The 5 year plan to £50k

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FoxEye said:
OK, here goes. I want to start a career. The goal is to get to £50k p.a. in 5 years, starting with nothing. Only GCSEs. I'm not sure if this is even possible, but maybe you guys have done something similar.

Basically I'm 34 and have done **** all up to this point to take control of my life. I'd like to change that. Step 1 will be to get a career, and then move out of my parents basement. Feel free to mercilessly take the **** at this point. (Step 3 is to get a cat, btw. I need a cat in my life but my parents hate them :().

So today I'm looking at various job sites, but it's bewildering. Also the jobs I thought would be good earners (software devs, etc) aren't nearly as good as I thought (various people offering 20k for a software dev with experience :()

I keep wondering how people get started and how the heck they end up where they are. I mean, who leaves school thinking he'll be a crane operator, or a control room operator, working on an oil rig? Where do the opportunities come from? P.S. I'm not using them as example of my dream job, just decent paying jobs.

So anyway I just have GCSEs. Got A's in Maths/English/Science. But that's all! I've been to uni and dropped out, and in the process used all of my loan eligibility (I was at uni for 4.5 years, dossing around like a moron. I was a moron. I still am really, as my posts here attest to).

I have no money to fund going back to uni, nor do I want to unless there's no other way.

I currently earn 27k doing **** all for the local council (sorry, tax-payers). It's depressing because I don't learn anything, and there's so little work for me to do I spend most of my time here on OcUK :p I'm vaguely "in IT" if you could call doing nothing at all "IT". I have average IT skills for someone on OcUK. But nothing "skilled" because most 1st/2nd line stuff is child's play, and a monkey could do it.

So, imagine you are me. Where do you start? All I'm doing atm is looking on job sites but I don't think this is the smartest way of finding a good paying career. All I'm finding is work I'm not qualified to do.

What do?
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So from reading this, you are first/second level IT support in Truro I am guessing?

Do you think you could do this?

http://www.cwjobs.co.uk/JobSearch/JobDetails.aspx?JobId=60201169&Keywords=IT+support&LTxt=TR1%2c+Truro&Radius=10&distance=6.0&precision=3

Same pay as now (slightly less but you could negotiate) but instead of working for the council with no chance of promotion (because they outsource their 3rd tier I think?) you get to join a growing company, and one more milestone to put on your CV.

I think you need to look at moving to the tech corridor (bristol - london, M4) if you want to stay in this field - the problem with only one suitable job for a 1st/2nd tier support person within 30 miles of truro is competition.

I still suggest some of the methods I discussed earlier before people who don't know what they are talking about ruined the thread, but the good news there is you can do that alongside a full time job if required.

Hell you could set up a blog about 1/2 tier IT support and help newbies to the field through your posts, promote IT courses (huge market for this in lead generation/affiliate marketing, and good commissions too!) along with bluehost hosting.... ;) You have the credentials to run such a blog, so don't be scared to wave your willy around on the blog if it gets you traffic!

The other reason I suggest it is because to do it you learn a ton of new skills that you could apply in a "proper job" - Cpanel, SSH, html, phpmyadmin, wordpress (huge market for wordpress designers or advisers), SEM, SEO, market yourself as an SEO consultant in Cornwall... etc etc.

Hope that helps.
 
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FoxEye said:
Also, no disrespect, but the jobs paying less than say 30k tend not to be very demanding, shall we say. Like delivery drivers or factory workers. I would like to end up doing something that not everybody could just walk in off the street and do.
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That's not applicable up North!
I earn just under £30k a year and I have a very demanding job, so does everyone else I know.


Move up here and on £27k you'd be laughing. get a partner to boost that to above £50k a year and you can afford pretty much anything within reason.

Say a 4 bed detached house, 2x £20-25k cars and 2 expensive hols per year and still have plenty left to save up.


It also helps to be savvy with your money.
A little bit of effort to make your money go further and it can be as good as having a boosted wage. Due to how I manage my finances, I calculated that it works out being about the same as if I earned £4-5k a year more but didn't manage it well.


Business Development is a good field to get into right now - but you'd be starting pretty low, if even at all with no direct qualifications. I see most entry level positions these days asking for a Degree!
But if you could, you can earn a lot if you're good at it.

Average wage up here is £40-£50k a year plus car and benefits and bonus. But that's just standard position. Plenty pay a lot more than that and I imagine down south there are a lot more opportunities.

