The 5 year plan to £50k

[Freefaller]

By all means, sir.



We're planning to make more money


And make more money


We're going to sack some people and hire some people.



The good ideas club have made a bunch of good ideas and we're going to make them happen.


We're sacking some people, cutting costs where we can and buying some new computers. This is all to make more money.



Good ideas are good, bad ideas are bad. We want everyone to listen to the good ideas and carry them out, otherwise we want them to just shut up and get on with their work.



What we need are teams. Lots of teams! And we need those teams to all work together as part of the big team, just like any other company, organisation, agency, force. If we all work together well, we complete lots of tasks (and make more money).



Despite there being lots of teams, everyone needs to remember who the boss is and follow the rules. If we don't follow the rules, we won't make any money and we'll probably sack you to.



These guys think they're soooo bloody special and important to the company. That's why we pay them lots.



We have a clear opportunity to improve by sacking people we don't need, using good ideas and working together.



And it is.


People in our industry are turds, we don't share information or knowledge, or anything for that matter. This makes change stuff difficult.




So this is why we're working harder to change things. I'm working with all our teams and at the same time making the grunts at the bottom feel valued.

Some people are open to changing things, some people are stubborn old gits who don't like change. We'd like to sack them people but we probably can't.



So this is where I do a lot of driving around the country. I'm supported by a good team, to be honest, they make me look good.



I've also let a few people who conform with my ideas into my team. Back skuttle me, you'll get a job.



We sometimes get away with doing things we normally wouldn't as a PLC. So we can make more money quickly.


.

Some IDIOT didn't realise this heap of money we were entitled to. We should have sacked that guy!



Im awesome. I save/make the company money.



We need more people to be more awesome like me and save/make the company money.



People don't magically become awesome like me. We need to train people, sack people and buy newer computers. Then we'll make more money.





This is business bingo. If you want me to put everything in layman's, give me a call and we'll go for a beer, because maintaining this level of business bingo hurts my head as much as it does yours.

That's awesome!

Don't ENTIRELY agree with everything you've written, but it's so fun, I don't care! High 5 to you!

 

[Clav]

That's awesome!

Don't ENTIRELY agree with everything you've written, but it's so fun, I don't care! High 5 to you!

Imagine it being said by Douglas (or Denholm) Reynolm from IT crowd and it is even better

 

[MG42Maniac]

I've been at my current company for 10 years in October. I came in on 14K, aged 20 and now on just over 50K. I started as a "Support Analyst", worked my way through Jr BA to Snr BA and now due to company politics I'm a "Product Specialist". This last move was last summer and against my choosing and while my pay remained the same, I took it as a demotion. We had a new CTO come in and he didn't like the way I did things, moved me and got another BA in. Since hiring him, quality has dropped and development timelines have increased due to vague system requirements. I want to leave as I'm not progressing anymore and am bored. However, my work is a 10-minute drive, I have virtually no stress, work 8-4 and only have to travel once a year, to Miami in January. I've been here so long that I am accustomed to being home by 16:10 on non-gym days and not having to endure long working days. I know I will have to give this up if I move on, I just don't know if I want to. It's not like I am on bad money, mentally speaking though, I don't know if I can coast for more than a few years.

My partner and I are looking to buy our first house, after she has submitted another year of accounts in April 2018, so I need to sit tight until then. We are fortunate that she earns slightly more than I do, so together we have a fairly decent income of around 105/110K. Her income is highly likely to increase as her business grows and she takes on staff. It's this reason that I struggle to justify the change to contracting and the long commute to would entail. I think I would do it, for a time, perhaps if there was something expensive we needed/wanted to buy. At the moment, because I am so local, I can come home and help her out if needed, pop home to see our dog if she's too busy to walk him and just generally be around to support her. If my partner was earning say 20K, I would feel more pressure to earn as much as possible, within reason, as she is on a good wage, I don't feel like I need to really bust a nut though.

 

[toshj]

I always thought it was money that motivated me......it isnt.

Same. I was totally money-focused when I was a kid. I talked about it, I complained about it, etc. The pursuit of not letting my management down meant that I earned well, but you become so utterly boring in the process. I didn't see my friends or family during the week, as I worked and lived in town, and everyone else was out in the suburbs - minimum hours 8am-8pm, frequently longer. My mates had a running bet to see how long it would take me to bring up my work (or money) on a Friday day. I ended up a nervous, babbling wreck after two and a half years of it.

It turns out that building something for yourself is significantly worthwhile. The first client you sign up, the first invoice you send out, etc. The losses can be harder to take, but the wins are a brilliant feeling. With the determination and satisfaction of having a smart crack at it yourself, I generally believe that you'll find yourself in a more comfortable financial situation in the long term. Sadly not everyone is in a position where they can pursue an independent project, but I'd always recommend people at least having a go.

