Is anyone else not ambitious

[JS2808]

Out of curiosity what do you all regard as a good salary? Assuming a 40 hour ish week, not overtime etc.

[johnwilliams77]

JS2808 said:

Out of curiosity what do you all regard as a good salary? Assuming a 40 hour ish week, not overtime etc.

40-70k

[Pit Pony]

OMITN said:

Interesting thread.

I'm early 40s, senior role, and am definitely ambitious.

I'm mainly motivated by money but I acknowledge that status has an important influence: it mainly comes from feeling that I have to prove to myself that I'm always fulfilling my potential (I'm inherently lazy).

It does lead to a constant sense of dissatisfaction - how to I get further up the food chain? Next step is the board - I'm already thinking I've left it too late by not getting there before 40. Which is ridiculous as I theoretically have 20 years of work left..!

I don't do shafting people - I'm a collaborative person - but I am acutely aware this is my career and my responsibility.

The only time I've suffered stress from work is when I've found myself in toxic work environments - the ones where politics and ego trump the wider corporate mission. I'm better at navigating those situations these days....

My wife is similar, though she is motivated by different things. Sometimes I wonder what message we're giving to our daughter....

Don't worry, your daughter will be the one who chooses your care home. With lots of money in the bank and a big house, she'll have some decent places to choose for you to die in.

Cynical ? Me?

Kids either reject the parents values or take them on board and do them better.
By the time she's 30 she'll either be on the board of a multi national company earning more in a year than you did in your whole career, or she'll think she's a disappointment to you. ( and all you want is for her to be happy healthy and safe )

[Monkeylegend]

JS2808 said:

Out of curiosity what do you all regard as a good salary? Assuming a 40 hour ish week, not overtime etc.

Generally on here anything south of £200k ish and you are a failure.

[Pit Pony]

Monkeylegend said:

Generally on here anything south of £200k ish and you are a failure.

What's important is how much tax you avoid.

[Monkeylegend]

Pit Pony said:

Monkeylegend said:

Generally on here anything south of £200k ish and you are a failure.

What's important is how much tax you avoid.

And whether you take your P60 with you when you are buying a car to impress the car salesman.

[Condi]

OMITN said:

Interesting thread.

I'm early 40s, senior role, and am definitely ambitious.

I'm mainly motivated by money but I acknowledge that status has an important influence: it mainly comes from feeling that I have to prove to myself that I'm always fulfilling my potential (I'm inherently lazy).

It does lead to a constant sense of dissatisfaction - how to I get further up the food chain? Next step is the board - I'm already thinking I've left it too late by not getting there before 40. Which is ridiculous as I theoretically have 20 years of work left..!

That sounds truly depressing.



For me, ambition is a double edged sword. Some people are lucky enough to find something the love early in life and make a career from it, some people find that later during work, and some people never find it. Those who keep moving up (IMO) have not found it and keep moving up looking for something more rewarding, although ironically the higher up you get the less rewarding work often is.

[kingston12]

Monkeylegend said:

Generally on here anything south of £200k ish and you are a failure.

Yep, I’ll always remember the thread on here where someone asserted that absolutely anyone could be earning £100k if ‘they would just apply themselves a little bit’.

[Condi]

kingston12 said:

Yep, I’ll always remember the thread on here where someone asserted that absolutely anyone could be earning £100k if ‘they would just apply themselves a little bit’.

Not just once! This was posted on another thread earlier this month....

fridaypassion said:

Some examples that may surprise these are all people I know and what they roughly earn

Electronic secutiry which is what I used to do 40k on the books plus overtime 100k contracting

Groundworking on a building site 65k

Primary teacher 40k get a few courses done head of year 60k

Painter (cars) self employed 100k

Powder coaters my guy easily 80k

Plasterers can earn 80k on the books as and over 100k running a team on new builds

Anything to do with trades these dates you would expect at least 50k

fridaypassion said:

The streets of this country are paved with gold my friend you just need to know where to look. My ground worker pal was on 80k driving dump trucks his current job is a pay cut but close to home.

I live in the North as well so I guess these numbers would be significantly higher in the south east. I really don't know why it's so hard to grasp. All jobs that nobody aspires to at school leaving age I guess.

[TameRacingDriver]

£80K for driving a dump truck??

[markcoznottz]

TameRacingDriver said:

£80K for driving a dump truck??

Exactly. Any accountant would look at that and be straight on the phone to a driving agency surely.

[MG CHRIS]

Can understand self employed trades being able to earn close too 100k if they have a team however a driver of any sort will never get that. Im a mechanic general wage is around the 20-25k mark in the main dealers some do have really good individual bonuses but even then you be lucky too touch 40k that's master tech level or 30hrs over time plus level. Last year I got to 26k but that's average of 20hrs over time per month which does get to much so taken a new job with more salary but less over time which works perfectly for me.
I could earn double if working for myself however im not really sure its worth it for all the extra stress.

[OMITN]

Condi said:

OMITN said:

Interesting thread.

I'm early 40s, senior role, and am definitely ambitious.

I'm mainly motivated by money but I acknowledge that status has an important influence: it mainly comes from feeling that I have to prove to myself that I'm always fulfilling my potential (I'm inherently lazy).

It does lead to a constant sense of dissatisfaction - how to I get further up the food chain? Next step is the board - I'm already thinking I've left it too late by not getting there before 40. Which is ridiculous as I theoretically have 20 years of work left..!

That sounds truly depressing.



For me, ambition is a double edged sword. Some people are lucky enough to find something the love early in life and make a career from it, some people find that later during work, and some people never find it. Those who keep moving up (IMO) have not found it and keep moving up looking for something more rewarding, although ironically the higher up you get the less rewarding work often is.

