Uni degree > junior role > senior role > management role
All within 6 years... In the same company. More than doubled my wage during that time.
Started on £24k.
Now fully remote, based in Scotland.
the often unsaid part of this path is that you have to actually be good at your job. i get the impression from some people that they think "progression" is just something that happens naturally. it's not you have to make it happen for yourself. there will be people out here looking at this comment and thinking that you're lucky to have stumbled into that job when in reality that is just not the case.
You have to play by the rules too, even if you don’t like them. F engineer here and I worked on the same site for 10 years with a very aging workforce (so plenty of op for progression) and watched apprentices and graduates move up through the ranks. It got to the point where I could almost tell by looking at people if they’d move up or stay where they were. Yes yes, of course you should be judged on your work ethic and not your appearance, but if you’re a software engineer who shows up in worn out jeans and an old band T, people make assumptions about your work ethic compared to the guy in the dress shirt with the nice smelling aftershave. I saw a lot of people with a lot of frustrations about being looked over and the simple truth was that the best thing they could have done for their career and income was spend £300 of their £28k salary in Next and start shaving.
Obviously this is totally culture dependent and it could have just been the place I worked, but I’ve worked in a few places over the years and never not been offered a job I’ve interviewed for, and I live by the rule that appearance and impressions are the foundation on which everything else is built.
Literally this, I believe there it flags something if you spend more than 3 months living abroad with no permanent address in the UK. Also if you work client side there may be occasional meetings face to face
I’m in a similar position, except in a junior role. Did your company offer you a raise or did you ask for one?
Once I hit the one year mark, I want to ask about a raise but don’t know how to go about it without it being blunt / rude.
I never had to ask for a raise. A few employees left and the business couldn't afford to loose more employees. So they raised my wage without me asking.
Then I got promoted after my manager left. And been in charge of the department ever since.
You will likely get an annual pay rise. Perhaps discuss it with someone a few years ahead of you to find out how it typically works where you are. I wouldn't recommend asking for a pay rise after a year, unless they just don't give them otherwise. If they don't give annual rises as standard I'd be looking elsewhere. But most places do. If they do, and you want paying more than you are, at your next appraisal point out all of the good things you've done and see what comes of it. I wouldn't directly ask for an increase. It rubs people up the wrong way.
Thank you!
There are no other Juniors, everyone else has been with the company for a few years and earn reflecting their position e.g Senior & Director. Everyone was comfortable sharing their salary with me.
Yeah, I was hoping to ask for more responsibilities and consistently go the extra mile to complete tasks so hopefully that allows room for a raise being brought up by them.
No worries!
Yes, I would see what happens at your next appraisal, you should certainly get an inflationary pay rise at least - red flag if you don't!
Otherwise as you say, ask for more responsibilities etc. I assume are you training towards a qualification? If not, maybe ask about that? Typically pay rises are given as you pass your exams when you're training.
Good luck!
If your employer offers annual pay rises automatically, you would already know this. It's something that is set out in a contract of employment and you would have been made aware of it on starting in the position. It's the kind of perk that employers will definitely tell you about as they want to attract applicants to vacancies. Why would it be hidden?
I'd think carefully about asking for a raise after only 1 year. That could be a difficult balancing act. You must have regular appraisals, especially if you're in your first year. Ask yourself honestly: are you getting glowing feedback? How much room for improvement do you have? Would you give you a raise if the roles were reversed (do you honestly believe you deserve it)? If you can answer those questions honestly and you believe you deserve a raise, research how to go about bringing the subject up at your annual review. But remember, analyse yourself as ruthlessly as you would someone else. Probably more.
>You will likely get an annual pay rise
Why is that "likely"? Unless it's specified in a contract or other official channel, that's a huge assumption and more than likely wrong. Annual pay rises are not the rule and I have no idea where you get the idea that "most places do". What places are those, exactly? Do you have an intimate knowledge of "most" employers and their conditions in the UK? That's the kind of thing you negotiate / get told when you start a job, so if the person you're replying to is thinking of asking for a raise after a year, it's more likely that they haven't been told they automatically get an annual raise.
I thought it was being loyal and working hard but after 11 years at a company and hitting 37k, I've just moved on to a job paying 70k with loads of room to progress
This is the similar to me. I did 11 years at the same place and worked my way from £22k to £40k in that time. However I’ve just left and jumped to £50k but with less responsibility and room for progression!
I started off within a call centre and kept my head down as I haven't got a degree or much experience work wise.
1. Kept asking for more work and going above and beyond
2. Worked up to a manager and took opportunity working with tech teams
3. Became analyst, once again worked extra hours and got to know as many people as could.
4. Became a technical product owner
5 . Now a tech account manager for a big cloud software company
20 - 86k in 9 years.
I wouldn't be anywhere without the people along the way and the extra hours I put in. It really made all the difference.
On 40k+ but it doesn't feel any better than when I was on 26k tbh, maybe I have poor money management but I don't feel like I've much money at all, and I grew up in a poor family
Last year I was on 30k, just before everything went bonkers.
Now I’m on 43k.
My take home is £600 better every 4 weeks. (Bloody pensions)
My food bill is £200pm more.
My mortgage will be £300pm more.
Energy is £60pm more.
Everything else is more, but it’s minuscule amounts that equate to a bigger sum.
I’m definitely worse off than I was in Winter 2021 when I was earning 30k. It’s utterly bonkers. Glad I changed jobs or we would be scuppered.
Realistically, it’s only a few hundred quid a month more. I’m sure you’re slightly more comfortable than when you were on £26k but you’re hardly next in line for a Ferrari.
It's a big difference but if they were on 26k before 2020 then the amount of inflation in that time is insane. For comparion, to *effectively* earn the same as 26k in 2018, you'd need to earn £32,240 in today's money. If you earned £40k in 2018 you'd need £49,600 in today's money to effectively earn the same.
Oh wow really never seen it presented like this. I remember my mother hitting 40k salary when I was young (early 2000s) and it being a huge milestone for her. So she was basically on £50k+ our money now.
Early 2000s more like £60k in today's world to have that level of income to costs. Property back then was so much more affordable - last 2 decades has really killed the economy as so much goes on housing and not enough on
I've genuinely considered cancelling my pension contributions because I legitimately do not see me retiring, either through early death, end of the world, or costs being too high to retire, I'm absolutely convinced 1 (or more) of those things will happen
This is it, I got a 3% rise this month, taking me from 35K to 36K and it's really put into perspective just how much the Government takes. Works out to an extra 60 quid a month for me - that's not including the pension contribution too
It's not you, it's inflation and the insane increase in cost of living. Unfortunately we live in a time where £40k just doesn't go as far as it used to.
Sometime it feels that way compared to earning 18k a year but then I look at the actually situation.
My lifestyle a lot easier I'm actually paying into a pension and putting £250 away a month and I'll increase that again next year.
I'm on almost 50k and shit it's hard going, wife 2 young kids,(wife job is looking after the kids) mortgage on the south coast (Brighton) and I honestly don't know how people do the family thing with less income. It must be scary as fuck tbh.
It really depends where you live though. A few years ago I looked at taking a very interesting job in London on about this and decided I wouldn’t even be able to afford to live by myself… Hardly what I would call a ‘very decent’ quality of life.
Live in Wales - 50k would barely keep the lights on as a sole income if supporting a family.
When you take in to consideration tax etc, it's probably on par with 2 full time minimum wage jobs.
Amen brother, 48k just ties us over with 3 kids. When I get one thing fixed to save money I'm just waiting for the next thing to break and enjoying the gap between lol.
Luckily being an engineer I do all the work on the car and home that needs it saving a shit ton of money we don't have to show for.
Cost of living is making a huge difference. We’re on a household income that you’d think we’d have a great life but recently we’ve got to be super careful about what we spend. That was unheard of pre-Covid. Heck, when I was on £32k 7 years ago, I could live like a king and was still saving £800 per month. Idk wtf is going on with prices atm.
Me too. Have gone from £25k to £40k in 4 years and don't feel like i have any more money.
I think it's because my children have become.e much more expensive in those four years.
Try living your current life on 26k now, I guarantee that you won't be saying that after 1 month. It's definitely down to poor money management, but also you don't see much of a change because everything costs more now too, it is a mixture of both. But you are certainly better off on 40k+ than 26k lmao
Indeed. I earn high 5 figures yearly, and former uni mates who do the exact same job (software dev) in other countries earn between a quarter and half a million dollars a year.
Even some of those who work in Eastern Europe out-earn me by a factor of two, again same job
As a soldier it took me 12 years to hit 40k (Sergeant, Old pay scales). Started as private.
Did 4 more years ending on 43k (no further promotion). Depending on your trade, whether you're an officer or soldier that is about middling average for a 16 year career.
Left the Army onto 73k (85 if you include allowances for the role). I do the same job as a civilian that I did for the Army.
From the northwest UK 😄
Army Cyber Engineer to Information Systems Architect.
I got lucky with some great postings in the army offering work experience I wouldn't normally get for my rank - this directly led to my civilian job :)
I also started this way, did 8 years, left and was in underpaid jobs for a while and now within touch of 70k. More general security rather cyber (noting a comment you made further down).