How about looking at air traffic control? Wife looked at that once and thought it was interesting and they will send you to various locations for your training. It sounds like a demanding job though.
 
FoxEye said:
Also, no disrespect, but the jobs paying less than say 30k tend not to be very demanding, shall we say. Like delivery drivers or factory workers. I would like to end up doing something that not everybody could just walk in off the street and do.

My current job at 27k for doing literally nothing is a prime example. It's depressing and demoralising.
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That's a bit of a generalisation. I know someone who's on almost £200k and they just attend 2 meetings a day and spend the rest of the day trading the stock market. Yet I also know someone on less than £25k they work they their socks off. One works in London and the other is in north... you guess which is which.
 
What does he do within the stock market? Very demanding job outside of work hours too, entertaining clients every night soon catches up with you.
 
I'm in the cheap house crew, but not even what I would class as up norf (mancs and scousers? Eew no thanks). £125k for 3 bed detached house - yep, forever not living down the stinky south :p
 
Captain Planet said:
I'm in the cheap house crew, but not even what I would class as up norf (mancs and scousers? Eew no thanks). £125k for 3 bed detached house - yep, forever not living down the stinky south :p
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Haha, I think the south coast is worse than London.

You get house prices almost as bad, but he pay for most jobs is a fair bit less than what you would get in London. Sometimes I does tempt me to go back up north, as I could get a huge house for peanuts :p
 
blitzwing85 said:
How about looking at air traffic control? Wife looked at that once and thought it was interesting and they will send you to various locations for your training. It sounds like a demanding job though.
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Yeah I have huge respect for those guys. Have to be mentally very quick and cool as ice under pressure. And the responsibility is very sobering. All those people's lives literally in your hands.
 
grimm said:
I think that you are one of those guys who always has an excuse for why they can't do anything.
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At the risk of proving this guys point...

Captain Planet said:
So apply? Demanding yet rewarding!
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I'm best at things where I can take my time, and make lots of mistakes. Learning by trial and error is what I do. I make tons of mistakes in 1st/2nd line support, but it isn't fatal, and you can learn from it (I'm pretty much self-taught as no training was ever given).

Given a lot of time I can solve problems. But if I have to think on my feet I always panic and screw up. Under pressure I always give the wrong answer, but if I can have time to prepare an answer in a quiet room I have a chance.

This isn't making excuses. Although maybe mental quickness can be learned, I hadn't thought about that. I'm not sure it can, what do you think?

On the other hand there's no reason not to apply, because if I'm as unsuitable as I think, that would be very quickly found out and I'd fail their tests. Hmm. OK.
 
FoxEye, they're not going to let you loose to play freely with a few planes so you can learn before you're able you pleb.
 
Long time lurker here.

Interesting thread.

I've pretty much got no qualifications (apart from GCSEs) and when I left school I was pretty much doing mundane jobs that paid in the region of around £12k per annum, which at 16 felt like a lot of money lol.

Anyway I ended up getting my foot in the door of a car dealership, and 10 years on still working in the motor trade and I'm grossing about £4k a month, plus company car (which changes every registration) and fuel allowance too.

Working as a car salesman can pay very well, obviously I don't know you personally or what type of person you are. But if you're motivated, and are a people person that can build rapport and adapt with pretty much anyone then it might be a job worth considering.

Working in the motor trade can actually be a career with decent prospects, i.e becoming a business manager, sales manager etc and earning huge amounts of money.

There are downsides obviously, the first of which are the hours and working weekends, but as I'm old now working weekends isn't a bother for me.

And some people might worry about the lack of a guaranteed wage, but you get used to the monthly changing wage, i.e you might earn less in quieter months but the better months make up for it and average out.

Plus a decent salesman will still bring home at least £2500 (take home) on a quiet month.

I appreciate you have no experience, and you are 34, but a lot of dealerships would consider you if you show the traits needed. The sales process can be taught, but personality can't, and some people just aren't able to build rapport easily, and aren't likeable.

I did say a lot of dealerships would consider someone without experience, but think along the lines of volume sellers, as opposed to the more premium brands who pretty much want experience and a proven track record showing consistent sales and good finance penetration and products.

Basic on average is around 10-12k with company car plus commission.

