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?

Our senior team at work do not earn that but they do get share options which have the potential to be huge amounts.

It might be more useful to focus on industries which pay well (isn't big pharma meant to be well paid?) and/or companies that might give share options as part of the remuneration.

Finance, I’ve earn’t a lot more than that. It’s completely drained me and I’ve missed out on so much of my kids growing up. So many holidays interrupted / evenings / weekends being needed.

When you see your take home after almost 50% tax it’s not really worth it.
I’m going part time, taking a big pay cut and cutting back on the lifestyle creep to live a simpler and happier life with more time for family / health / things I enjoy.

if you do earn £200k plus you need to be really smart with you pension. Once you get into £260k + you are on fully tapered allowance and can only pay in about £150 a month. So the rest of your income is massively taxed and then you’re taxed again on any interest you make from what’s left.

Honestly if you think that coming on Mumsnet forum and asking this question is a good idea, I don't think you'll make the grade for a £200k per annum job.

My next promotion will be £200k, and is 1-2 years away. I’m 13 years into my career, working in Big4 professional services. I could probably find a new job paying that now, but would prefer to stay at my current employer and wait as I’m on promotion track.

DH: Former SCS turned lecturer/author. He’s lucky if he works a 20 hr week!

Me: Business owner. Work 60+hr week

Family or friends: lawyers or bankers. Horrible hours.

One relative works for a charity and earns about £180K. Not entirely sure what they do

£350-400K all in pa, incl bonus and shares, excl final salary pension.
I work in tech leadership for a FTSE100, 25 yrs experience. London based, although hybrid.
Constantly on, challlenging work life balance, lots of travel, always competing, and navigating the politics.
It’s not for everyone. Many sacrifices that people don’t see from the outside.

I'm a lawyer, made about £900k last year. I'm 40, 18 years into my career but I probably started focussing on my career about 14 when I worked very hard and tailored my extra curricular and academic interests to the best Oxbridge application. I worked very hard in my 20s, less so now but I still work before my children get up and sometimes when they're in bed. I'd say to do the same, you need a law degree from Oxbridge, LSE or maybe a handful of others or another degree and a masters from Harvard, Oxford or similar. You the need to qualify as a lawyer and then work incredibly hard for about 10 years, then you can begin to reap the rewards.

• What is your job? King
• What is your salary? Gazillions
• How many years into your career are you? 2 years
• What are the key qualifications/experience for the role? Ability to cut ribbons and talk to trees
• What hours do you work? Whenever I can be bothered

NoelEdmonsHairGel This is the rub really .60 hours per week ! That is a good example .A friend knows someone with a similar figure. Has 24/7 Emails and never feels he can "switch off " properly .There is so much envy and disappointment with salaries .Very little written about what it actually entails though.

I know a lot of people think big money hard work but when you look at the likes of Epstein etc just realise if you have leverage you make big money be it knowledge, blackmail, finance or ego massaging (soft skills) bit of being at the right space right time in the right circumstances

It’s good that you are ambitious and hard working. Bankers and sales roles can pay what you are looking for. Hard working, to get to £250k you need a base of £125 and double OTE, high pressure but rewarding

What? This isn't true at all. There are many many people earning this amount and as evidenced by this thread, some are highly qualified and others have just moved up, moved jobs or are in big companies with lots of responsibilities which warrants the salary. I disagree that you need to have a niche or that you have to be "chartered". Chartered what?

OP I earn close to this, I work in a small consulting firm, I have 20 years experience, I could earn more but I have no interest in taking on more stress.
I work around 40 hours a week, sometimes more if deadlines or things go wrong, often balanced by quieter periods.

I have no business qualifications just a degree. I am intelligent, academically and emotionally, proactive and easy to work with.

I worked very part time when my DC were little and took a few sabbaticals. This undoubtedly hindered my promotion prospects but doesn't bother me at all, I kept going and now earn well, I hope to have lots of options to move forward once DC have left home, had them relatively young so I won't be 50 at that point. Although the job market seems tough I do see people at my level / age moving about a lot.

There are a lot of people posting on this thread without seeming to be drawing on their own experience or relying on hearsay.

I also disagree that the OP isn't going to get there if she has to ask on MN. There are many women in senior roles here. Why not ask here anonymously? It's as good a place as any, probably better for women aiming for career changes after children, etc, and a lot of straight talking which is useful.

When I first started out in a graduate role I had a wonderful interesting job that all my friends envied. A few years on those who had gone into law, accountancy, banking, finance, sales were all out earning me. I realised aged 27 that if I ever wanted to earn decent money I'd have to change tack a bit. So I did, but at that age it was easy and I had some great experience and excellent academics so could pretty much have done anything. The OP is asking for advice to improve her prospects; nothing wrong with that.

My DH works in big tech. One of the big 3. He is on about 200k plus but thats only after bonus. Basic is about 150 I think 🙈 he is there 8 years. Engineer originally. I dont think any job is going to be a quick route to huge money like that tbh unless a porn star is in your skill set 😂😂

Surely if you have to ask…

Currently Managing Director but have just been put on our 3 years CEO pathway. Spent 27 years building my career. Grew up poor, left school at 16 and been focused on my career ever since. I’ve never listened to the neigh-sayers, who said I’d never amount to anything.

I’m a lawyer and don’t earn even half of that! If you want to go into law to be rich then commercial law is the best bet.

All the people I know who earn that sort of money are just very senior in whatever they do. Exec level / partner or leadership in finance, tech, HR, law.

I feel to earn this kind of salary working for a company is quite rare, unless you have years and years of experience and like others have said are in quite a niche role.

The most accessible option to earn the bigger bucks is to be clever with the money you already have. If you’re in a position, invest in rental property, there are many ways this can be achieved and more accessible than you think.

Maybe you could start up your own business related to the skills and experience you already have? Of course you won’t be earning money like that for a good few years, but hard work and determination will always pay off in the end.

Also never underestimate the trades! My partner was told at school he would never equate to anything because he hated school and did terribly. He is now a highly skilled builder with nearly 20 years of experience, he started at 16 straight from school. He makes very decent money doing what he does.

of course failing all that, the only other option I can think of is OF 😅

I only know three people who earn that much. One is a hedge fund manager and two are best selling novelists. But I know a few other 'best selling' novelists who barely earn enough to pay tax, so it's far from a sure fire route. It's all about writing a book that is suitable for being translated into every language in the world.

Lawyer. £500k plus. (Not me I hasten to add!) Requires a lot of working hours. Quite stressful.

I find the opposite. Possibly because of the friends I have who are in the same industry, but we always discuss salaries as that’s how we know we are not being ripped off! A lot of us have had good pay rises from doing this. I find women are a lot more open than men when it comes to discussing salaries (maybe they’re just embarrassed they earn more!), and also the younger generation are more forthcoming with salaries too.

My boss is on 240k - VP in the automotive industry.

Stunningly useful contribution to the thread, there 🙄

OP, it seems like you should be looking at how to buid on the skillset, job history and qualifications that you already have. That would get you up the ladder far quicker than retraining. Can you pivot a bit? Or look sideways to an industry where you could progress?

Lawyers get that kind of money, even in-house with many years of experience in highly paid industries (finance, oil & gas, big tech, fintech).