 

[grudas]

I think what we can take from this thread is that uni is not the only way to get into decent money I personally recommend every 18yo+ to skip uni, debt etc and go for an apprenticeship. Especially if they have an idea of what they want to do.

me, my brother, my ex and now my current gf all have decent roles after apprenticeships and 0 uni debt.

 

[dowie]

I've been at my current company for 10 years in October. I came in on 14K, aged 20 and now on just over 50K. I started as a "Support Analyst", worked my way through Jr BA to Snr BA and now due to company politics I'm a "Product Specialist". This last move was last summer and against my choosing and while my pay remained the same, I took it as a demotion. We had a new CTO come in and he didn't like the way I did things, moved me and got another BA in. Since hiring him, quality has dropped and development timelines have increased due to vague system requirements.

that is a bit odd, I'd have thought that usually moving from BA to some form of 'product' role would be a promotion i.e. 'product owner' or 'product manager' when those exist (often due to moving to scrum BAs don't have a role left and either become part of the dev team or get what could be seen as a promotion)

as you seem to have been sidelined but some issues have arisen as a result is there any way you could use those issues to put yourself into a better role, perhaps persuade the CTO to move to scrum and put yourself into the product owner role and stick the other BA in the dev team - if you can somehow sell it to some of the senior developers you've got a relationship with or anyone else with influence then that could maybe help

or does the CTO just not get on with you now, in which case I'd consider leaving

 

[KiNgPiN83]

For me i always wanted to earn more than my age. (20 = 20k etc. Very simple but there you go. Lol) To be honest it took me a while. I started on about 12k at my current company 10 years ago. That was as a helpdesk guy with no previous experience. I've worked my way through the various helpdesk levels, then to Infrastructure Engineer and now to a Datacentre Supervisor. I'm on 42k + 5k bonus. However i really don't enjoy my job anymore... I only really took this job because it was created for me and my boss asked me to do it! (Apparently its because i'm quite anal and particular?! Which is useful for keeping track of licences and things i guess??) In my role I look after our datacentre, manage our co-location and manage all our Software licencing across Europe and it is proper boring stuff. No more interesting project stuff except looking after storage and Citrix. No more playing with new hardware and software like in my Infrastructure Engineer role. So i decided to look at other jobs and it turns out that to earn the same or more i'll need to go to London... (Bleeurgh. Its just not for me.) Plus i have the added issue that i live a mere 1 mile from work and now a young family. So i can wake up at 8:30 and get to work for 9 and be home by 17:45 after finishing at 17:30. So even though i'd earn more money in London i'd have less time with my little family, something i can't buy or pay for. So me and my wife decided to start our own business creating laser cut things and decorating/selling them. Its never going to pull in massive amounts until i can put more time into it but i get to use my creative side and i guess you never really know how far you can take it until you try?? Thinking back now i wish i'd learnt a trade instead of taking the IT route but you live and learn.

Looking at the big picture i earn decent money, have a decent house, have no comuting costs, more time with the family but am focusing on being unhappy at work when i should probably focus on our business as something i enjoy doing. That way i get the best of everything?! I'll probably have a workd with my boss to see if there is anything we can do with my job to make it less terrible as i do have to spend a lot of my time here regardless but i think my ultimate goal now is to make our business my full time job.

I guess what i'm getting at is that money isnt the most important gauge of happiness/succes but it can certainly help things along.

 

[MG42Maniac]

that is a bit odd, I'd have thought that usually moving from BA to some form of 'product' role would be a promotion i.e. 'product owner' or 'product manager' when those exist (often due to moving to scrum BAs don't have a role left and either become part of the dev team or get what could be seen as a promotion)

as you seem to have been sidelined but some issues have arisen as a result is there any way you could use those issues to put yourself into a better role, perhaps persuade the CTO to move to scrum and put yourself into the product owner role and stick the other BA in the dev team - if you can somehow sell it to some of the senior developers you've got a relationship with or anyone else with influence then that could maybe help

or does the CTO just not get on with you now, in which case I'd consider leaving

I can remember his words to me, "I don't feel you're cut out to be a BA". However, he saw the value I bring to the company via my product knowledge, so made me a Product Specialist. I got a derisory 1% pay rise in January, which was my worst ever. I would bet that every year following it will also be 1%. This would mean that if I stayed here, I would be worse off as the years went by.

I don't have the scope to really progress or move around here. I kinda see it as the end of the line but I am being left to decide what I want to do, long term, rather than made redundant as I still bring value. A fair few of the staff who've been here 5+ years are also looking to move on as they don't like the way our CTO is doing things.

