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Money - do people really earn silly amounts after uni?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Well I've heard on here and on other forums individuals who say they earn up to quarter of a million 2 years after leaving uni, getting into good jobs into prestigious firms and all that. But after all the companies I've looked at the only things that come close are investment bankers and accountants and they trail by a long way.
Just wondering really, does anyone know for a fact that some of these sums are attainable? Cos if 10 years after I left uni and I was on £40k (what I think is ok... but maybe wrong) yet could if these people are to be believe be on something like £2 - £3m a year... I'd be annoyed lol.
But from what I've seen only directors of big companies get paid 6 figure salaries don't they?
Just wondering really, does anyone know for a fact that some of these sums are attainable? Cos if 10 years after I left uni and I was on £40k (what I think is ok... but maybe wrong) yet could if these people are to be believe be on something like £2 - £3m a year... I'd be annoyed lol.
But from what I've seen only directors of big companies get paid 6 figure salaries don't they?
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I'd be happy with that when I leave uni of course
What company in the world would give a fresh out of uni grad with little to no experience £200k in 2 years? That's more than directors in many cases:
http://www.director.co.uk/MAGAZINE/2006/11%20Nov/pay_60_4.html
I'm guessing it's just people making themselves appear rich... but then maybe they're members of the stonemasons or something and know something I don't?
I would say people doing very, very well only a couple of years out of Uni are few and far between. If you are able to break in to the investment banking side of things (amongst others) then you could well do, but are you prepared to put up with the working environment? Stock brokerage and hedge fund managers can earn a fortune... You're right though, finding any job that you will be able to work up to what you could call a very high wage will be difficult, especially if you stay outside London.
Working as a consultant as I do (and no, I didn't go to university), it is certainly possible to earn the equivalent of a six figure salary with only a few years of experience (didn't your brother earn £2k a week when he was 20? Well, with the usual tax dispensations available to a consultant, that will have taken him well over the £100k mark equivalent take home pay if utilised properly).
Nope.
Check out the daily pay figures for a test or project manager (contract) on jobserve. You'll not often see under £400/day, and often upto £750/day in the financial markets.
Just an example for you
Do the maths on a 5 day, 48 week year and you're looking at £156,000... of which they will get a lot of tax dispensations which would probably give them a realistic take home figure closer to or even slightly above £200k. I've worked with people on over £1000 a day, so.........................
Yea but that was because the climate was different. He got a qualification that made him indispensible in the 80s when BT and so were bringing out their computers, because there were few other experts on the same operating platform he was. He got a job for one of the big companies and then a few months later started contracting as tech support for around £2k a week because these firms couldn't afford the downtime. Then though there seemed to be a lot more money in the world.
These days I can't even afford a taxi (one trip is about half a weeks food budget!) unless I share it :yeees: or am I just woefully poor?
Some of the investment banks say they start at £26k and after two years 'induction' you spring up to £40k, at least from talks at my uni's open days. A friend who went to Paris after uni was earning £30k for a drugs company, but he left and has advised me that going after just money was a quick route to being lonely and soulless, because you have no time for fun.
P.s. well done on remembering that note about my brother, don't know how long ago I mentioned that
It's all going to depend what kind of role you step into - if you go 'permie', you'll never (unless a director, really) earn what a consultant doing exactly the same job does. There is still PLENTY of money flying around out there, you just have to get into the correct roles to get it
I am currently on a contract, and last month cleared (after all deductions, including some put aside for holiday pay) £6600 (approx £120k permanent salary). This included working some extra days to get the project on track. They want to take me on permanent, but I will be surprised if they offer me more than £45k. Sure, there will be holiday pay, sickness and stock options, but it's going to be a £3-4k a MONTH drop in money. I don't think that is something I can afford to do, even though I love the job, the company etc. I have also been told the contract will roll on indefinitely, regardless... so we'll see. I am also due a rate rise, if truth be told as they hired me without even meeting or speaking to me and so I dropped my rate by £50 a day as I needed the job...
£45k may sound a good wage to many (and it certainly is for a permie salary!), but when it's less than 50% of your current equivalent, then it suddenly seems a bit, well, shit.
Really what I'd like to do is start up my own businesses - don't have to majorly successful, I'd just like the idea of doing my own projects. You need money to do that though
To be honest nobody really knows whats around the corner do they? Just surprising there's such a large gap in pay for different people.