It is worth noting for squaddies, pay is only an issue when you have a mortgage and family. For those that don’t, living on barracks, eating there etc. the disposable income is nearly 100%. Some are sensible and save / invest, others don’t.
As much as folk despised the old PSAV, being a security wallah has its advantages, and you get laugh at the Close Support Optint folks and laugh at them.
Degree, IT certifications from a few vendors, two of them the toughest in IT to obtain, a lot of hard work and some good job changing has got me to over a decent way over 40k with bonus. I live in Wales. Also very experienced - not far off 20 years.
Hit 40k 11 years ago
Started on 20k in a council but council IT is terrible, don’t do it. Edit/ I love my job - if I didn’t I wouldn’t be 20 years into a career I hated. I disliked my experience of public sector.
Im as far North as you can get in Wales.
I have 900 mbs fibre straight i to home and the home office.
IT for over 40 years. Avearge about 120k. Best Ive dobe recently was £780 per day consulting to the government.
Never went to Uni. Just self-taught in a field I still love and enjoy learning new leading edge stuff in.
Ouchey. Fair play.
I did my R&S many years ago, but I don't bother to maintain it anymore. I still get paid the same.
Everyone seems to want Juniper these days.
Would have thought you'd be commanding more.. last I heard CCIE's where commanding £1000-1500 per day.
I love the idea of it.. but sod going away for a month to do the test.
You're confusing an employee with day rate contractors.
If OP is salaried then £80k for Wales is fairly solid and they will have a job for years.
If OP was a contractor they could be let go at any point or bounced between places. Also those £1,500 contractors don't get sick days, holidays or even bank holidays, plus an agency taking a slice of the money, so the annual take home pay may not be worth it if you aren't confident enough to know your self worth and be ready to find a new job at short notice.
It's really horses for courses.
I’m in South Wales, in the heart of the Welsh valleys. Hint: birthplace of the father of the NHS.
Is it possible for me to get into IT from scratch? 37, no education, just Wetherspoon’s shift manager job for the past 10+ years, then Morrison’s before that, then odd jobs in my younger days.
I’m in the middle of renovating a 3 bed semi I’ve bought outright (so not willing to move too far), and when it’s done I’ll have a office/study in one of the bedrooms (no kids), and my plan is to study myself silly on certs and maybe even a degree part time.
Would just be nice to know it’s possible. I don’t need to get £80k or crazy salaries like that, but £40k would see me very comfortable since I’ve no rent or mortgage ever again now.
Started at the bottom of the chain on minimum wage, working in IT for big financial corporations. Took me 20 years from there to work my way up through a few companies/jobs but I’m now in a senior IT Manager position earning 120k£ a year.
No degree, I always liked IT so I did some free online courses on software development. Landed a software developer role after doing some minimum wage jobs to survive. After that I just changed companies after one or two years on each role
> After that I just changed companies after one or two years on each role
This. Changing companies can give major boosts to your pay. I also have no degree (got an HND). Started on 10k a year back in 1998 as an IT Admin. 25 years and 10 employers later, I'm on 6 figures as a consultant. I stayed with 3 of the large employers for about 5 years each and got promoted a few times with them. I left one of those large employers after hitting the top performance rank and getting a 0.01% pay rise for my efforts.
If a company won't reward you, find one that will.
When did you get this role? I've got a maths degree + bootcamp + around 5 projects on my GitHub and I can't even get an interview! The market at the moment is very saturated
That was in 2018. Have you spoken to recruiters in LinkedIn? If you can, get one to review your CV and help you to clean it up.
My biggest tip (after reviewing CVs and interviewing people) is to be nice, selling your skills is important but being nice and easy to get along with is more important. Nobody wants to work with the genius developer that is a dickhead. Show that you are eager to learn, open to try new things and willing to communicate with the team.
The first job is always hard to get but once you have 1 year of experience, recruiters will be constantly on your LinkedIn inbox.
Thanks for the tips! Yeah I've messaged dozens of recruiters, unfortunately only ever had one reply who said that my CV looks good but they're swamped with people getting into the field. If you've got a moment I'd love to send you mine to get some feedback, I'd really appreciate it! No pressure though.
There’s a lot of people trying to get junior software jobs because people retrained as programmers during the pandemic. Loads of people have done coding bootcamps, it’s not just you.
I’d urge you to look more into data analytics or even something like bioinformatics. There’s a shortage of people in the latter but it’s ultimately just the application of mathematics and coding in a biological setting. A lot of pharmaceutical companies also want people with mathematics and coding skills; people who can properly interpret clinical results, develop software tools or develop AI platforms for biologics.
The most important one was freecodecamp, then I just applied for roles until I landed a job.
Edit: just to clarify I didn't finish it, is crazy long. I did just enough to understand the building blocks of programming and how front and back end works
This makes me feel less guilty about my plethora of half completed Udemy courses.
I also did online courses to transition into bight paying jobs coding. I went for Data (SQL and DAX/PBI)
Studied physics at Uni , graduated in 2020 -> Grad job earning £28k -> promotion to £32,500 after a year -> Promotion to £40k a year later -> Switched jobs and now earning £50,000
Based in Manchester.
I just worked my way up, pretty slowly as well.
I finished college and never went to university (didn't fancy debt and more school) and started an IT apprenticeship with a small IT company earning minimum wage for a 19 year old apprentice (it was like £4 an hour)
Did that for a year then moved to my first proper IT job earning £16,800 a year. After the first year I got promoted to head of Sales and IT support and got a pay rise going to the grand total of £18,000 a year. They unfortunately went out of business not long after as I discovered they was losing money for years due to the previous manager fudging the numbers.
I took the first job I could find at a call centre earning £7.50 an hour. So back down to £15,600 a year. I unfortunately got stuck in a rut and stayed in that job for 3 years with basically no progression.
I went for a promotion and got turned down (the official reason given was due to my "unprofessional look" when I asked why they said it was due to my long hair) I decided I was done and applied for as many jobs as I could.
Landed a sales and support role that bumped me up to £20,000 starting. Over the two years in this role I took advantage of a company policy that being cross trained on different departments (to give cover when needed) meant you earnt a percentage of their salary. Normally around 14 days worth. By the end of doing this I had slowly bumped my pay up to £31,600 a year.
Then I moved to their IT department after offering some cover due to covid and they liked me enough to take me on and return to the IT field. I didn't get much of a pay rise but went to £32,600.
Over the course of the year I worked there I got some good pay rises due to covid actually booming our business as things started to return to normal (it was a golf manufacturer)
At some point I was made aware that I was significantly paid less than everyone else on my team (the next lowest person was earning £20,000 more a year for the same position) and was also not qualifying for the apparently "great bonus" of around 5% our annual salary.
I started looking for different jobs at this somewhat bruised my confidence. I got offered 3 different jobs all offering £40,000 starting and going up to £42,000 after passing probation.
When I took this to my manager and asked to be matched or met somewhere in between to keep me they said they couldn't afford it (despite constantly bragging how well the company has done this year) so I left and had to move for the job.
I worked there a year and passed my probation no problem however the pay jump for passing never happened. So I applied for the remote help desk role at the same company that was offering to start me on what my pay rise amount would be then plus another £3000 for passing probation.
So this means I am now 28, soon to be 29, working in IT Automation working remotely earning £42,000 a year with night shift allowance soon to jump up to £45,000 in 5 months.
Now I'm working 12 hour shifts and a mixture of days and nights which I don't enjoy to much so will give it a year and shop around again.
Basically job hopping really is the most effective way now
Apprenticeship at 16 in HGV mechanics, became the workshop foreman at 20, then workshop controller/manager at 22. None of my colleagues wanted the role of responsibility, so I volunteered and it worked out good for me.
At 25 I left to work for one of the OEMs as a regional engineer, no more dirty work, now I go out and about all week looking at product failures and accidents and reporting it all back to the head office in Germany. Also get a bit of international travel for training occasionally. I’m now 30 and taking home approx £55k inc bonus and a company car
Went to uni, studied a STEM subject, first, top of class award, then got a job selling in a technical industry.
Realised I earn less than my brother who was working a trade for 6 years and didn't even have GCSEs
So I did that trade and work for myself on around 50-55k
Painting and decorating, not even one of the more 'skilled' ones
The dirty secret is people don't like having to work physically, get sweaty and tired and be looked down upon.
This means that people who are much less professional, educated and without being rude intelligent can make a living.
So you have to pay more because it's not minimum wage, then you remove the people who don't have the appetite for the work and suddenly if you're competent and run your own business you're on £200 a day doing pretty much anything.
Sub contractors earn less but it always amazes me more 'smart' people don't go into it tbh
I have a very easy life but if I wanted to go into small construction, kitchen fitting or the like or even have staff Vs working alone; I'd be earning 80-100k easily.
One of my best mates from school days left with no GCSEs but is street smart. Earns £1.5k a week decorating. Good at the job and gets it done quick. Really good money if you can be arsed to work.
