What jobs do people have that pay £200k+?

[Diamondpearl123]

I am thinking about making a career change to earn more (aiming for £200k +) but would like to understand what types of roles I should aim for and whether they are realistic for me. Grateful to understand people’s experiences and hopefully start a good discussion. Some questions below. Thank you

• What is your job?
• What is your salary?
• How many years into your career are you?
• What are the key qualifications/experience for the role?
• What hours do you work?

You know what, yes I’m going to brag!

I’m female, under 40, have earned £200k/year the last 3 years in a male dominated industry (currently 30% of our employees are female and that number is even smaller at my level).

Isn’t that worth bragging about?!

You'd be taxed at 60% so would probably only net about 115k, to net 200k you'd have to earn massive

If you don’t mind - is that all base & can you give an indication of sector / location?

100% agree, my richest friend is the one who started a restaurant..and along the way acquired a handful of rental properties.

Ermm...if it makes you feel better about yourself, yes?

Lawyer - excellent Uni, medium degree standard, excellent training contract. Now in-house. 15 years pqe.

Base is £175k, I work 4 days, so pro rata nearer £140k. £40k min bonus. I work from home.

Big thing has been share awards. Pulled £120k after tax out last year as an additional bonus. Will do more this year. I work 9-5, limited UK travel.

I got fortunate with a great boss, good timing on share values and I’m strategically good.

Id say re-training won’t get you there. You’d either have succeeded by now or not.

Look at what skills you have now and get coaching for how to maximize opportunities in your sector.

see, women are not supposed to earn high salaries. That's just not ladylike. A little part time job, preferably low paid, should fit around school hours and household duties.

Always plenty of misogynistic comments like this to be found on the internet of course.

Most of the full-time high earners I know are women, not men. My earnings are distinctly average.

Horrible conversation put on by greedy people who don't know how lucky they are to be on £100 grand plus.

Really bad taste to put on here how you are not happy with £150 gran a year. Get a life snob

Does dragging down other women’s accomplishments make you feel better?

No that includes a 20% bonus but I've always achieved it (12 years and counting). I also have an LTIP which adds a bit more but is more uncertain as it's linked to company performance not personal.

Sector is media, location London.

Lovely response thank you

VP Global Finance - £200k plus bonus (don’t always get one) I’m a chartered accountant - qualified at 25 and it’s taken me another 25 years to get to where I am (multiple roles of increasing seniority) There have been long hours at times (I always joke there’s not an hour of the 24 hour clock I haven’t worked at some point) but less so now. It is ride or die but I do really love it.

Not a teacher 🤣🤣.

@EngVsWal brag away! I often question my life choices when I see my rubbish pay for
the hours I put in.

Its a nice idea, but if it was that easy to get the skill set and opportunity required to earn £200k+, the salary wouldn't be £200k+, it would be lower.

Supply and demand in the employment market.

Even doctors with their incredibly high traini gng requirements, insanely high skill set and stressful job only earn £100k after years of training.

I suspect corporate lawyer is probably the easiest way to earn that sort of salary, but those entry routes are very competitive for that reason.

Thanks 🙏 I’d love more insight into sector split of comp. I’m no where near London so my next move will likely not match comp to date.

I only realised how good my work was when I became a manager. I just assumed everyone did what I do: deliver high quality work, on time, well-presented, fulfilling the brief - my philosophy was that I should solve problems for my managers, not create them. Only when I became a manager myself did I realise how rare this actually is (particularly among men) and that I should have pushed harder for promotions. I earned near £200k after 3 decades. Now I’ve started my own business and am hoping to make more in the late afternoon of my career! Don’t underestimate yourselves like I did, ladies.

@damnedifyoudoandsoon I don't argue with the stats you stated above. I am sure they were true when recorded. But I doubt that if the same figures were recorded in January 2026 that they would not look quite as white or public school. The tide is moving. MC people (like me) who grew up with Indian diaspora migrants from east Africa in school are friendly with them and their parents. Skin colour is never an issue, but intellect is. The POC I like and whose company I enjoy are as MC as me, as doctors, lawyers, journalists, engineers, actors and managers. I think we in the UK are creating the first post race society, based on ability. The US is doing similar.

I think if you pursue that kind of career, the risk is part of the game. Those people thrive on it. Getting kicked out isn’t the end of the whole world. Just the end of a chapter in your life.

My boss earns over 200k. Leading a tax department at a big company. Team of 35, pretty much all of whom are highly skilled professionals.

Typical profile of people in that job:

• 20 years experience
• degree from a decent uni, postgraduate qualifications in accountancy/tax/law (or two or three of these).
• exceptional communication and leadership skills
• excellent memory, quite tech savvy, quick to process new information

A lot of people in this industry will simply never make it to those roles, although the next couple of layers down are still well paid, 100k or more.

@Mithral and @TrixieMixie this is a great insight actually. You are so right about being a good employee. And let’s face it, unless you are right at the very top, pretty much everyone still has a boss/line manager.

I find some men spend their time explaining how they are doing their job! It’s like they want a pat on the head for just getting shit done. Really they just like the idea other people think they are busy/efficient.

Another lawyer here. £220k in house at a UK listed company.
Did 3 yrs undergrad, 2 yrs postgrad, 2 years training at a City firm then moved in house to a tech company when I was 30. Took a substantial pay cut to do so but had decided private practice wasn’t not for me.

£400k ish
Regional Director of Sales in Tech.
Shares boost pay to that much (about an extra £50k
A levels in Maths & Sciences but no degree.
It has been, and remains a hard slog - have been away from home currently for 2 weeks. Can’t really ever switch off - I wake up to problems to sort out and go to bed with new ones.
I think the only real benefit is a more comfortable retirement because I’m too scared to spend much of it! I still search for good deals for holidays and begrudge spending money on them because I can’t switch off anyway.
This level of salary has only come to me in the last 7 years and on balance - I would say it isn’t worth the stress.

Not me but I know these types of salaries are achievable where I work - huge logistics company. Especially in sales. Basic salary might be £70k - £80k but bonuses if you land multi million pound contracts can be in the 6 figures. Senior management can also make that much. You don’t need a degree in logistics to do well (I don’t have one, didn’t even go and do any further education and I earn over £80k, work from home full time and have plenty of flexibility)
I wouldn’t do it because I don’t want to have to hit targets - I’d rather be financially comfortable but not stretched to buggery at work.

Nope. There is a massive gender pay divide in this country. In part because women are embarrassed to talk about what they earn and to ask for what they deserve.

Go ahead please, brag away, and make sure your daughters absolutely know they can earn well too, and deserve to be paid what they are worth.

On my part, I’m a clinical neuropsychologist and earn about £110. I work 25 hours a week, term time only. I’d earn twice that in the US, by the way.