When I left uni in 2002, my job hunting was actually very cumbersome. 118 applications, 7 interviews, 2 job offers (including one redundancy). Most of my rejection letters were because I didn't have the experience although I was well over-qualified. Too much of catch 22 going on. After six months on the dole, I finally got a 13K job in 2003. Five years later, same job but on 14.75K.
My area is poorly paid though as I'll probably be working low down with NGOs... I can't ever see myself on £30,000.
This was just a general thread really. I had a job when I took a few months out of uni that was just general but better than retail, I would have ended up on £14.5k after my induction (I left before it was over) so I wouldn't be that pleased if I left uni and struggled to get a job better than that.
Having said that, 'better' does not equal more money. I'm not sure about working in London, would love to work abroad but obviously not going to get massive money there. But anyway. I was wondering whether it was a myth or not that these masses of stupidly rich yuppies existed. I'd always wanted to be really rich, in fact when I used to pray I used to ask to be a millionaire :rolleyes: but now I'd just like to live out my real dreams lol. That is, to have a little piece of land with a house on away from other people, a bit of privacy, lots of country, be able to tinker and have animals, and lovely things.
We must work for our dreams though. And seeing house prices, it must be these people earning £250K buying ten of the above-mentioned dream houses to watch them appreciate. And now they cost so much it probably won't be a reality. Unless I set up camp in Mongolia. [/mini rant]
Just on other forums though, people say 'My friend left uni two years ago and is now on £200k'.
I have no ambition, no idea what I want to do so I'm pretty much stuffed :thumb:
You do have to push to get the best salaries though. Either by being ruthless in your negotiations or by taking more risks than others do. Sometimes it is worth the effort and other times not.
They'd have to either be exceptional, or very, very lucky.
I left uni nearly 4 years ago and none of the people i graduated with get much over £30,000. I guess it also depends on the industry you're in, and whether you move to London, but I'd say it's pretty unrealistic.
earning ridiculous amounts is few and far between with a few exceptions. corporate lawyers and the like excluded. :thumb:
most do... but for the money... its worth it! so long as your without family commitments and don't mind not having a social life etc
How do you managed that, seriously though, at school doing something like 4.5 hours a day, sleeping 5 hours a night (i assume) travelling to and from school. and to and from work?
theres only 168 hours in a week, you could be doing yourself harm
Rubbish. My mum used to do 66 hours per week. In that week, she'd have one day off (it was 2 jobs) and would basically, go to work in the evening, come home & sleep and then go back out to work again. You tell me that isn't bad?
5 hours of homework a night, are you kidding, your earlier post did suggest you had a 70 hour job as well as school, and do you not get a lunch break, or morning and afternoon breaks as well?
I'm going to say without a doubt it is! I go to work to relax from studying
But as many have said it depends on what line of work you go into. I saw a pharmacist straight out of school start making $82k (40k pounds), doctors will be the same. Or you can get a psychology degree, work in HR and end up making less than 15k pounds. Seen that too. Especially depending on where you live. You'll make alot more in the city and suburbs than you will in the po-dunk.
Then again the doctors and pharmacists start out working with over $200k in debt and get probation on their licenses if they default on payments while many others will have less than $20k, that'll make a huge difference on the actual amount of money you have in pocket!
I simply don't believe that graduates- even on the top training schemes- will be earning £200,000pa within a couple of years. Some undoubtedly will, but they are very very few and far between. I think £100,000 is attainable for the top performers, though.
Most graduates are earning probably between £17,000 and £30,000 depending on job. My wage is quite low because of the field I work in, but it's enough to pay for a house and a cat so I'm happy.
I'm the opposite, I found uni far less rewarding and far harder work than what I do for a living. Work is a doddle to me, but thats because I enjoy it, it challenges me and I get satisfaction from solving the problems.
and a wife?
the money you earn and how successful you are financially depends on what value you place on having £ over other things in life. you will find lots of rich miserable people who lost track of why they wanted £ in the first place and they just want more and more, many people on 100k jobs are trapped under mountains of debt and their quality of life isn't any better than you or i.
my goal is to earn enough to get out of the rat race and get by comfortably so i can choose what to do with my time, rather than work for somebody else the rest of my life because time is ultimately more valuable than anything else.
She's more than capable of paying for herself;)
Then you're doing the wrong job.
My job interests me far more than my university studies did. It's pretty challenging too, especially when I have to prepare the appeal papers and the like. Even more importantly, I have money now. I wouldn't really want to go back to being a full time student.
So obviously I'm off to spend eight grand on the LPC. At least my boss is doing the same course at the same time.