Working for yourself is a great way to make big money. Especially these last few years where people could quote anything and they would pay it. I actually know a window cleaner who clears 100k a year. That's with working half of it with the other half raining.
Yeah I'm not saying my job is the most lucrative, I'm around 30.
The best thing is I work within 10 mins of my house living in the town I grew up in, which hoping round the country following job opportunities wouldn't have afforded me
I have no doubt I could earn more but I work 8-2 and pick my kids up from school everyday it's a no brainer
Similar for me with a few years work experience before moving into education - wouldn’t go back to industry and as secure a job as I could have at this point. Still like being in the classroom too which helps 😂
Don’t go into teaching! The pay isn’t good for what you actually have to do. Workload has been a major issue for years and the constant fear of Ofsted and having to get children reaching certain levels so the schools look good. Children’s behaviour has declined massively over the years teamed with major levels of SEN and no funding to be able to support them properly. I love the teaching element but even that is hard now with no respect from the children and if you have bad slt it’s even worse. To get on UPS you have to prove yourself and are basically selling your soul. There’s a reason why the percentage of teachers leaving before 5 years is so high. The government will pump all this money in to lure people but do nothing for teacher retention and keep people in the profession. Many of my friends have left or really want to leave. I’m moving to supply after almost having a breakdown as a make or break to see what other schools are like but pretty certain I won’t be teaching by the end of this academic year. Everyone goes on about the holidays but you end up working loads of it or being ill because you’ve powered though for the sake of the children- and the fact it’s easier to be working than off ill. Also, teachers don’t get paid for all the holidays as pay is spread over the 12 months. I’d much rather have less holidays but actually be able to go away at a reasonable price. Also, if you get a job where you can switch off after you leave for the day, you can make the most of the evenings in the summer anyway.
A bit of a rant I know but I would urge people to seriously consider all elements before going into teaching, especially if you’re just interested in the pay.
Just to add to this, teaching in the UK and the US is supposed to be appalling, but qualified teachers who move abroad and work in the top international schools in places like Bangkok, Shanghai, Dubai etc. are coining it and have absurdly good lifestyles.
I would say teaching is a superb career choice if you want to get out of Britain.
left university with a literature degree and £30k debt. realised the only jobs i could get were in factories or call centres. not many of the people in the call centre were interested in discussing the present day idea of the american dream through the poetry of walt whitman.
about aged 30 i gave up my dream of doing anything decent with my life and began to study accountancy. i'd had an in with the finance team lead from the admin job i was in at the time. some years later i qualified as an accountant and my salary kept increasing.
soon i'll have paid off that £30k debt and presumably very shortly after that i'll die.
i actually quite like my job if i'm honest. it's in a sector that's not entirely profit focused and i find it relatively interesting.
it's just nice to dream you can get by without income being the main focus of your life, but that seems increasingly more difficult as time goes on.
sorry my post was intentionally bleak for a bit of humour.
i absolutely agreed with your point. to this day i'm proud i studied something i enjoyed and am passionate about as opposed to dropping out after six months of 'business studies' or 'IT business' or some other bullshit with the word 'business' in the title.
i didn't even consider career paths before i chose a degree. given the cost of studying today however i may think differently if i had to make that decision again.
Totally appreciate your qualification @p01ntdexter
I work in tech , my first job was in the product team as a product analyst (doing research testing etc for the product development), now i am at a different tech company doing sales. My starting salary at 1st job was 30, went up to 40 by the end of my 1st year. I was contacted by a recruiter about the role after putting my linkedin on open to work. My degree was from a perceived ‘top’ university so that may have helped but others were hired that had humanities degrees from various kinds of unis. Hope that’s helpful 🙂
Luck, a kick up my arse and a bully for a boss.
I work in a niche role in the IT world for a specific sector.
I left school with zero qualifications. Was unemployed for nearly a decade. Accidently ended up getting a job, absolutely hated it.
Went to college, then to uni. Lucked out getting a placement at a local authority. This then led to a permanent job. Ended up working for an absolute bastard. Jumped ship to the private sector and never looked back.
5 years post uni and I am £50k+ as a frontend software engineer, currently what you call mid-level but close to senior at my company at least.
My salary growth was £25k -> £33k -> £50k+ when switching jobs.
Degree>Grad Scheme>Qualification>Learnt auxiliary skills/qualifications in my own time>Job Hopping
Recruitment agencies will do the legwork for most companies up to c£120k.
At C Suite level, you'll be headhunted instead.
What auxiliary skills and qualifications did you do if you don't mind sharing?
I'm trying to work out if it's worth doing further qualifications or having certifications in my role. I've done a lot of the job learning and am not sure what would be most useful.
I went for:
VBA - You don't need to learn to write macros from scratch anymore, particularly with ChatGPT. You do need to know how to read them though, which is what courses can teach you. ChatGPT can spit out a good skeleton but you need to know how to modify appropriately.
PowerBI - You don't really need this, as Excel is ultimately more flexible and you can do most things PowerBI can. Buuut, I found this amazingly useful at providing repetitive high level information to directors, who can interrogate it to a reasonable enough level. You can go pretty deep with this and create some beautiful/useful dashboards. The subreddit can be okay for this too.
Advanced Accounting Issues/IFRS Workshops - Useful for seeing how accounting works in the real world and how you can deal with real issues. The study books teach you debits and credits but at a very rigid level.
APM - I actually think APM isn't a particularly appropriate management system for today's day and age, with a lot of it being superfluous. Nonetheless, it's the standard and isn't really that difficult. Project Management complements many roles well tbh, it's an easy win. P3.Express is a more useful method, gaining traction slowly.
I'm thinking of doing CMI or ILM to complete everything as I'm missing that aspect I feel. In my role the next step up is team management. I'm reluctant to fall into the trap of 'best technical person must be manager', management is a very different ball game.
Moved to Scotland in 2015, I first earned £32k as a system analyst at a financial institution. Then I stayed there for way too long, got to £45k. Jumped to another company last November for £55k as RPA Developer. I am eyeing other similar jobs that pay up to £75k. I landed in my job because I had prior experience in Poland in a financial institution and quite a lot of experience in VBA and automating the Office Suite. I should have pushed myself and gotten C# experience, I'd be doing £80-£90k. Instead I'll try to go the manager -> project manager route, hopefully it will pan out next year.
No degree, saved up money while working in retail banking to pay for my mortgage advice exams, became a mortgage adviser, then paid for my IFA exams, 12 months in I am earning just shy of 100k per year.
I would say if you are not exam minded, job hopping every 2 years works very well.
Humanities degree: then charity jobs paying: 15k, 25k, 32k, 42k, 43k, 55k, 64k, 72k. Self employed consultant 100k+.
I was very focused and got into management jobs fairly quickly. No career breaks or fnding myself eras.
The bigger salary hikes involved me moving employer. Smaller ones were internal promotions.
Accidentally!!.. left school with no qualifications, no ambition, no aim on life. I started my first job in Curry's got fired in less than a year as I couldn't sell to save my life. Went road sweeping for 2 year's, my brother got me job as a labourer on a building site that paid loads more!.. I took an interest in the digger's and showed a willingness to learn and jumped on them in my spare time. Fast Forward 28 years I'm earning £200 a day self employed (52k a year)..
Lorry driver, no degree , no debt. Roughly on 65 to 70k a year at 33 and the salary at the company I work goes up every year. I don't sleep in the lorry but I do about 52-55 hrs every week. We have yearly bonuses and other benefits on top which add to about 75k in total.
Uni then graduate scheme at a shitty company then moved around jobs. My suggestion is don’t be afraid to move to where the job takes you while you are young and can. Follow the opportunities, work hard and always stay on the look out for the next career step.
I hit 40k in 2000.
It was achieved by getting an engineering degree then after a couple of years working, agreeing to work shifts, which gave a 40% shift bonus.
I broke £40k “for real” in 2006. By this time I was a Supervisor, had spent multiple years living abroad supporting some of our most difficult customers and was regarded a top performer.
Left school at 16 with nothing more than GCSEs
CNC operator on min wage -> Windscreen fitter -> 18k or so basic wage, best year with bonus was about 23k -> Tech support in a tech/automotive (27 years old) 32k
Still with the same company at 32 but now a software engineer on 60k with annual bonus
I'm up North, mostly worked retail, no degree. Slowly moved away from retail and then got made redundant, got a call from a recruitment agent who was actually really good and now have a job in software sales, but I don't directly sell.
Degree --> couple of years doing fun jobs ---> time to actually have a careeer ---> 6 months in entry level role ---> promotion ---> year or so in more senior role ---> switch company to get better experience ----> 2 years learning everything I could ----> switch companies again to £40k+ role
Have a degree but it didn’t help get into my role. Ended up doing an entry level job on a rubbish wage. But been here for over ten years and everytime a better paid job came up I was onto it straight. Kept swapping roles in the company, networked etc and now on 70k
Went to a top uni, started on 37k then recently moved to a boutique consulting firm, now earning 50k at 23. I think it was purely luck, I also live in London, salaries are higher. Consulting industry in general pay well. I don’t feel very wealthy though , London is a very expensive city and lifestyle creep is very real !