 

["andy"]

just a quick thanks to this thread

stuck in my dead end job for 5 years. admittedly mainly by my own lazyness and its stability.

i occasionally look to go back into my original career choice but opportunities are few and far between for someone who is half qualified like i am

after reading this thread lastnight though i found an opportunity at a local employer who where requesting the exact qualification/course i had done. which i never usually see

have applied but most of all it has given me hope again

 

[Tunney]

@RoboCod wins the thread

 

[Ayahuasca]

Looking at the big picture i earn decent money, have a decent house, have no comuting costs, more time with the family but am focusing on being unhappy at work when i should probably focus on our business as something i enjoy doing. That way i get the best of everything?! I'll probably have a workd with my boss to see if there is anything we can do with my job to make it less terrible as i do have to spend a lot of my time here regardless but i think my ultimate goal now is to make our business my full time job.

I guess what i'm getting at is that money isnt the most important gauge of happiness/succes but it can certainly help things along.

Once you have enough money to cover bills and keep things comfortable financially then earning more rarely ever seems to improve ones sense of happiness and various studies (some of which seem quite poorly carried out) show evidence of this. This isn't however saying well if you can live on 20k a year why bother earning more, as you obviously need to make sacrifices somewhere to live off of that, but once you get into the territory of earning more then just allows you a better version of a material possession you already have, that's when I think many people start questioning whether the sacrifice in time or stress levels is worth it to have a slightly nicer car or house.

 

[dowie]

indeed - there have been a few ideas put forward in this area - this seems to suggest that circa $75k is the salary to aim for for 'happiness' (at least happiness that can be derived from money which is probably more simply removing the unhappiness that comes with a lack of money)

https://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2010/09/07/the-perfect-salary-for-happiness-75000-a-year/

It turns out there is a specific dollar number, or income plateau, after which more money has no measurable effect on day-to-day contentment.

The magic income: $75,000 a year. As people earn more money, their day-to-day happiness rises. Until you hit $75,000. After that, it is just more stuff, with no gain in happiness.

though this must surely vary depending on the cost of living in your area etc.. etc..

funnily enough 75k in dollars is quite close to the OP's target in pounds (was even close pre-brexit)

 

[RoboCod]

That's awesome!

Don't ENTIRELY agree with everything you've written, but it's so fun, I don't care! High 5 to you!

I'm just glad you have a sense of humour and didn't ban me.

To be quite honest, corporate lingo sometimes astounds me. I work in a world where brevity and direct comms are key. There often is little time to discuss at length and band around grand terms to describe ideas. You have to be punchy. This of course suits my simple little brain and I'm clearly no master of diction either. Instead, being gobby, straight and commanding wins me merit in the workplace... And I don't mean to put down the corporate world by saying so either.

Just recently I was on a corporate visit to meet industry and discuss developments in new aircraft, hardware, software and user interface. The civilian side of house may as well have been talking Urdu to me. However, it was definitely appreciated when I was asked for my opinion on matters and I straight out told their CEO that what they currently provided us was ****. It was all designed by engineers and not in collaboration with the end user (me) and what I really wanted was A, B & C. He took it all on board and berated his underlings for never telling him this before to which they responded they didn't actually know that themselves and would work more with the customer to deliver... At which point it ratified to me the importance of networking and indeed getting together and "socialising" these issues in a corporate sphere... See "ising" seems to be a buzz term people seem to put on the end of everything lately I noticed

Anyway, I digress.

 

[Nitefly]

I think what we can take from this thread is that uni is not the only way to get into decent money I personally recommend every 18yo+ to skip uni, debt etc and go for an apprenticeship. Especially if they have an idea of what they want to do.

me, my brother, my ex and now my current gf all have decent roles after apprenticeships and 0 uni debt.

How old are you? I'm under the impression that many 'professional' roles these days require a degree regardless of what the job actually is these days, so on the other hand you close a lot of doors by not having a degree. I mention age as I'm somewhat sceptical that the same apprenticeship opportunities are available for 'generation *********'.

 

[grudas]

How old are you? I'm under the impression that many 'professional' roles these days require a degree regardless of what the job actually is these days, so on the other hand you close a lot of doors by not having a degree. I mention age as I'm somewhat sceptical that the same apprenticeship opportunities are available for 'generation *********'.

26, did my apprenticeship when I was 21.

My younger brother did it a year before me at 18.

many professional roles might require that but experience is more important than a degree these days. Something companies are slowly finding out.

 

[Nitefly]

26, did my apprenticeship when I was 21.

My younger brother did it a year before me at 18.

