year, but she is happy. She saved quite a lot when she was earning a high amount each year.

I'm a lawyer. My salary went to that level when I hit 10 years of post qualification experience. (so 13 years after I graduated) Am now thinking about doing something else though. Had enough of the stress and would do something else for far less money if it was fun

Also my DH currently earns around 75k, but hopefully at one point will hit 100k with earnings. He started off as a trademan, but has now specialised in a very specific area of his trade, and consequently is in demand as not many people can do what he does. A good way to get high earnings is to specialise in something so that you are in demand.

cheeseand..

Why don't you also ask how old they are?
DH is 38y

How many years of training did they do?
3 years law degree, 1 year law exams, 2 years on job training

What's their work/life balance like?
Actually for DH pretty good; takes DD to school for 8:15am and is home between 6:30-7pm. Rarely has to do work at weekends/evenings. Has 6 weeks holiday. Can work from home on occasion if it suits us. We have a lot of time spent as a family and DH is hands on with DD all the time and always has been.

How many hours do they work?
See above. For DH it is all about chargeable hours though, not hours seen to be in the office. DH is very good with time efficiency when it comes to his job.

How many years of hard slog it took to get to 100K+?
DH became equity about 4 years ago iirr. It is a gradual process as you have to pay itno the partnership. He will have completed that aspect of things this year. Means his profit share will go up again.

BUT bear in mind that if DH's firm goes pearshaped then his take home pay/prfot share is reduced. So he could technically have no pay in a bad year. So, although the rewards can be high, there is a risk involved.

Those I know earning £100k plus are heading up teams of people on a lot less, which is where they started.

The person I know with the fastest progression financially is a software tester/engineer (£50k-ish 3 yrs after undergrad degree).

I would say though, that having qualified in law, the most I have ever earned personally is in an industry I was 'hobbying' in and went full time. If you have a passion, it doesn't feel like work, so you'll put in unlimited hours. Also people can see that you want to do it for love of the project and pay you more, simply. The starting salaries for solicitors training contracts when I graduated the LPC were £24k. As a self employed musician I took home around £2k per month. And I only worked about 3 days a week. For me the less conventional route made financial sense in the short term. When our children are grown and we don't need to count every penny so much I will probably have a crack at law again, but for now less hours for more money is a no brainer.

Namechanged.

DH earns £180k as VP of a top 10 FTSE company. Has a BSc, MSc (neither relevant to job) and an MBA done whilst working FT.

Works his bollocks off and always has.

malinois, working in a role which ticks the "finance" and "IT" elements, I have to say I've seen far too many people try and get into this, and burn out before the five year mark because they genuinely don't enjoy the job or find the work interesting enough to put themselves through the hell of IT projects EVEN for that £100k a year potential salary.

In fact, from my graduating circle of friends (mostly comp sci grads, engineering and physics grads), of all the women - I'm the only one still in an IT role. The hours and responsibility are just far too much for many of them to cope with - which is a real shame, as employers are losing out on a massive pool of talent there. In fact, my best friend from university burnt out after four years in IT, quit to have her DCs, and is now a childminder - if she'd stayed where she was, she'd probably have broken the 100k barrier much more quickly than I did as she had started to make a lot of industry contracts being based in London (which I was not) - but she admits she was miserable by the end.

Such a shame!!

Sorry, less hours for the same money. I wouldn't be able to earn more by working more as a musician, because there is only so much work available iyswim.

Teaching (at management level) pays pretty well - up to 100k - especially in tough schools or some private/international schools. Long days; stressful work but hugely enjoyable. And let's not forget the holidays

Now that's ambitious!

range number of taxpayers

£4745 to £6000 1,440,000
£6000 to £7000 1,160,000
£7000 to £8000 1,590,000
£8000 to £10,000 2,950,000
£10,000 to £12,000 2,760,000
£12,000 to £15,000 3,650,000
£15,000 to £20,000 4,950,000
£20,000 to £30,000 6,000,000
£30,000 to £50,000 4,090,000
£50,000 to £70,000 859,000
£70,000 to £100,000 410,000
£100,000 to £200,000 300,000
£200,000 to £500,000 89,000
£500,000 to £1 million 16,000
Over £1 million 6,000

www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/article-1709280/Best-paid-jobs-A-guide-UK-salaries-wages-2010.html

Maybe stick to doing the lottery...

Well; DH is 42 and works in financial consultancy, has a degree from Cambridge and an MBA from a top business school and hit that about 6 years ago. So good academics plus around 15 years experience.

I could if I went back full time to where I used to work - technology strategy consultancy; again good academics plus 15 years experience in strategy.

Friends who earn +++ include:

• CEO of oil company (ex banker)
• city traders
• city IT consultants
• senior economists

- lawyers

• accountants

Without exception they have excellent first degrees and usually post grad quals as well be they MBAs or business specific (e.g legal/accountancy). Many work silly hours still, though fortunately DH doesn't, though the ones that do, earn £500k+!!!

Oh, and DH earns significantly more than I ever have now. He started at 18 on £10k with no qualifications and I was the main earner. Now at 30, he has outstripped me massively because he is a very hard worker and finds solutions where I would just shrug and say 'impossible'. It's been all about attitude to his work for him. I don't really think retraining is necessary for earning potential, unless you want to work in a specific field. If you just want lots of money, choose an industry with potential for progression and start at the beginning without student debt.

dukeofpark - you will only be earning £100k at a teacher if you become a headteacher:

www.tda.gov.uk/get-into-teaching/salary/teaching-salary-scales.aspx

Sorry about the table, it hasn't pasted well. You get the idea though...comparatively very few people earn over £100,000.

It needs to be something that very few people can do to command that kind of salary.

It's not the be all and end all though. In a former life I was on an 80k package (about 15 years ago now), I voluntarily gave it all up.....there is more to life than money.

DH and I both used to earn that. Then we were both made redundant. We are now both earning about half that - sometimes the high salary comes with high risk and regular "culling" of staff at that level means if you're fired it's hard to find a way back in.

Between us we had two degrees, three postgraduate degrees, and at least 10 years experience in our fields.

To be honest I would love to go back to it, in a strange way I miss the stress and the hours, but I am seen as too old now (mid-40s).

Most successful person I know hasn't a qualification to his name. Left FTSE top 100 company because they wouldn't promote him without a degree, set up his own consultancy and now employs several hundred people across multiple sites.

the ones I know are directors of their own companies or in banking (10-15 years experience). Also GPs, although not sure exactly how much they are on, but think they are around 100K.

if you retrain as Chartered Accountant (three years) you can qualify on to 48K in my organisation (start on 25ish whilst training), and be on 60-70 within a few years if you're good (at arse-licking) and get promoted. Benefits, working hours and pension are also very good here (government). you want to be good at exams though.

DH is an accountant (as was I). He works long hours and earns about that much now.