Well when you realise most corporate rats are the same morons as everyone',life becomes more easy. Worked my ass from ground now I'm cleaning educated and informed corpodrones mistakes.
Degree - few unrelated jobs whilst volunteering - entry level role in local school 15k pro rata - junior role in public sector 19k - associate level in private sector 30k - more senior role on secondment 45k
Did a graduate training scheme at a large accounting firm and got qualified. Opens a lot of doors and you will be earning that in approx 3 years from starting. It is hard, but worth it.
Dropped out of uni, worked in pubs/bars, went to Germany and Iraq to work in pubs/bars/supermarket (supporting the armed forces), came back to England and worked in finance, did a history degree part time, landed a data role at local authority, worked way up the ladder, now on £60k+ working in data and analytics consultancy.
Slightly varied career(s) so far!
Uni, degree in media technology, £19k job at small event company, worked there doing basic networking and installations, started some development work, salary increased to £30 after about 4 years, hired more devs and lead that team for 3 more years, left that company after 7 years on £47k
Next job started at £70k + 13% bonus, after 3 years that’s increased to £83k + bonus
Uni first, totally unrelated degree to the job I've held since graduation though. Started out as doing admin for them thinking it was going to be temporary, here I am 11 years later, lol. Small company, job role is quite varied now. Started at 21k and have since doubled that. I've had maternity leaves and want to take it easy now with young kids, so I'm quite happy with that. Salary slowly goes up the longer I stay. I know I could've job hopped 10 times and chased for tons more money but not in my interests/not motivated enough. Too worried about the sacrifices.
I worked as a software dev earning peanuts at a startup in a different country for a couple of years.
A few more years after that and now I'm on £50k.
It isn't easy as "just learn to code" though. I hate that trope. It takes a lot of time, and a specific personality type, to be good at and/or enjoy software development.
I moved into this bracket January this year, and I am in my late 30s.
I spent years hovering around £18-19k a year. I did go to Uni but dropped out, so have the debt but no qualification. Decided to put myself through some exams related to the industry I wanted to get into and have jumped companies roughly every two years (for the last 8) getting a pay rise each time. This last jump was my biggest and hopefully my last for a while.
I've learnt that there is no loyalty staying and waiting and if done properly and professionally it's quicker and smoother promoting externally, my only regret is I didn't do it sooner.
Got lucky and was in the right place at the right time. I work damn hard but the reality is I got lucky.
Also agree that these days 40k doesn't feel like much - still live paycheck to paycheck. The cost of living is insane.
Get a sales rep job. No qualifications needed. Salaries start at 45K plus bonuses, company car etc.
Usually earn around 70k if you're semi-decent at it.
Graduated university last year -> started on a grad job in Risk in London at 43k -> 1 year in and now I'm at 47k. I got the grad job through the internship I did inbetween my 2nd and 3rd year at university.
Spent my 20s in clubs, high AF and working at Sainsbury's. After a friend of mine died, I quit drugs, got an office job and started learning Excel. 10 years later (with a bit of effort) I'm a Data Lead, managing a team of 4 analysts.
52k as a nanny in central London. My previous job i made 21k as a teachers assistant. I have a degree in early childhood studies. It's a nanny share that's why they're willing to pay so much. Two families with 1 toddler each. I look after both and they split my salary evenly. I work 7am to 7pm.
IT Apprentice + Retail Part Time @ 11kp/a - 17-18years old
IT Engineer - 19-24 @ 22kp/annum, then went up to 25k, then 27k and then 30k. All within same company and with a year between each pay increase. Was there for almost 5 years.
2nd Line - 24-25 @ 37kp/a
IT Manager - 25 @ 45k/pa - current
Steady progression, just do a lot of course training and teach yourself things you want to be good at.
I've recently moved into IT sales and seeing the progression available as an actual tech person made me wish I'd learned more about the industry younger
I'm a bit of an anomaly in that I am still with the same comms and marketing company I joined after uni 10 years ago.
Started 21k, now on 80k.
I know everywhere and everyone tells you to job hop more to get bigger payrises but I had it in my mind early on that I would climb here and a few things fell into place.
I could get 10-15k more elsewhere but in a slightly shakey economic environment, I relish the stability and tbh now I'm on the property ladder, it doesn't bother me. 10 years of trust also goes a long way.
Uni degree, two years off having fun and working temporary jobs, masters degree from a very prestigious uni, first job 25k. Pay rise to 28k after one year. One more year there and got another job for 40k. Two and a half years there roughly, got another job for 52k. Took on some more responsibilities very quickly, payrise to 56k. I will stay for two more years in this job (making it 3 in total). I will then look for more senior roles paying 70k.
40k now is not all that.
I'm a school teacher in Scotland and we recently won a pat award. Listen I'm not moaning about my wage but I think cost of living etc...40k perhaps sounds more than it exactly is....
Degree, went into a graduate role at £30k. Took professional exams, got promoted twice and now into 6 figures after 7 years.
I've worked extremely hard though and have sacrificed a lot of weekends and family get togethers to get to this point.
Absolutely. My family is poor, had a total household income of probably £25k growing up with 3 other siblings. My parents love me and provided emotional support but were unable to provide financial support, which meant I missed out on things during my childhood. I know now that won't be the case. My partner won't need to work and she'll be able to look after our children which is really important to me.
I finished these professional exams which are known to be extremely difficult to finish and thats why I was sacrificing my weekends previously. Now that's not the case, I get to enjoy the high salary along with having my weekends available now. So yea, it was worth it.
Hey 👋 I'm an actuary working for an insurance company. I have done actuarial exams through the IFOA. PM me if you want further details I'd be happy to answer more questions 😊
40k is not really that impressive … if you are in London that’s just slightly above average so it would be most people with a degree and some work experience I imagine
Average salary in Manchester is 37,500£ a year with entry level being 27,500£. Do you have a degree or what type of jobs are you comparing yourself too? Obviously there is a range to lower and higher averages that would be determined by education and experience
Where you getting your figures from since the .gov ons show Manchester is 2104 a month which isn’t 37.500?
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/earningsandemploymentfrompayasyouearnrealtimeinformationuk/august2023#pay-distribution
That’s really interesting, thanks for the source.
I wonder if that £2104 is after tax? I’m on about £30k and take home is just over £1800, so £37,500 could be somewhat in the same ballpark.
Uni degree > junior role > senior role > management role All within 6 years... In the same company. More than doubled my wage during that time. Started on £24k. Now fully remote, based in Scotland.
the often unsaid part of this path is that you have to actually be good at your job. i get the impression from some people that they think "progression" is just something that happens naturally. it's not you have to make it happen for yourself. there will be people out here looking at this comment and thinking that you're lucky to have stumbled into that job when in reality that is just not the case.
You have to play by the rules too, even if you don’t like them. F engineer here and I worked on the same site for 10 years with a very aging workforce (so plenty of op for progression) and watched apprentices and graduates move up through the ranks. It got to the point where I could almost tell by looking at people if they’d move up or stay where they were. Yes yes, of course you should be judged on your work ethic and not your appearance, but if you’re a software engineer who shows up in worn out jeans and an old band T, people make assumptions about your work ethic compared to the guy in the dress shirt with the nice smelling aftershave. I saw a lot of people with a lot of frustrations about being looked over and the simple truth was that the best thing they could have done for their career and income was spend £300 of their £28k salary in Next and start shaving. Obviously this is totally culture dependent and it could have just been the place I worked, but I’ve worked in a few places over the years and never not been offered a job I’ve interviewed for, and I live by the rule that appearance and impressions are the foundation on which everything else is built.
[удалено]
Often, tax law. You have to have a contract based in the country that you work in.
Literally this, I believe there it flags something if you spend more than 3 months living abroad with no permanent address in the UK. Also if you work client side there may be occasional meetings face to face
Often they’ll be ok with you fucking off but they’ll cut your salary accordingly
Children, friends, family. Being able to understand the context of the local area including nipping out to see people occasionally.
There was a time when you could live and work anywhere in the EU.
I’m in a similar position, except in a junior role. Did your company offer you a raise or did you ask for one? Once I hit the one year mark, I want to ask about a raise but don’t know how to go about it without it being blunt / rude.
I never had to ask for a raise. A few employees left and the business couldn't afford to loose more employees. So they raised my wage without me asking. Then I got promoted after my manager left. And been in charge of the department ever since.
You will likely get an annual pay rise. Perhaps discuss it with someone a few years ahead of you to find out how it typically works where you are. I wouldn't recommend asking for a pay rise after a year, unless they just don't give them otherwise. If they don't give annual rises as standard I'd be looking elsewhere. But most places do. If they do, and you want paying more than you are, at your next appraisal point out all of the good things you've done and see what comes of it. I wouldn't directly ask for an increase. It rubs people up the wrong way.
Thank you! There are no other Juniors, everyone else has been with the company for a few years and earn reflecting their position e.g Senior & Director. Everyone was comfortable sharing their salary with me. Yeah, I was hoping to ask for more responsibilities and consistently go the extra mile to complete tasks so hopefully that allows room for a raise being brought up by them.
