Danger and unpleasant place to work money? Oil rigs tend to pay more because not a lot of people want to work on them, especially if they have family.
Since this thread seems to have turned from being less about answering the OPs question (which seems to have already been answered) and more about general career/earnings aspirations, I figured I'd chime in. First a few caveats: - Your results may vary, the only advice I can offer is based on my own experiences, and in the sector in which I work (B2B IT) - I don't suggest that my advice is the be all and end all (refer to point 1), or that there's not a better way of doing things, as there are many in this world who are my age who no longer fly commercial (so clearly have done something better than I have) - Luck is absolutely not a factor in making decent money (perhaps it is in making "f%&@ you" money, but I wouldn't know). - Take it or leave it, I'm not inclined to argue any of the points I make here Making £40k at the age of 27 is absolutely realistic, (assuming one starts a career at the age of 23, following university, which should be a prerequisite in industry for...), as is making six figures by the age of 30. Some advice (referring to caveats listed above): - Never undervalue yourself - be prepared to justify why you're worth £X and support this with a business case. Walking in to your manager's office and asking for a pay rise because you're a nice chap isn't going to get you anywhere, be prepapred to walk in to your manager's office and ask for a pay rise because you're going to generate 5x that amount in revenue, cut run rate, etc. Be prepapred to support this with real numbers. This goes the same for entry level roles even when you think you can't make a difference. Even as a relative peon in the organisational structure, you can do things that can provably save time of more senior individuals, and as they say, time is money. - Always have a 3-5 year plan in mind, and an end-game. Make sure your immediate managers know of this plan and are prepared to support it. If they're not, find another company that will or learn to settle. Aim to reach the next rung up the ladder in no more than 18 months, ensure your management knows this is your intention, and make sure you get clear direction on how you can achieve this. You succeeding makes your managers look good, if they don't recognise this and hold you back, they're morons and you should find employment elsewhere. - With regards to the previous point, be prepared to work your tail off to pursue this plan. There is absolutely no room for complacency in the first 10 years of your career if you're of the ambitious inclination. The sacrifices in your 20s (when you're relatively free and easy) will pay dividends in your 30s (when you perhaps may not be). Climbing up the organisational ladder is much easier when you're in your 20s, when you're perceived to be more of a go getter - your seniors are going to take more notice of "that kid" making waves than someone of greater experience, regardless of their respective salaries. Sure, it sounds wrong, but that's the way it is in my experience. - A comment on university degrees - a few suggest they're not necassary, it depends on your end game. If you intend to make six figures working for someone else at some point in the future, I'd suggest that a degree is a requirement. It might not assist in any way in your day job, but there's still something about that bit of paper, perhaps this will become less relevant in future though.
Totally agree. You have to have a plan. There are so many people who are now in their forties, who've been doing virtually the same role for the last decade, for the same company, earning only a fraction more each year. I've been at my current role for two years now, and I know that it's time to move on, regardless of how comfortable it is.
If there's one thing I've learned from this thread, it's that there are a s**t-ton of bit-tech'ers out there earning far more than me! Though my situation probably isn't directly comparable to the OP, or many others posting here. Cardiff isn't exactly the cheapest place to live in this part of the world but it's nowhere near what London will cost you; the rent on Scroome's single-bed flat in London is about the same as my net wages every month. Plus I don't work in anything quite as "high profile" as Marketing, I've only just started a developer role (and even then it's BI/MI, not strictly application development). It's quite depressing to realise that there are people much younger than me earning far more than I do, but I guess it's all relative to where you live and the industry you work in. My £24k per year might be nothing in London, but it's starting to get to the point where I have a comfortable income and should have plenty of money left at the end of each month. But in London it'd be bugger all. Personally I plan to milk this job for all the experience/knowledge I can get for a few years and then bugger off contracting. It might not be guaranteed permanent employment like I have now, but there isn't much room for developers in this organisation and the rates you can earn on contract are phenomenal. I was chatting to a friend (and colleague) recently about a contracting role he'd thought about going for and the daily rate was the equivalent of 4.5x what I earn in a day.
Same situation for me really. I'm 27 and still have no idea what I want to do. Currently work as a software test analyst for a major power company on a fairly standard wage for the area at around 24k. It goes up a lot if I go into London but I need another 2 or 3 years experience before I attempt that realistically.
If you haven't already, make damn sure you get ISEB certified; those things go a hell of a long way in testing roles. They're also pretty damn expensive, so you may be SOL unless your employer pays for it. I was doing a testing role pretty much full time for years, but because it was on a sort-of-semi-seconded basis the testing dept. wouldn't pay to get me ISEB certified. My CV was probably laughed out the door every time I applied for a testing role externally; I can do the job, and I can prove in an interview that I can do the job, but unless the software scanning the CVs detects "ISEB" it was probably canned straight away. I didn't pursue it because I didn't enjoy testing. I'd rather be the one that makes (and ultimately fixes) the cockups that the testers find
A plan is essential, the main points of mine are: - What job do I want to be doing in 3 and 5 years - What salary do I want to be earning in 3 and 5 years - What am I doing currently that will help me achieve those targets - What extra things can I do to achieve those targets - What can I do to add another USP to my role?
I used to do software testing back in my early 20's. I do miss it a bit, nothing like getting my hands dirty and much more fun than management!
My company paid for me to do my foundation and intermediate which was rather nice of them. Further down the road I plan to aim for advanced but it splits into different disciplines and I haven't decided yet what route I want to go just yet. They've been rather generous in that department actually.
You all make me want to cut myself. Im 21, working as a Linux Admin full time in London. Got a payrise last month from £14k to £18k recently moved from zone 4 to zone 5 in london, and travel to zone 4 on teh oposite side (croydon to brent cross). Out of my £1200-1300PCM pulled in, £800 rent (1bed flat), £200 Travelcard, £300 for bills and food for me, my wife and our newborn. What wage should i be on? LOL
It technician on the Isle of Wight. Average wage for the island is about 9k so its a very low wage area, I'm 23 and I'm on £13K for 42 weeks a year work. It all depends on the area, my equivalent job over the water in a private school pays £25K! I'm comfortable at my wage, id not care if i stayed at this level (obvs with increase due to inflation etc). 40K seems an extraordinary amount of money to me!
@bdigial - do you mind me asking what sort of management you are doing? I've got some questions I wish to post when I get home but your recent post made me think haha.
Ah ok, that sounds interesting, I was moments away from opening a thread about something similar to this, then got sidetracked in reading this! I will be back... /arnie quotes!
I'm about to go into a placement year, and so obviously can't really comment, but just wanted to say you shouldn't worry too much about it. If you're happy with what you've got etc then that's all that matters in the end. I mean, if it's just money I was after I should probably look at changing degrees, since I've got friends going on placments where the average salary is 5k+ more than ours (EEE).
The easiest way to make more money is to take a job that requires a security clearance. The higher the clearance the more you get paid(just stating the obvious). Good luck finding a company that will pay for one though. The biggest draw back is you're limited to area's in the world(country) you can work. Also, it tends to add a certain amount of stress that's always in the back of your mind.
Industrial Designer with a nack for medical design. The problem I've got around here is most Design studio's cherry pick from only certain universities and only Masters degree upwards, which sucks. The other issue is many firms around these parts want mechanical engineers for plant design in the food processing sector and unless your title is mechanical engineer they just don't give you a second look due to the amount of people on the job market.
