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?

I'm in the bracket the OP's talking about and can do my job as a consultant essentially anywhere in the world with an internet connection - no hard work or dealing with arseholes, no pressure, no stress, no long hours or commuting. I'm paid for my specialist expertise.

I used to work in public sector for a very basic wage. Then when I wanted to buy a house, I went to work in an estate agent, first as admin, then as a negotiator. Learnt a lot about sales, moved agency and earned £180k in my second year (nearly 20 year ago). After kids, the hours were not compatible (people want to view at weekends and evenings!), so I was SAHM for a few years, then gradually built up an online business (not OF!) which grew like a triffid. Could've taken £200k a year out, but not tax efficient. I've since pruned the business to make it more tax and time efficient - my main personal benchmark is hourly rate not turnover or take-home.

If you don't want to work every hour of the day, every day of the week (which I personally loved when younger and freer), I would urge you to consider avenues that decouple your income from your time or leverage your time with employees/automation etc. Like the dentist up thread who has a practice employing other dentists. Sales with no cap on commission is a fab route if you can graft.

I incidentally am a first gen immigrant who arrived here at 17, no family money or privilege other than solid values, scraped into an ex poly and worked throughout. There are enough people out there dreaming small for themselves and for you, so why not go for the big prizes?

Are you seriously suggesting people are doing these jobs FOR THE GOOD OF THE COUNTRY?!! 😂
Anyway, who said anything about low paid?

No. I didn’t suggest that once. I said it’s a good job people are doing these jobs, because otherwise there would be far, far fewer net contributors. Surely you aren’t disagreeing that we’d be more fucked if no one paid more tax than they took out of the system?
I do my highly paid job because I want to. I enjoy it, and I enjoy the benefits that the money brings. The fact that I pay £5k a month in tax is a by product of that.

Genuine question.

For those who work in sales/sales management - what is the product that you sell?

Ditto management/business consultants - what does that actually mean? What kind of companies do you work for?

I'm glad for you. I'm the same. But some of these jobs just sound awful to me. I'd say the lady's best option would be to get a job abroad rather than all this City stress people are suggesting.

Chief Financial Officer
20 years qualified
BSc in non related field (STEM)
ACA (Chartered Accountant)
CTA (Chartered Tax Adviser)

Generally work 9-5pm if I have a good team supporting me. There’s some late nights a couple of weeks before Committee and Board cycle.

In office 2 days a week, at home the rat of the time. Go in for 10am on office days due to school drop-offs.

Can’t complain really.

But that’s just salaried jobs. Anyone earning in the 100s of thousands isn’t on PAYE. A lot of people set up limited companies and bill their time and then pay themselves in dividends. Plus of course people who have set up businesses.

It skews the figures. The top earners are not in those statistics.

I worked harder and dealt with many, many more arseholes when I was on minimum wage.

If I'd known then what I know now, I'd have become an insolvency practitioner.

Husband is an underwriter for a big insurance company - around £450k. He did study for several years for his actuarial exams but many at his level didn't - he refers to insurance roles as 'well paid jobs for idiots 😝.

I run an art school from a studio I built in the house. It brings in an income of 120k which is below your target but it's extremely tax efficient if you bung in your maximum pension allowance of 60k each year.

I’ve name changed for this but am a long standing member.

I am a Commercial Director for a house builder. My basic plus bonus is over £200k per year (just) which I’ve earned in full the last 3 years.

At the point of becoming Commercial Director I’d got 17 years industry experience and was in my mid-30s.

I started as a trainee Quantity Surveyor after getting ok A levels. I then did a specific HNC course for 2 years and that was it.

To counter the PP I’m from a working class family, went to a local comp and have no degree. I have no family connections in the industry, I just worked hard. Made even more difficult to get here by being a woman, then a mother in a very male dominated industry.

Currently I work 40 hours a week max, weekends I’ve had to work I could count on one hand plus I take my DC to school every morning (not breakfast club, just normal start time).

Essentially above me there’s the MD, another layer of regional management and then CEO/COO level. This is a FTSE 50 company.

OP I’d recommend the construction industry, the earning potential across a number of different roles is very good. Middle management that sit below my level can earn £100k basic.

What industry do you work in currently OP?

What is SCS? I DO wish people would stop using so many acronyms! Out of all the jobs in the world, SCS could be anything! How is anyone meant to know what that is? Frustrating because I would like to be able to know what he did before lecture/author.

Earning an income may not be necessary for you, but is for others. Of course income should play a factor in career choice. Moving forward with AI, I don’t think kids will be told “just choose a subject you love.” There may not be any jobs available for those choosing to study subjects without a clear career path in the AI world.

I find needlepoint quite rewarding, however it doesn’t pay school fees x 3, so I need to work at a job that pays well.

I’m guessing the OP is looking at options that would match her current skillset and interest and see what she would need to do to pivot into a role that would earn a higher income. She may not need to make too many changes to reach her goal.

@PithyViewer sorry! Senior Civil Servant 😊He earnt about £170K as a SCS3 which is Director General.

Au contraire, I think people who have the nous and lack of ego to ask questions like this are the ones who will go places, instead of assuming there's no insight to be gained.

This is one of my sons, not me.

He's in the entertainment field 'behind the scenes' but 'public facing' at times.
I'll just say it's within your range
15 yrs
Good business and people skills, experience as an entertainer, technical skills in 'productions'
All the hours God sends. This is NOT a career if you plan to have a family.

duplicate

triplicate!! My goodness I'm impatient today!!!

DH earns over that, works all hours, international travel, misses family events, birthdays, runs himself ragged, has loads of amazing experiences. Regional sales director in a highly specialised industry, 20 year career path, huge network, some luck some good decisions.

There is not one job listed on this thread which makes me think I would want to jump ship! Seriously how do people have the time to spend the money they are earning??!!! All the jobs sounds incredibly dull & stressful in a very corporate & unpleasant world. I was a social worker for 19 yrs, when I left I was on approx 45k, I absolutely loved it, amazing job satisfaction, the most amazing people I worked with. I’m still in a social work role but for the civil service, approx 60k & feel privileged to be in a role that has such responsibility for children’s lives.

I run my own tech consultancy and have two consultants working with me, which means my earnings are largely within my control. This year has been exceptionally intense, and while my personal income will exceed £250k, it’s come with a significant personal trade-off — long hours, missed birthdays, and far less time with family and friends than I’d like.

No it’s not. It’s empowering your daughter to be whatever they want to be because they are capable of anything.

So if they want to do something they love then the skies the limit!!

You sound like the girlfriend of Jack Black’s flatmate in School of Rock 😂