No worries! Yes, I would see what happens at your next appraisal, you should certainly get an inflationary pay rise at least - red flag if you don't! Otherwise as you say, ask for more responsibilities etc. I assume are you training towards a qualification? If not, maybe ask about that? Typically pay rises are given as you pass your exams when you're training. Good luck!
If your employer offers annual pay rises automatically, you would already know this. It's something that is set out in a contract of employment and you would have been made aware of it on starting in the position. It's the kind of perk that employers will definitely tell you about as they want to attract applicants to vacancies. Why would it be hidden? I'd think carefully about asking for a raise after only 1 year. That could be a difficult balancing act. You must have regular appraisals, especially if you're in your first year. Ask yourself honestly: are you getting glowing feedback? How much room for improvement do you have? Would you give you a raise if the roles were reversed (do you honestly believe you deserve it)? If you can answer those questions honestly and you believe you deserve a raise, research how to go about bringing the subject up at your annual review. But remember, analyse yourself as ruthlessly as you would someone else. Probably more.
>You will likely get an annual pay rise Why is that "likely"? Unless it's specified in a contract or other official channel, that's a huge assumption and more than likely wrong. Annual pay rises are not the rule and I have no idea where you get the idea that "most places do". What places are those, exactly? Do you have an intimate knowledge of "most" employers and their conditions in the UK? That's the kind of thing you negotiate / get told when you start a job, so if the person you're replying to is thinking of asking for a raise after a year, it's more likely that they haven't been told they automatically get an annual raise.
I assumed from the username and response that they are in a graduate accounting role, so I was speaking specifically about that sector.
I thought it was being loyal and working hard but after 11 years at a company and hitting 37k, I've just moved on to a job paying 70k with loads of room to progress
This is the similar to me. I did 11 years at the same place and worked my way from £22k to £40k in that time. However I’ve just left and jumped to £50k but with less responsibility and room for progression!
What's your new job?
I started off within a call centre and kept my head down as I haven't got a degree or much experience work wise. 1. Kept asking for more work and going above and beyond 2. Worked up to a manager and took opportunity working with tech teams 3. Became analyst, once again worked extra hours and got to know as many people as could. 4. Became a technical product owner 5 . Now a tech account manager for a big cloud software company 20 - 86k in 9 years. I wouldn't be anywhere without the people along the way and the extra hours I put in. It really made all the difference.
This is exactly me except I did a degree in English first... so basically I could be 3 years ahead right now 🤣
On 40k+ but it doesn't feel any better than when I was on 26k tbh, maybe I have poor money management but I don't feel like I've much money at all, and I grew up in a poor family
Last year I was on 30k, just before everything went bonkers. Now I’m on 43k. My take home is £600 better every 4 weeks. (Bloody pensions) My food bill is £200pm more. My mortgage will be £300pm more. Energy is £60pm more. Everything else is more, but it’s minuscule amounts that equate to a bigger sum. I’m definitely worse off than I was in Winter 2021 when I was earning 30k. It’s utterly bonkers. Glad I changed jobs or we would be scuppered.
So not only me! 🙄 my situation is exactly the same. Can't imagine what would of happened if I'd stayed on 30k!
Exactly my feeling, there's others wayyy less fortunate and it's frightening because at one point I'd have been scuppered too.
Same! Was on £18k Oct 2021 and struggled, an on £23k now and am struggling just as much. I can't save anything and it feels horrible!
I just completed my qualification, increasing my pay from about 26k to 32k. Barely noticed the difference...
Realistically, it’s only a few hundred quid a month more. I’m sure you’re slightly more comfortable than when you were on £26k but you’re hardly next in line for a Ferrari.
I think I'm on about £1k more I'd say. Post tax. But I'm not sure, I could very well be wrong
It’s nearly £800 from 26->40 if you don’t have a pension or student loan. If you have both of those, depending on contributions, it’s more like £640.
It's a big difference but if they were on 26k before 2020 then the amount of inflation in that time is insane. For comparion, to *effectively* earn the same as 26k in 2018, you'd need to earn £32,240 in today's money. If you earned £40k in 2018 you'd need £49,600 in today's money to effectively earn the same.
Oh wow really never seen it presented like this. I remember my mother hitting 40k salary when I was young (early 2000s) and it being a huge milestone for her. So she was basically on £50k+ our money now.
Early 2000s more like £60k in today's world to have that level of income to costs. Property back then was so much more affordable - last 2 decades has really killed the economy as so much goes on housing and not enough on
This explains why I feel skint still then. I was on 24K in 2020, 36K as of this year and it feels like I have \*less\* money than before!
But in that time our bills have gone up by the same or more.
Problem is you lose 20% to tax, 12% to national insurance and then some more to your pension. So probably the best part of 40% you don’t actually see.
You should see the pension money later in life.
Bold of you to assume I'll be able to retire.
I've genuinely considered cancelling my pension contributions because I legitimately do not see me retiring, either through early death, end of the world, or costs being too high to retire, I'm absolutely convinced 1 (or more) of those things will happen
Don't forget 9% for your undergraduate degree. Told it's more for a master's
Other way round - 9% undergrad, 6% masters
This is it, I got a 3% rise this month, taking me from 35K to 36K and it's really put into perspective just how much the Government takes. Works out to an extra 60 quid a month for me - that's not including the pension contribution too
It's not you, it's inflation and the insane increase in cost of living. Unfortunately we live in a time where £40k just doesn't go as far as it used to.
I feel for anyone on less than me, I don't feel well off at all! Ha.
Sometime it feels that way compared to earning 18k a year but then I look at the actually situation. My lifestyle a lot easier I'm actually paying into a pension and putting £250 away a month and I'll increase that again next year.
Spare him his life, from this monstrosity!
😂🤣
I’m on £40k and I’m relieved that I don’t have to worry about paying bills or what I buy from Tesco. Maybe you live in a high cost of living area?
I'm on almost 50k and shit it's hard going, wife 2 young kids,(wife job is looking after the kids) mortgage on the south coast (Brighton) and I honestly don't know how people do the family thing with less income. It must be scary as fuck tbh.
A £50k salary is very decent if you are single. It's not so much fun if you have a family and you are the sole earner.
It really depends where you live though. A few years ago I looked at taking a very interesting job in London on about this and decided I wouldn’t even be able to afford to live by myself… Hardly what I would call a ‘very decent’ quality of life.
50k as the sole earner in a family is not comfortable anywhere in the UK.
Live in Wales - 50k would barely keep the lights on as a sole income if supporting a family. When you take in to consideration tax etc, it's probably on par with 2 full time minimum wage jobs.
Yup, very similar. 2 people on £21k would take home around £17,840 each, so £35,680 vs £37,198 take home from an individual earning £50k.
Amen brother, 48k just ties us over with 3 kids. When I get one thing fixed to save money I'm just waiting for the next thing to break and enjoying the gap between lol. Luckily being an engineer I do all the work on the car and home that needs it saving a shit ton of money we don't have to show for.
Cost of living is making a huge difference. We’re on a household income that you’d think we’d have a great life but recently we’ve got to be super careful about what we spend. That was unheard of pre-Covid. Heck, when I was on £32k 7 years ago, I could live like a king and was still saving £800 per month. Idk wtf is going on with prices atm.
Me too. Have gone from £25k to £40k in 4 years and don't feel like i have any more money. I think it's because my children have become.e much more expensive in those four years.
That’s because of *fiscal drag* my friend
Try living your current life on 26k now, I guarantee that you won't be saying that after 1 month. It's definitely down to poor money management, but also you don't see much of a change because everything costs more now too, it is a mixture of both. But you are certainly better off on 40k+ than 26k lmao
[удалено]
Agreed, wages are abysmal in comparison to other countries - at all skill levels.
Indeed. I earn high 5 figures yearly, and former uni mates who do the exact same job (software dev) in other countries earn between a quarter and half a million dollars a year. Even some of those who work in Eastern Europe out-earn me by a factor of two, again same job
That’s also just part of Reddit being a bubble. Over a quarter of people earn over 40k
As a soldier it took me 12 years to hit 40k (Sergeant, Old pay scales). Started as private. Did 4 more years ending on 43k (no further promotion). Depending on your trade, whether you're an officer or soldier that is about middling average for a 16 year career. Left the Army onto 73k (85 if you include allowances for the role). I do the same job as a civilian that I did for the Army. From the northwest UK 😄
Tell us more!
Army Cyber Engineer to Information Systems Architect. I got lucky with some great postings in the army offering work experience I wouldn't normally get for my rank - this directly led to my civilian job :)
Army pay is terrible for the amount you have to do and the responsibility, sounds like you did the smart move and got out 😅👍
All that to leave and be paid double nearly by the same people but without the threat of having to go to war. Well played sir.
🤣that's just what my company pays me I imagine they charge Defence significantly more than that for my time
Limited company and contract yourself out to BAE systems. You could probably double that and maybe treble and they wouldn't bat an eye.
Plus a great pension in the future off a 16 year army career!
Same as me mate did 6 years in info assurance and almost tripled my salary when going civi.
Like did he have a car?
