How did you get where you are today?

[Wiiseoldelf]

On the back of the goal salary thread I've just read, I thought it would be interesting to hear how you've achieved where you are career wise if you've done well for yourself.

I'm 31 and still in an entry level role. I have had my 2 children so can focus on my career going forward. At the minute I'm on the bottom rung of the ladder in a call centre. I earn 12k part time.

I just have no idea how some of us have the expectation that next year they'll earn more or be promoted, it's just quite abstract to me. I'll go first;

2005 - Saturday job in retail
2008 - part time call centre along side uni
2009 - quit uni, worked in bank.
2010 - left first bank for second bank (promotion)
2011 - got forced out. Went back to uni
2015 - graduated as teacher. Hated my life.
2017 - call centre
2021 - still here..

Feel like I've wasted my first 15 years of earning doing nothing but keep my head above water, rather than being productive.

I feel the same like I have wasted my life .

2005- first Saturday job whilst at college- waitress

2007-2010 degree completed in theology with intention to do teaching training .2010 after completion decided to take a year off to work before pgce.

2010- got a job in a call centre earning around £14k, got promoted within a year earned £23k

2014- began my nurse training and worked as a healthcare assistant alongside

2017- qualified as a nurse and spend just shy of a year on a ward ( earning 22k) moved into an nursing office based role £29k

2021- still in the office based call centre nursing role , hate my job and the pay has hardly moved due to it being a private company so no nhs pay scale . Currently pregnant with baby number 2 so hoping to get some kind of career afterwards ?!

Born 1944

1958 – PT job in chip shop (still at school)

1960 – clerical officer (Civil service - hated it all - numbers work)

1961 – local authority libraries - library assistant

1963-64 studied and qualified as a librarian

1964-1985 worked in various aspects of the profession. 1980s qualifications devalued by changes in profession. Returned to education to improve my opportunities for promotion

1986 – 1989 Degree in psychology (1st)

1989-1990 – Masters (with distinction) in Human Computer Interaction. Worked as a postgrad tutor

1991-1994 – Ph.d. in Human Computer Interaction

1994-2004 – worked in academia as a researcher/lecturer

2004-now – self employed online business/entrepreneur

I just drove here

I worked hard, went the extra mile, did all the training I was offered. Mirrored the person whose job was the next level up.
Followed up all action points from Work in Progress meetings.

Left school year 2000 took an apprenticeship in Business Admin
Worked my way up, did a HNC
2021 senior University Admin staff
No degree

1994 left school at 18 after A levels, parents had just separated and was very tricky to go to uni so decided not to
1994-1998 trainee accountant at small local firm, did AAT and then ACCA at night school
1998-2001 moved to a slightly larger accounting firm
2001-2005 moved to London to a larger firm as an audit manager and also did an MBA part time
2005-2010 worked as in-house accountant at a publishing firm, eventually finance director
2010-2013 changed role in same company to work in risk/compliance and did another professional qualification (and went part time as had DC by then)
2013-2015 moved to a larger company in same kind of role.
2015-date moved back to hometown, working for a FTSE100 company as head of risk/compliance and on leadership team

Basically lots of extra qualifications and training and hard work!

Can’t remember dates but
Graduated in English but used languages to work for Airtours
Needed to sleep and repair my liver so moved back home
Did a bit of telesales and found I was really good at it
Went to work in a Timeshare resort as head of telesales
Trained to be a Financial Advisor
Worked as a medical rep
Worked for a commercial flooring company as area sales manager
Gave up work after having DD for 2 years and became a sahm
Asked to do a bit of sales consultancy, spiralled so started my own company
Did sales and business consultancy for 15 years pt
Offered job as Head of Sales for a co offering Reg support to Pharma companies
Here I am

Good management, experience, good luck, bad luck, right choices.

Started at 13 cleaning holiday flats and moved to shop work at fourteen. Worked hard at school to achieve good academic results.
Studied hard and gained relevant experience along side that.
Studied more.
Did international work in refugee camp post qualification.
Moved around for jobs.
Maintained career currency and contacts a little whilst having children. Studied more.
Re-entered full time work. Was encouraged to gain rapid promotion.

Willingness to work long hours with work/study. Willingness to step outside comfort zone. Willingness to move around and travel. Enjoying continuous learning.

First job was in a dog kennels.
Then went to London to train to be a psychiatric nurse.
Various jobs in nursing both here and abroad for next 15 years.
Left nursing after having ds.
Started business with dh and I do all admin, payroll etc which enabled me to stay at home with dc.

I do miss nursing at times but love being at home with dc so wouldn’t change anything.

I didn't get where I am today by asking MNers how they got where they are today

Hmmmmm, where to start, as I’m quite disappointed with where I am, and I’m sure you want to hear how people have become successful.

1998: At college, worked in retail alongside it.
2000: Worked as a classroom assistant, then went full time in my retail job.
2001: Started Bsc Psychology and Health Studies, worked in retail alongside it.
2005: A string of temporary office jobs, non related to my degree, some long term, some short term.
2006: After a period of ill health began working part time in an admin role at my local hospital, also volunteered for a mental health charity and went back to college and did another course relating to admin.
2008: Full time admin role in the NHS. Also gained experience in working in Comms.
2014: Another admin role in NHS, more patient centred.
2018: Events Coordinator for NHS.
2021: Just another admin role with NHS, have still never used my degree, don’t really know what I really want and feel lost.