Anyway I've blabbered on enough, just thought I'd throw a suggestion out there. The reality is that you're not just going to earn 50k in 5 years time unless you get some qualifications and or a trade, or get lucky in possibly starting up a successful business.

To be honest even getting qualifications, studying etc isn't a guarantee to earning "big", there are people that step out of University with degrees who won't earn your magical "50K" target.
 
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CJ84 said:
Anyway I've blabbered on enough, just thought I'd throw a suggestion out there.
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Thanks :)

CJ84 said:
To be honest even getting qualifications, studying etc isn't a guarantee to earning "big", there are people that step out of University with degrees who won't earn your magical "50K" target.
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It's funny, it really is. In another (yonks old) thread talking about jobs I said I wanted to earn 30k. I remember a couple responses were "30k? Is that the limit of your ambition? LOL"

So here we are, and I upped the stakes to 50k, and now a lot of people say I'm silly to aim that high.

So... I guess the lesson is, 30k target lacks ambition, but shoot for 50k and you're a dreamer ;) So the sweet spot is somewhere in between, for the purposes of having a discussion and sounding reasonable on OcUK :)
 
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FoxEye said:
Thanks :)
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No worries.

What i would likely do if I was in your position is try and keep hold of the job you're in.

I believe it's not permanent at this stage is it?

I mean from what you've said you're pretty lucky to earn 27k and not have to do much.

Unfortunately not many people wake up with excitement at the thought of going to work lol.

Plus from my (limited) experience the more you earn the more stress and responsibility you have.

Sometimes it's better to earn less and be happier.

And if it's any consolation, I certainly didn't have childhood dreams of being a car salesman lol. But like you I was in a dead end job that I hated, and felt that I had done nothing in life, a family friend worked in the motor trade and basically gave me an eye opening account of the highs and lows (at the time all I could think about was the potential earnings), and as I realistically at that point in time was never going to earn big money as I had no skills or qualifications I thought I'd go for it. Afterall worst case scenario was that I was crap at sales and would not meet the targets and get sacked, and I could just go back to my skil-less low paid jobs.

To be honest if I hadn't gone into the motor trade I'd have likely ended up going from job to job and probably still lived at home due to no real job security and lack of decent money to be able to move out.

I think that your main obstacle is your age, and as you know you're not getting any younger. I know some would say age doesn't matter but I feel it does, as you get older for example some people wouldn't consider you in a new role with no previous experience, as opposed to when you're young they take the approach that they can train you (even though they could train an older person)
 
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CJ84 said:
Long time lurker here.

Interesting thread.

I've pretty much got no qualifications (apart from GCSEs) and when I left school I was pretty much doing mundane jobs that paid in the region of around £12k per annum, which at 16 felt like a lot of money lol.

Anyway I ended up getting my foot in the door of a car dealership, and 10 years on still working in the motor trade and I'm grossing about £4k a month, plus company car (which changes every registration) and fuel allowance too.

Working as a car salesman can pay very well, obviously I don't know you personally or what type of person you are. But if you're motivated, and are a people person that can build rapport and adapt with pretty much anyone then it might be a job worth considering.

Working in the motor trade can actually be a career with decent prospects, i.e becoming a business manager, sales manager etc and earning huge amounts of money.

There are downsides obviously, the first of which are the hours and working weekends, but as I'm old now working weekends isn't a bother for me.

And some people might worry about the lack of a guaranteed wage, but you get used to the monthly changing wage, i.e you might earn less in quieter months but the better months make up for it and average out.

Plus a decent salesman will still bring home at least £2500 (take home) on a quiet month.

I appreciate you have no experience, and you are 34, but a lot of dealerships would consider you if you show the traits needed. The sales process can be taught, but personality can't, and some people just aren't able to build rapport easily, and aren't likeable.

I did say a lot of dealerships would consider someone without experience, but think along the lines of volume sellers, as opposed to the more premium brands who pretty much want experience and a proven track record showing consistent sales and good finance penetration and products.

Basic on average is around 10-12k with company car plus commission.

Anyway I've blabbered on enough, just thought I'd throw a suggestion out there. The reality is that you're not just going to earn 50k in 5 years time unless you get some qualifications and or a trade, or get lucky in possibly starting up a successful business.

To be honest even getting qualifications, studying etc isn't a guarantee to earning "big", there are people that step out of University with degrees who won't earn your magical "50K" target.
Click to expand...

Long time lurker? You joined this month :p
 
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