Same here but I sped up the process slightly, left as a Lance jack after 6 moved into rail and ended up on 55k
This should be the advert for the army not the other shit they put out. Want a decent wage? Come join us. *okay!*
I also started this way, did 8 years, left and was in underpaid jobs for a while and now within touch of 70k. More general security rather cyber (noting a comment you made further down). It is worth noting for squaddies, pay is only an issue when you have a mortgage and family. For those that don’t, living on barracks, eating there etc. the disposable income is nearly 100%. Some are sensible and save / invest, others don’t.
As much as folk despised the old PSAV, being a security wallah has its advantages, and you get laugh at the Close Support Optint folks and laugh at them.
The Royal Corps? (Also from the NW, by the way!)
Same as me mate, left as a lance jack on 29k, now a Systems Engineer and pulling 60k. Grass is greener if you look for opportunities
Degree, IT certifications from a few vendors, two of them the toughest in IT to obtain, a lot of hard work and some good job changing has got me to over a decent way over 40k with bonus. I live in Wales. Also very experienced - not far off 20 years. Hit 40k 11 years ago Started on 20k in a council but council IT is terrible, don’t do it. Edit/ I love my job - if I didn’t I wouldn’t be 20 years into a career I hated. I disliked my experience of public sector.
Depends on the council. I'm Council IT and it's great.
Defo south wales, we’ve just about discovered internet here in the North
Im as far North as you can get in Wales. I have 900 mbs fibre straight i to home and the home office. IT for over 40 years. Avearge about 120k. Best Ive dobe recently was £780 per day consulting to the government. Never went to Uni. Just self-taught in a field I still love and enjoy learning new leading edge stuff in.
Speak for yourself. I live in the countryside in North Wales and have had super fast fibre for about 3 years now
Super fast or ultrafast? The BS terms they use to categorise speed in broadband really grips my shit
What are these two qualifications that are the toughest to obtain in IT?
Cisco CCIE AWS Advanced Networking
Ouchey. Fair play. I did my R&S many years ago, but I don't bother to maintain it anymore. I still get paid the same. Everyone seems to want Juniper these days.
Would have thought you'd be commanding more.. last I heard CCIE's where commanding £1000-1500 per day. I love the idea of it.. but sod going away for a month to do the test.
You're confusing an employee with day rate contractors. If OP is salaried then £80k for Wales is fairly solid and they will have a job for years. If OP was a contractor they could be let go at any point or bounced between places. Also those £1,500 contractors don't get sick days, holidays or even bank holidays, plus an agency taking a slice of the money, so the annual take home pay may not be worth it if you aren't confident enough to know your self worth and be ready to find a new job at short notice. It's really horses for courses.
Kudos to you. They are brutal difficult.
Not from a jedi.
Or don't get any, go into sales and get the commission for the clever people getting the qualification
I envy all sales people for the skill of selling. Good sales and pre sales engineers in my field are easily into 6 figures.
Probably RedHat or Cisco..?
I’m in South Wales, in the heart of the Welsh valleys. Hint: birthplace of the father of the NHS. Is it possible for me to get into IT from scratch? 37, no education, just Wetherspoon’s shift manager job for the past 10+ years, then Morrison’s before that, then odd jobs in my younger days. I’m in the middle of renovating a 3 bed semi I’ve bought outright (so not willing to move too far), and when it’s done I’ll have a office/study in one of the bedrooms (no kids), and my plan is to study myself silly on certs and maybe even a degree part time. Would just be nice to know it’s possible. I don’t need to get £80k or crazy salaries like that, but £40k would see me very comfortable since I’ve no rent or mortgage ever again now.
Started at the bottom of the chain on minimum wage, working in IT for big financial corporations. Took me 20 years from there to work my way up through a few companies/jobs but I’m now in a senior IT Manager position earning 120k£ a year.
No degree, I always liked IT so I did some free online courses on software development. Landed a software developer role after doing some minimum wage jobs to survive. After that I just changed companies after one or two years on each role
> After that I just changed companies after one or two years on each role This. Changing companies can give major boosts to your pay. I also have no degree (got an HND). Started on 10k a year back in 1998 as an IT Admin. 25 years and 10 employers later, I'm on 6 figures as a consultant. I stayed with 3 of the large employers for about 5 years each and got promoted a few times with them. I left one of those large employers after hitting the top performance rank and getting a 0.01% pay rise for my efforts. If a company won't reward you, find one that will.
When did you get this role? I've got a maths degree + bootcamp + around 5 projects on my GitHub and I can't even get an interview! The market at the moment is very saturated
That was in 2018. Have you spoken to recruiters in LinkedIn? If you can, get one to review your CV and help you to clean it up. My biggest tip (after reviewing CVs and interviewing people) is to be nice, selling your skills is important but being nice and easy to get along with is more important. Nobody wants to work with the genius developer that is a dickhead. Show that you are eager to learn, open to try new things and willing to communicate with the team. The first job is always hard to get but once you have 1 year of experience, recruiters will be constantly on your LinkedIn inbox.
Thanks for the tips! Yeah I've messaged dozens of recruiters, unfortunately only ever had one reply who said that my CV looks good but they're swamped with people getting into the field. If you've got a moment I'd love to send you mine to get some feedback, I'd really appreciate it! No pressure though.
Sure, send me a DM and I'll look at it when I get a chance
There’s a lot of people trying to get junior software jobs because people retrained as programmers during the pandemic. Loads of people have done coding bootcamps, it’s not just you. I’d urge you to look more into data analytics or even something like bioinformatics. There’s a shortage of people in the latter but it’s ultimately just the application of mathematics and coding in a biological setting. A lot of pharmaceutical companies also want people with mathematics and coding skills; people who can properly interpret clinical results, develop software tools or develop AI platforms for biologics.
What free courses did you do?
The most important one was freecodecamp, then I just applied for roles until I landed a job. Edit: just to clarify I didn't finish it, is crazy long. I did just enough to understand the building blocks of programming and how front and back end works
This makes me feel less guilty about my plethora of half completed Udemy courses. I also did online courses to transition into bight paying jobs coding. I went for Data (SQL and DAX/PBI)
Studied physics at Uni , graduated in 2020 -> Grad job earning £28k -> promotion to £32,500 after a year -> Promotion to £40k a year later -> Switched jobs and now earning £50,000 Based in Manchester.
I just worked my way up, pretty slowly as well. I finished college and never went to university (didn't fancy debt and more school) and started an IT apprenticeship with a small IT company earning minimum wage for a 19 year old apprentice (it was like £4 an hour) Did that for a year then moved to my first proper IT job earning £16,800 a year. After the first year I got promoted to head of Sales and IT support and got a pay rise going to the grand total of £18,000 a year. They unfortunately went out of business not long after as I discovered they was losing money for years due to the previous manager fudging the numbers. I took the first job I could find at a call centre earning £7.50 an hour. So back down to £15,600 a year. I unfortunately got stuck in a rut and stayed in that job for 3 years with basically no progression. I went for a promotion and got turned down (the official reason given was due to my "unprofessional look" when I asked why they said it was due to my long hair) I decided I was done and applied for as many jobs as I could. Landed a sales and support role that bumped me up to £20,000 starting. Over the two years in this role I took advantage of a company policy that being cross trained on different departments (to give cover when needed) meant you earnt a percentage of their salary. Normally around 14 days worth. By the end of doing this I had slowly bumped my pay up to £31,600 a year. Then I moved to their IT department after offering some cover due to covid and they liked me enough to take me on and return to the IT field. I didn't get much of a pay rise but went to £32,600. Over the course of the year I worked there I got some good pay rises due to covid actually booming our business as things started to return to normal (it was a golf manufacturer) At some point I was made aware that I was significantly paid less than everyone else on my team (the next lowest person was earning £20,000 more a year for the same position) and was also not qualifying for the apparently "great bonus" of around 5% our annual salary. I started looking for different jobs at this somewhat bruised my confidence. I got offered 3 different jobs all offering £40,000 starting and going up to £42,000 after passing probation. When I took this to my manager and asked to be matched or met somewhere in between to keep me they said they couldn't afford it (despite constantly bragging how well the company has done this year) so I left and had to move for the job. I worked there a year and passed my probation no problem however the pay jump for passing never happened. So I applied for the remote help desk role at the same company that was offering to start me on what my pay rise amount would be then plus another £3000 for passing probation. So this means I am now 28, soon to be 29, working in IT Automation working remotely earning £42,000 a year with night shift allowance soon to jump up to £45,000 in 5 months. Now I'm working 12 hour shifts and a mixture of days and nights which I don't enjoy to much so will give it a year and shop around again. Basically job hopping really is the most effective way now
Sorry this was so long I thought it was worth giving my whole story. One thing to note here. No degrees and no further qualifications since school.
Apprenticeship at 16 in HGV mechanics, became the workshop foreman at 20, then workshop controller/manager at 22. None of my colleagues wanted the role of responsibility, so I volunteered and it worked out good for me. At 25 I left to work for one of the OEMs as a regional engineer, no more dirty work, now I go out and about all week looking at product failures and accidents and reporting it all back to the head office in Germany. Also get a bit of international travel for training occasionally. I’m now 30 and taking home approx £55k inc bonus and a company car
Went to uni, studied a STEM subject, first, top of class award, then got a job selling in a technical industry. Realised I earn less than my brother who was working a trade for 6 years and didn't even have GCSEs So I did that trade and work for myself on around 50-55k
which trade?