1988 clothes shop job while at school.
1994 graduated from college, business degree and a year placement in office work.
1995-1996 contract role in office work and accounts in health service
1996-2002 financial company, trained in CIMA accountancy
2002-2007 various contract accounting work. Was trying to have work life balance but work spread into 50 hours a week. I kept moving roles every year or two.
2007-2017 Got clerical officer basic office job in a government department. Had 2 dcs and kept working fulltime. Salary very low but wanted work 10 miles away from home with flexible hours.
2018-2020 Got promoted to a higher grade. Had 5 staff
2020-now Got promoted again to head of department salary 50k euros to 65k euros.
Kept working fulltime even though I have 2 dc. I do take a month unpaid leave in the summer.

Left school 2009
Various admin jobs
Started as admin in my current sector in 2017, worked my way up and went for every promotion, am now senior manager under director. I think it’s helped me moving around to different companies every few years until I’ve found somewhere I can fully train and take the transferable skills with me

Mainly dumb luck career wise. Being in the right place at the right time when opportunities came along. I didn't marry or have kids until late 30s early 40s so had many years to build a good career first. I was always able to go the extra mile/do extra hours etc which co workers couldn't do.

You're still young though OP, you've got your 30s to get your career back on track so you can start really earning in your 40s. Plenty of time but you'd better get a wriggle on end decide where you want to be so you can get cracking. Good luck xx

Worked since I was 14, did A-levels and had 3 part time jobs at the time, didn't want to go to Uni.
Got my full time job when I was 18 and they saw potential and put me through night school, college and then Uni to get a professional qualification alongside the experience and working full time (with a part time job as well for part of it).
After 20 years at that same co pant through many many changes both in my role and the company, I was made redundant and finally took the step to set up my own business.
I have learnt absolutely loads and have brilliant clients and I love it - I am earning enough to cover my outgoings and have a lot of control over my time etc, and after many years of working at 100mph, I now like to think of myself as semi retired!

Blagging, mainly.

Had PT retail job while at school, left at 18 and worked full time in a shoe shop for a year. Went to uni, quit after a year. Worked in Topshop while working out what to do with my life.
Got a very junior marketing role through a recruitment agency. Started blogging and writing for a local independent magazine on the side.
Networked/stalked people on twitter who worked in entertainment journalism and talked my way into an internship in music PR.
Took said internship in London, left after a few months due to horrid colleagues, used the contacts I’d made to get bits of journalism work. Built that up over the next few years and now I work for a major broadcaster in a mid-senior role.

16: Left school, no O Levels due to persistent abuse/bullying.
16-17: Went to college, got a handful of O levels
17: Got a job in a tiny accountant's practice as an admin assistant
17-18: Did A levels at local college by evening course
18-23: Took accountancy qualifications by self study and evening course alongside full time job as trainee accountant.
23: Qualified as accountant
23-25: Changed jobs to a bigger firm and got more experience.
26: Moved to job as accountancy practice audit manager.
33: Moved to industry as finance director.
35: Returned to accountancy practice as partner.
38: Started my own accountancy practice where I've been for past 20 years.

I don't want to give too personal details. But in summary, qualifications and voluntary then work experience in the field I was interested in. Then a few years down the line transferred those skills into a slightly different career (still related to my qualifications) but knew I could make more money doing, and suited my personality more.

I did this since having kids as I had kids young. I've essentially made a series of difficult decisions, I didn't go for jobs that were easy, I studied alongside children and work, I paid huge sums in childcare, I didn't get too comfortable- I changed jobs regularly to get promoted faster. This has resulted in a good salary, with lots of flexibility but it was a lot of hard work in the beginning whilst juggling young kids.

17 - part time retail job alongside school.
18 - went to uni, carried on with oart time job
21 - finished uni and had promotion to assistant store manager
22 - promotion to store manager
24 - left retail and moved to entry level civil service (more money than i was on as store manager)
26 - promotion then maternity leave
28 - promotion and where i am now on £40k at 30yo

20 - was at uni studying law but did an internship in the summer holidays in recruitment because it was the only one available. This was unpaid so I worked evenings and weekends nannying to pay the bills
21 - got my first job in recruitment on £17k off the back of the internship
22 - after a year, left recruitment on £20k and went to work in corporate partnerships in the charity sector (£27k)
23 - realised very quickly that charity was not for me and spoke to a former candidate who was now recruiting for a sales role in an advertising business. They didn’t care about my lack of experience, just wanted a really good salesperson (£32k)
24 - got promoted but essentially still doing the same job (£40k)
26 - after two years, the company wasn’t doing well so I went to work for an advertising agency (£47k)
29 - currently still there and looking for my next step. Earning good bonuses but money isn’t everything (P60 showed £65k for last year)

I think a lot of my success has been down to making strategic moves at the right time and staying in touch with previous contacts who have then let me know about new roles. But also making an impact early on in a new job stands you in a strong position for promotions and for other people to hear about your success which leads to new opportunities

How did I get where I am today?

Having parents invested in me & financially able to give me a leg up was far more important than anything I did.

2009 - left school with 7 GCSEs, unsure what I wanted to do so went to college and did fashion (school advised to study something I loved - WORSE ADVICE) worked part time at Tesco
2011- finished college and carried in working for tesco
2012 - got married and was working my way up the ladder at tesco for manager position
2015 - realised I hated that job and got a job doing admin. 6 months in, another department offered me a trainee role as an electrical design engineer with all education paid for (I count my lucky stars to this day I was in the right place at the right time)
2019 - 4 years later and qualified as an electrical design engineer
2020 - had my first baby in December so taking a years maternity leave. Still unsure how this will affect my career but grateful for the opportunities I've had in the construction industry