Depressing to some, maybe. But it’s also honest and self aware. I know what motivates me and don’t lie to myself about it.

I’m very outcomes focussed, so providing that what I’m doing is having beneficial effects (whether for me or for others, ideally both) then I regard that as being in the right place and justifying working with that monkey on my back.

[markcoznottz]

MG CHRIS said:

Can understand self employed trades being able to earn close too 100k if they have a team however a driver of any sort will never get that. Im a mechanic general wage is around the 20-25k mark in the main dealers some do have really good individual bonuses but even then you be lucky too touch 40k that's master tech level or 30hrs over time plus level. Last year I got to 26k but that's average of 20hrs over time per month which does get to much so taken a new job with more salary but less over time which works perfectly for me.
I could earn double if working for myself however im not really sure its worth it for all the extra stress.

If you work for a main dealer then the only way you make good money is bonus, i.e. Rushing the jobs though. So no good if your a plodder. I go to a lot of smaller garages and the hours there are horrendous, mainly because there aren't the staff like a main dealer. You have customers dropping cars off at 8am, and drops in at 5pm, 'I've got a noise can you just have a look'. Answers on a postcard if the owner of the business is there at 8am.

[fridaypassion]

TameRacingDriver said:

£80K for driving a dump truck??

I still think it's properly funny how people can't contemplate that these earnings aren't attainable on construction sites. I think there are some wet behind the ears folks that can't see past a job requiring a suit and a fancy title. My mate that did those numbers it was years back as well. On a big infrastructure project the top staff will probably be on more these days. Another of my pals is a crane technician. Not the driver. Just bought an RS6. That will be a job requiring no formal qualifications.

The thing with sites is that they are full of morons so if you come along and display a bit of nouse or can knock out peice work at a good rate you'll earn good money. Its not uncommon to earn more than the site manager on some jobs.

The dump truck baller pal of mine is still on the sites he's on the books with a housebuilder at the moment. Still groundworking doing things like setting kerbs/digging out foundations etc. Still on peice work. Just ticking over on 50k doing that. If you look at indeed or whatever job site you'll see agencies advertising the sane roles at £10 per hour but as O said earlier in the thread these types of jobs can be long careers and the switched on guys are in demand and can set their own salaries.

Its a world that does exist like it or not.

Edited to add for clarification this is a proper dump truck

Edited by fridaypassion on Sunday 23 June 18:58

[thepeoplespal]

Worked in GP land as a Practice Manager with 17 members of staff to do staff appraisals on and all the issues this brings and then having to the day job knowing IT systems, do finance, pay wages and claims, phoning round begging for locums, doing caretaking duties and having a bzillion emails everyday. The complaints about lack of appointments and dealing with CQC policies on the most obscure crap imaginable pretty much broke me. Many other Practice Managers in my CCG had breast cancer (I blame the stress), or burned out and were off with stress.

Unpaid overtime meant my pro rata hourly wage was less than my not very well paid secretaries. I rarely got to see my girls.

Have now downsized responsibility to a more technical role & moved to a very female orientated organisation with flexible working that allows me to be home as the kids get in from school, flexitime which allows banking of extra hours worked on projects or out of hours meetings. I have no staff (bliss) I'm also matrix managed depending on needs, so rarely have a manager breathing down my neck.

Best of all my work colleagues are a great bunch of people who work hard and try their best and I really like working with and for them.

My work/life balance is a lot more healthy these days & extra hours get repaid via longer lunch hours or time off.

[Screechmr2]

I've had loads of chances to go for promotion and move in to management but I like the fact that I can totally and utterly switch off from work, the managers can't do that, they have to keep up to date with all the goings on even when they're off work.

I turn my works phone and computer on a couple of minutes before the start of my shift so they can load up and when I finish my day they all get switched off. I won't read any work related emails or messages until I'm next at work and that's the way I like it. Not interested in having a job that interferes with my family time.

[b0rk]

fridaypassion said:

The dump truck baller pal of mine is still on the sites he's on the books with a housebuilder at the moment. Still groundworking doing things like setting kerbs/digging out foundations etc. Still on peice work. Just ticking over on 50k doing that. If you look at indeed or whatever job site you'll see agencies advertising the sane roles at £10 per hour but as O said earlier in the thread these types of jobs can be long careers and the switched on guys are in demand and can set their own salaries.

But piece work isn't salary, if you don't lay X m of curbs, founds etc per measured period be it day or week your income can and does drop, equally if the job stops because say the housebuilder has decided to slow down completions your income drops, obviously if you lay more than the target programme the rate is based upon you can earn more.

Piece work in construction can be incredibly lucrative when the industry is busy, far less so when its not. Saying that going salaried when on the tools in construction isn't actually that good an option because when the industry is quiet you'll still get laid off, only with less of an earnings cushion to fall back on.

[trails]

Fridaypassion said:

Primary teacher 40k get a few courses done head of year 60k

I'll need to ask my wife where the extra £13k goes...raotfl at £40k...lets not get into hourly rate based on the amount of work teachers do outside school either.

Edited by trails on Tuesday 25th June 16:04

Edited by trails on Tuesday 25th June 16:05

[Kewy]

I only read the first couple of pages. But one has to ask 'ambitious at what?'

Health – Yes
Sport – Yes
Knowledge – Yes
Creativity – Yes

But career and money, not in the slightest.

I have this chat with friends of mine fairly regularly who seem to associate 'being successful' with how high up the career-ladder you've climbed and what salary you are on.

For me, health and happiness is a much higher priority. I have lots of ambition and goals for sport, and photography, and health, and hobbies. But not so much for doubling or tripling my salary – or the stress and pressure that comes with such an ambition.