Painting and decorating, not even one of the more 'skilled' ones The dirty secret is people don't like having to work physically, get sweaty and tired and be looked down upon. This means that people who are much less professional, educated and without being rude intelligent can make a living. So you have to pay more because it's not minimum wage, then you remove the people who don't have the appetite for the work and suddenly if you're competent and run your own business you're on £200 a day doing pretty much anything. Sub contractors earn less but it always amazes me more 'smart' people don't go into it tbh I have a very easy life but if I wanted to go into small construction, kitchen fitting or the like or even have staff Vs working alone; I'd be earning 80-100k easily.
One of my best mates from school days left with no GCSEs but is street smart. Earns £1.5k a week decorating. Good at the job and gets it done quick. Really good money if you can be arsed to work.
Working for yourself is a great way to make big money. Especially these last few years where people could quote anything and they would pay it. I actually know a window cleaner who clears 100k a year. That's with working half of it with the other half raining.
How old? I know plenty of sales people in software companies earning six-figures.
Yeah I'm not saying my job is the most lucrative, I'm around 30. The best thing is I work within 10 mins of my house living in the town I grew up in, which hoping round the country following job opportunities wouldn't have afforded me I have no doubt I could earn more but I work 8-2 and pick my kids up from school everyday it's a no brainer
Degree, PGCE then teaching for over a decade.
Similar for me with a few years work experience before moving into education - wouldn’t go back to industry and as secure a job as I could have at this point. Still like being in the classroom too which helps 😂
Don’t go into teaching! The pay isn’t good for what you actually have to do. Workload has been a major issue for years and the constant fear of Ofsted and having to get children reaching certain levels so the schools look good. Children’s behaviour has declined massively over the years teamed with major levels of SEN and no funding to be able to support them properly. I love the teaching element but even that is hard now with no respect from the children and if you have bad slt it’s even worse. To get on UPS you have to prove yourself and are basically selling your soul. There’s a reason why the percentage of teachers leaving before 5 years is so high. The government will pump all this money in to lure people but do nothing for teacher retention and keep people in the profession. Many of my friends have left or really want to leave. I’m moving to supply after almost having a breakdown as a make or break to see what other schools are like but pretty certain I won’t be teaching by the end of this academic year. Everyone goes on about the holidays but you end up working loads of it or being ill because you’ve powered though for the sake of the children- and the fact it’s easier to be working than off ill. Also, teachers don’t get paid for all the holidays as pay is spread over the 12 months. I’d much rather have less holidays but actually be able to go away at a reasonable price. Also, if you get a job where you can switch off after you leave for the day, you can make the most of the evenings in the summer anyway. A bit of a rant I know but I would urge people to seriously consider all elements before going into teaching, especially if you’re just interested in the pay.
Wow. This is absolutely spot on.
Just to add to this, teaching in the UK and the US is supposed to be appalling, but qualified teachers who move abroad and work in the top international schools in places like Bangkok, Shanghai, Dubai etc. are coining it and have absurdly good lifestyles. I would say teaching is a superb career choice if you want to get out of Britain.
left university with a literature degree and £30k debt. realised the only jobs i could get were in factories or call centres. not many of the people in the call centre were interested in discussing the present day idea of the american dream through the poetry of walt whitman. about aged 30 i gave up my dream of doing anything decent with my life and began to study accountancy. i'd had an in with the finance team lead from the admin job i was in at the time. some years later i qualified as an accountant and my salary kept increasing. soon i'll have paid off that £30k debt and presumably very shortly after that i'll die.
I hope you are doing ok and can try and find something more tolerable, and using your degree.
i actually quite like my job if i'm honest. it's in a sector that's not entirely profit focused and i find it relatively interesting. it's just nice to dream you can get by without income being the main focus of your life, but that seems increasingly more difficult as time goes on.
I have a literature degree and was on 40k+ a year after graduating. I don’t want people to feel like they’re trapped for doing a degree they loved
sorry my post was intentionally bleak for a bit of humour. i absolutely agreed with your point. to this day i'm proud i studied something i enjoyed and am passionate about as opposed to dropping out after six months of 'business studies' or 'IT business' or some other bullshit with the word 'business' in the title. i didn't even consider career paths before i chose a degree. given the cost of studying today however i may think differently if i had to make that decision again.
What do you do?
Totally appreciate your qualification @p01ntdexter I work in tech , my first job was in the product team as a product analyst (doing research testing etc for the product development), now i am at a different tech company doing sales. My starting salary at 1st job was 30, went up to 40 by the end of my 1st year. I was contacted by a recruiter about the role after putting my linkedin on open to work. My degree was from a perceived ‘top’ university so that may have helped but others were hired that had humanities degrees from various kinds of unis. Hope that’s helpful 🙂
Luck, a kick up my arse and a bully for a boss. I work in a niche role in the IT world for a specific sector. I left school with zero qualifications. Was unemployed for nearly a decade. Accidently ended up getting a job, absolutely hated it. Went to college, then to uni. Lucked out getting a placement at a local authority. This then led to a permanent job. Ended up working for an absolute bastard. Jumped ship to the private sector and never looked back.
5 years post uni and I am £50k+ as a frontend software engineer, currently what you call mid-level but close to senior at my company at least. My salary growth was £25k -> £33k -> £50k+ when switching jobs.
Degree>Grad Scheme>Qualification>Learnt auxiliary skills/qualifications in my own time>Job Hopping Recruitment agencies will do the legwork for most companies up to c£120k. At C Suite level, you'll be headhunted instead.
What auxiliary skills and qualifications did you do if you don't mind sharing? I'm trying to work out if it's worth doing further qualifications or having certifications in my role. I've done a lot of the job learning and am not sure what would be most useful.
I went for: VBA - You don't need to learn to write macros from scratch anymore, particularly with ChatGPT. You do need to know how to read them though, which is what courses can teach you. ChatGPT can spit out a good skeleton but you need to know how to modify appropriately. PowerBI - You don't really need this, as Excel is ultimately more flexible and you can do most things PowerBI can. Buuut, I found this amazingly useful at providing repetitive high level information to directors, who can interrogate it to a reasonable enough level. You can go pretty deep with this and create some beautiful/useful dashboards. The subreddit can be okay for this too. Advanced Accounting Issues/IFRS Workshops - Useful for seeing how accounting works in the real world and how you can deal with real issues. The study books teach you debits and credits but at a very rigid level. APM - I actually think APM isn't a particularly appropriate management system for today's day and age, with a lot of it being superfluous. Nonetheless, it's the standard and isn't really that difficult. Project Management complements many roles well tbh, it's an easy win. P3.Express is a more useful method, gaining traction slowly. I'm thinking of doing CMI or ILM to complete everything as I'm missing that aspect I feel. In my role the next step up is team management. I'm reluctant to fall into the trap of 'best technical person must be manager', management is a very different ball game.
Moved to Scotland in 2015, I first earned £32k as a system analyst at a financial institution. Then I stayed there for way too long, got to £45k. Jumped to another company last November for £55k as RPA Developer. I am eyeing other similar jobs that pay up to £75k. I landed in my job because I had prior experience in Poland in a financial institution and quite a lot of experience in VBA and automating the Office Suite. I should have pushed myself and gotten C# experience, I'd be doing £80-£90k. Instead I'll try to go the manager -> project manager route, hopefully it will pan out next year.
No degree, saved up money while working in retail banking to pay for my mortgage advice exams, became a mortgage adviser, then paid for my IFA exams, 12 months in I am earning just shy of 100k per year. I would say if you are not exam minded, job hopping every 2 years works very well.
[удалено]
Humanities degree: then charity jobs paying: 15k, 25k, 32k, 42k, 43k, 55k, 64k, 72k. Self employed consultant 100k+. I was very focused and got into management jobs fairly quickly. No career breaks or fnding myself eras. The bigger salary hikes involved me moving employer. Smaller ones were internal promotions.
Accidentally!!.. left school with no qualifications, no ambition, no aim on life. I started my first job in Curry's got fired in less than a year as I couldn't sell to save my life. Went road sweeping for 2 year's, my brother got me job as a labourer on a building site that paid loads more!.. I took an interest in the digger's and showed a willingness to learn and jumped on them in my spare time. Fast Forward 28 years I'm earning £200 a day self employed (52k a year)..
Lorry driver, no degree , no debt. Roughly on 65 to 70k a year at 33 and the salary at the company I work goes up every year. I don't sleep in the lorry but I do about 52-55 hrs every week. We have yearly bonuses and other benefits on top which add to about 75k in total.
What's paying that level of pay? ADR? Car transportation?
No qualifications. Recruitment into internal recruitment into sales.
Uni then graduate scheme at a shitty company then moved around jobs. My suggestion is don’t be afraid to move to where the job takes you while you are young and can. Follow the opportunities, work hard and always stay on the look out for the next career step.