You're in the age bracket that I'd have assumed it was quite difficult to get on +£50k through an apprenticeship (at least without serious entrepreneurial drive), so you've properly rebuffed what I was alluding to. Still, I'm still skeptical of just how easy it is to earn that sort of money in a short time period without jumping into a graduate role... unless you own your own business (and I suppose I'm thinking of £50k outside of London which probably equates to £70k in London).

In any case, sounds like you have done well!

 

[ubersonic]

OP, seeing as you're in 2014 you need to start using your GPU to make Ethereum, start now and you will have well over £50k's worth by July 2017, probably over a quarter million.

Hope this helps, advance warning and all

 

[icehot]

I dont like talking about money with people I know/grew up with etc but here is my story.

-At 23 I graduated with a 2:1 in Business Enterprise in 2010. Got hired by EMC in Nov 2010 on their graduate sales program (Basic £35k / OTE £35k) and spent 6 months living in Cork, Ireland, being indoctrinated on EMC technology
-Spent 2 years in my sales role, 2nd year I earned just over £105k.
-Personally found the job too stressful and always loved being a techie so moved to pre-sales. Salary went to £60k basic / £10k OTE
-With salary increases over the past 4-5 years I am now on £101k basic / £25K OTE / £600 a month car allowance.

My goal at 30 years old was to own a detached 5 bed house, have a £100k salary, be married and have a cat..... I turned 30 in June this year and feel pretty lucky.

My next goal is to get a 1st in my Masters at Henley Business School which my company is funding. I live and die by my goals, a director at work once said to my nothing is a goal until you write it down..... I couldn't agree more as it certainly kept me focused.

p.s. to add, I paid off my £25k of student debt in Jan 2017.

 

[exhashdotdot]

So how is Robocod doing with his plans? I can't find the updates (not exactly looking hard).

I know how tough living in Cornwall can be (hometown).

 

[Freefaller]

I'm just glad you have a sense of humour and didn't ban me.

To be quite honest, corporate lingo sometimes astounds me. I work in a world where brevity and direct comms are key. There often is little time to discuss at length and band around grand terms to describe ideas. You have to be punchy. This of course suits my simple little brain and I'm clearly no master of diction either. Instead, being gobby, straight and commanding wins me merit in the workplace... And I don't mean to put down the corporate world by saying so either.

Just recently I was on a corporate visit to meet industry and discuss developments in new aircraft, hardware, software and user interface. The civilian side of house may as well have been talking Urdu to me. However, it was definitely appreciated when I was asked for my opinion on matters and I straight out told their CEO that what they currently provided us was ****. It was all designed by engineers and not in collaboration with the end user (me) and what I really wanted was A, B & C. He took it all on board and berated his underlings for never telling him this before to which they responded they didn't actually know that themselves and would work more with the customer to deliver... At which point it ratified to me the importance of networking and indeed getting together and "socialising" these issues in a corporate sphere... See "ising" seems to be a buzz term people seem to put on the end of everything lately I noticed

Anyway, I digress.

I can't ban you. And besides why would I have? Your post wins at least an internet cookie!

Brevity does work, but sometimes I find that it misses some key points. When I'm giving lectures (at unis or to various groups of people or conferences) I prefer story telling than bullet point "facts". It's more engaging.

The corporate strategy I have written, and its associated procedure document is much more succinct, i.e. we will do x, to achieve y, using z to enable it. But sometimes to explain the steps can be more helpful in a more verbose way, either via examples, anecdotes or just a little bit of poetic justice.

Being succinct has it's place - don't get me wrong, in meetings, I state very clearly what I need/want or make very clear suggestions. Similar to the IT scoping brief I wrote, it was very clear, for each bit of functionality I was after.

Sure I could have simplified a lot of what I had said - but it's more than just making money (and we're not firing people!!), it is about changing the way we work, and making where we work a place where people want to be part of. Ultimately, yes, profitability is key - but as far as I'm concerned, I like to add more than just that, soft benefits can sometimes be just as valuable as hard tangible benefits!

Put it this way....

If I was asking for directions, I'd want very clear instructions. Turn left after 100m, then straight for 1km past the Eagle pub, then turn right next to post office. etc...

However, if I was sharing an adventure or trying to share a story with some people to bring them in on something a bit more exciting I'd elaborate or use a few more words.... After walking along the clear road for what must have been a good kilometer, I came across a derelict pub called the Eagle, looking inside it looked untouched from the 60s, anyway, disappointed I couldn't get a pint, I turned down a bridal path after the old abandoned post office....

Not a very good example but I'm making this up on the spot!!

You are entirely correct - there are times being to the point is key, and times where embellishing can help personalise the experience for people.

All the strategy documents and presentations I give, have very few words, and mainly are diagrammatical - key points and visuals = 1000 words.


<3 xx