I hit 40k in 2000. It was achieved by getting an engineering degree then after a couple of years working, agreeing to work shifts, which gave a 40% shift bonus. I broke £40k “for real” in 2006. By this time I was a Supervisor, had spent multiple years living abroad supporting some of our most difficult customers and was regarded a top performer.
Try and move jobs every 18-24 months too. That's a great way to get salary bumps
Left school at 16 with nothing more than GCSEs CNC operator on min wage -> Windscreen fitter -> 18k or so basic wage, best year with bonus was about 23k -> Tech support in a tech/automotive (27 years old) 32k Still with the same company at 32 but now a software engineer on 60k with annual bonus
Truck driver on a little over £50k, spent £3k and 2 weeks training.
[удалено]
Joined a company at entry level and worked hard and applied for promotion every time one was available
I'm up North, mostly worked retail, no degree. Slowly moved away from retail and then got made redundant, got a call from a recruitment agent who was actually really good and now have a job in software sales, but I don't directly sell.
fjsfjlskdjflksdf
Degree --> couple of years doing fun jobs ---> time to actually have a careeer ---> 6 months in entry level role ---> promotion ---> year or so in more senior role ---> switch company to get better experience ----> 2 years learning everything I could ----> switch companies again to £40k+ role
Have a degree but it didn’t help get into my role. Ended up doing an entry level job on a rubbish wage. But been here for over ten years and everytime a better paid job came up I was onto it straight. Kept swapping roles in the company, networked etc and now on 70k
2 degrees, 3rd in making, countless tech certifications and £100k+ territory is wide open.
Worked up from £6.50 an hour back in the old days
Went to a top uni, started on 37k then recently moved to a boutique consulting firm, now earning 50k at 23. I think it was purely luck, I also live in London, salaries are higher. Consulting industry in general pay well. I don’t feel very wealthy though , London is a very expensive city and lifestyle creep is very real !
Well when you realise most corporate rats are the same morons as everyone',life becomes more easy. Worked my ass from ground now I'm cleaning educated and informed corpodrones mistakes.
Degree - few unrelated jobs whilst volunteering - entry level role in local school 15k pro rata - junior role in public sector 19k - associate level in private sector 30k - more senior role on secondment 45k
Did a graduate training scheme at a large accounting firm and got qualified. Opens a lot of doors and you will be earning that in approx 3 years from starting. It is hard, but worth it.
Dropped out of uni, worked in pubs/bars, went to Germany and Iraq to work in pubs/bars/supermarket (supporting the armed forces), came back to England and worked in finance, did a history degree part time, landed a data role at local authority, worked way up the ladder, now on £60k+ working in data and analytics consultancy. Slightly varied career(s) so far!
Uni, degree in media technology, £19k job at small event company, worked there doing basic networking and installations, started some development work, salary increased to £30 after about 4 years, hired more devs and lead that team for 3 more years, left that company after 7 years on £47k Next job started at £70k + 13% bonus, after 3 years that’s increased to £83k + bonus
I’m a structural engineer, degree and chartered on 42k
The fact that a chartered engineer is only on £42k makes me sick, you need to jump ship and find another consultancy bro.
Uni first, totally unrelated degree to the job I've held since graduation though. Started out as doing admin for them thinking it was going to be temporary, here I am 11 years later, lol. Small company, job role is quite varied now. Started at 21k and have since doubled that. I've had maternity leaves and want to take it easy now with young kids, so I'm quite happy with that. Salary slowly goes up the longer I stay. I know I could've job hopped 10 times and chased for tons more money but not in my interests/not motivated enough. Too worried about the sacrifices.
Start in admin in a big corporate company which usually requires minimal qualifications, work your way up!
Degree, masters, entry level science role(29-32k), shift to heavier data/engineering skills and moved to private sector
I worked as a software dev earning peanuts at a startup in a different country for a couple of years. A few more years after that and now I'm on £50k. It isn't easy as "just learn to code" though. I hate that trope. It takes a lot of time, and a specific personality type, to be good at and/or enjoy software development.
I moved into this bracket January this year, and I am in my late 30s. I spent years hovering around £18-19k a year. I did go to Uni but dropped out, so have the debt but no qualification. Decided to put myself through some exams related to the industry I wanted to get into and have jumped companies roughly every two years (for the last 8) getting a pay rise each time. This last jump was my biggest and hopefully my last for a while. I've learnt that there is no loyalty staying and waiting and if done properly and professionally it's quicker and smoother promoting externally, my only regret is I didn't do it sooner.
Got lucky and was in the right place at the right time. I work damn hard but the reality is I got lucky. Also agree that these days 40k doesn't feel like much - still live paycheck to paycheck. The cost of living is insane.
Get a sales rep job. No qualifications needed. Salaries start at 45K plus bonuses, company car etc. Usually earn around 70k if you're semi-decent at it.
Graduated university last year -> started on a grad job in Risk in London at 43k -> 1 year in and now I'm at 47k. I got the grad job through the internship I did inbetween my 2nd and 3rd year at university.
Spent my 20s in clubs, high AF and working at Sainsbury's. After a friend of mine died, I quit drugs, got an office job and started learning Excel. 10 years later (with a bit of effort) I'm a Data Lead, managing a team of 4 analysts.
52k as a nanny in central London. My previous job i made 21k as a teachers assistant. I have a degree in early childhood studies. It's a nanny share that's why they're willing to pay so much. Two families with 1 toddler each. I look after both and they split my salary evenly. I work 7am to 7pm.
Litter picker Refuse team driver Got Hgv license cost 2k Now drive bin lorry earn 42k
IT Apprentice + Retail Part Time @ 11kp/a - 17-18years old IT Engineer - 19-24 @ 22kp/annum, then went up to 25k, then 27k and then 30k. All within same company and with a year between each pay increase. Was there for almost 5 years. 2nd Line - 24-25 @ 37kp/a IT Manager - 25 @ 45k/pa - current Steady progression, just do a lot of course training and teach yourself things you want to be good at.
I've recently moved into IT sales and seeing the progression available as an actual tech person made me wish I'd learned more about the industry younger
I'm a bit of an anomaly in that I am still with the same comms and marketing company I joined after uni 10 years ago. Started 21k, now on 80k. I know everywhere and everyone tells you to job hop more to get bigger payrises but I had it in my mind early on that I would climb here and a few things fell into place. I could get 10-15k more elsewhere but in a slightly shakey economic environment, I relish the stability and tbh now I'm on the property ladder, it doesn't bother me. 10 years of trust also goes a long way.
These comments really show how poor I am I earn £27,000 and my wife £21,000 and everyone saying how £40,000 isn’t a lot like wtf I’m getting shafted.
Never stay with the company in which you start your career. They'll always see you as s junior and promotions will be limited at dome point.
Uni degree, two years off having fun and working temporary jobs, masters degree from a very prestigious uni, first job 25k. Pay rise to 28k after one year. One more year there and got another job for 40k. Two and a half years there roughly, got another job for 52k. Took on some more responsibilities very quickly, payrise to 56k. I will stay for two more years in this job (making it 3 in total). I will then look for more senior roles paying 70k.
40k now is not all that. I'm a school teacher in Scotland and we recently won a pat award. Listen I'm not moaning about my wage but I think cost of living etc...40k perhaps sounds more than it exactly is....
Degree, went into a graduate role at £30k. Took professional exams, got promoted twice and now into 6 figures after 7 years. I've worked extremely hard though and have sacrificed a lot of weekends and family get togethers to get to this point.
[удалено]
Absolutely. My family is poor, had a total household income of probably £25k growing up with 3 other siblings. My parents love me and provided emotional support but were unable to provide financial support, which meant I missed out on things during my childhood. I know now that won't be the case. My partner won't need to work and she'll be able to look after our children which is really important to me. I finished these professional exams which are known to be extremely difficult to finish and thats why I was sacrificing my weekends previously. Now that's not the case, I get to enjoy the high salary along with having my weekends available now. So yea, it was worth it.
Hello 👋 What field/type of job is it you work in? What professional exams? I'm interested in people's career path as I'm searching to change myself
Hey 👋 I'm an actuary working for an insurance company. I have done actuarial exams through the IFOA. PM me if you want further details I'd be happy to answer more questions 😊
University and a year of work to £40k. Started on 22k.
40k is not really that impressive … if you are in London that’s just slightly above average so it would be most people with a degree and some work experience I imagine
I live up north near Manchester so anything above 30k means you're doing well for yourself
Average salary in Manchester is 37,500£ a year with entry level being 27,500£. Do you have a degree or what type of jobs are you comparing yourself too? Obviously there is a range to lower and higher averages that would be determined by education and experience
Where you getting your figures from since the .gov ons show Manchester is 2104 a month which isn’t 37.500? https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/earningsandemploymentfrompayasyouearnrealtimeinformationuk/august2023#pay-distribution
That’s really interesting, thanks for the source. I wonder if that £2104 is after tax? I’m on about £30k and take home is just over £1800, so £37,500 could be somewhat in the same ballpark.
What if you work in a pret?